Presented by:-P. Sri Ranjitha,RAD/11- 04

Role of non-monetary inputs in Sustainable

cropping Systems

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture is a profitable way of producing high quality food and fiber that:

Protects and renews the natural environment,

Builds local economies, and

Enhances the quality of life of farmers and farm workers.

Source: Cooperative Development Institute

“Non monetary inputs are defined as those cultural operations which help to achieve high yield at no extra cost & whose cost does not change with the level of output”

Some of the non-monetary inputs in crop production are:-- Tillage- Time of Sowing- Plant population- Choice of crops & Varieties- Plant protection- Weed management

Source: Farming system

In sequential cropping

• When cropping intensity is increased - less time between two crops - affect the intensity of tillage.

• For triple crop rotation, i.e.,

Eg. Sorghum (Feb – May) – 100 days

Ragi (May – August) – 90 days

Cotton (August – January) – 170 days

Very little time is left for land preparation for ragi and cotton.

• Land shaping of succeeding crop may not be possible before sowing & have to be done late

Eg. Rice-fallow pulse/cotton

• Increase in cost of cultivation

360 days

Tillage

Source: Jayanthi et al.,2008

• Minimum tillage - Restricting the number of tillage operations to the minimum possible required level. Seed zone is tilled intensively.

• Zero tillage - Succeeding crop is sown, without any preparatory cultivation in the stubbles of the previous crop.

In case of minimum or no tillageTemperature is a few degrees lower than in open/ conventional method.

E.g. In Sorghum, at 5 cm depth after 2 weeks after planting

temperature is

Conventional- 410C ; No tillage- 310C

Prevents surface encrustation owing to good seedling emergence

E.g. Planting Cotton in finger millet stubbles in the northern

districts of Tamil Nadu.

Cost reduction & time saving can be achieved.

Source: Jayanthi et al.,2008

Off season tillage

Land shaping after crop establishment

Eg. Cotton sown in ragi stubbles, ridges

& earthing up operations are carried

out at first top dressing of nitrogen

at 30-35 DAS.

Using labour saving implements.

Yield and economics of maize and wheat as influenced by different tillage practices in maize – wheat cropping rotation

Tillage practice Grain yield (t/ha) Biological yield (t/ha) B:C ratio

2008-09 2009-10 2008-09 2009-10

Maize

Zero tillage 2.62 2.82 7.89 8.76 1.14

Conventional tillage

3.20 2.91 9.39 10.70 0.73

SEm± 0.10 0.12 0.49 0.74 0.08

CD (P=0.05) 0.35 0.40 1.55 NS 0.35

Wheat

Zero tillage 3.04 3.09 11.94 10.27 2.81

Conventional tillage

4.04 4.09 14.64 14.37 2.25

SEm± 0.06 0.10 0.37 0.78 0.17

CD (P=0.05) 0.21 0.36 1.27 2.70 0.77

Source: Singh et al.,2011

Influence of different treatments on yield structures & yield of Sunflower for two seasons (2004 & 2005)

Treatments Crop emergence rate (%)

Heads per m 2 Seeds/ Head 1000 seed wt (g)

Seed Yield(kg ha -1 )

Complete residue removal

90.5a 7.0a 823.0b 58.1a 3394a

Residue burning

90.0a 6.7a 839.0ab 57.3a 3755a

Residue incorporated

(%)

25 90.8a 7.1a 863.0a 56.8a 3796a

50 80.6b 5.9b 870.3a 54.8a 3745a

75 70.06c 5.3b 777.0a 48.6b 3340b

100 70.0b 5.2b 715.0d 41.9c 3323b

Source: Bahrani et al., 2009

Sowing Time:

Optimum time of sowing / planting

E.g. Cotton – August 15th

Turmeric – End of May

Any fluctuation in optimum sowing time results in drastic yield reduction.

E.g.  Wheat.

Correct age of seedlings should be used for transplanting

E.g. Ragi/ sorghum – 16 to 18 days

SOWING

The most common causes of late wheat planting following rice harvest.

Source: Hobbs et al

Depth of Sowing / Planting:

Sowing should be done at optimum depth

E.g. Rice – 4 to 5 cm

Ragi – 2 to 3 cm

Sorghum – 3 to 4 cm

Cotton, maize, groundnut – 5 to 7 cm

In Kharif, sowing should be shallow and in Rabi deeper except pre sowing irrigation.

Mean values for some agronomic traits in rapeseed grown at 4 different sowing times in 2 seasons

Parameters Plant height (cm)

Beginning of flowering (day)

Duration of flowering (day)

Seed Yield (kg/ha)

Season (S)

S1 (2005-06) 109.1b 38.3a 26.3b 197.5a

S2 (2006-07) 120.2a 35.2b 28.7a 167.1b

LSD 0.05 4.2 0.5 0.7 11.2

Sowing time (ST)

ST1 (Oct 10) 121.4a 31.9d 27.9b 2437.5a

ST2(Oct 20) 114.5b 34.2c 26.7c 2298.8a

ST3(Oct 30) 117.6ab 38.2b 28.9a 1526.6b

ST4(Nov 10) 105.2c 42.9a 26.4c 1027.4c

LSD 0.05 5.7 0.7 0.9 14.9

Source: Turhan et al.,2011

Faba bean yield (kg/ha) and yield components as affected by planting dates grown under rainfed conditions of Jordan during 2003/2004 and 2004/2005

seasons

Source: Thalji et al.,2006

Treatment Grain yield (kg/ha)

Pod no./plant

Grain yield (kg/ha)

Pod no./plant

2003-2004 2004-2005

D1 1369a 8.3a 247a 3.7a

D2 1115b 4.8b 163b 3.4a

D3 531c 5.3b - -

Means within each column, followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% probability level

Effect of seeding depth on the yield and yield attributes of wheat

Source : M Arifin

Effect of planting dates and intercropping systems on Pod yield (t/ha) of Okra and tuber yield (t/ha) Sweet potato

Planting dates Okra Yield (t/ha) Tuber Yield (t/ha)

2009 2010 2009 2010

Sole Crop

12th July 5.1 5.3 16.5 15.0

26th July 4.5 4.2 13.5 13.0

9th August 4.1 4.0 10.7 11.2

Sweet potato -Okra

12th July 4.7 4.5 13.6 13.1

26th July 4.4 4.2 13.1 12.0

9th August 3.9 3.7 12.8 11.0

LSD (P≤0.05) 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.3

CV (%) 4.2 7.0 15.4 12.6

Source: M. O. Ijoyah et al.,2011

Spacing and Plant Population:

Optimum plant population.

E.g. Soybean – 3.33 lakhs/ha

Practicing paired row/ Skip row planting

E.g. Rainfed groundnut – 20/50 cm

Sorghum 45 x 15 cm (or) 60/30 x 15 cm

Uniform row planting with a replacement of main crop rows by intercrop rows

Eg. Sorghum + Black gram at 2:1 ratio

Plant population

Effects of density on the seed yield of soybean intercropped with sorghum

Source: O. M. Egbe, 2010

P – Population density of SoybeanP1-0.5m × 0.1m, P2-0.5 m× 0.06m and P3-0.5m × 0.05m

Effect of different cropping system on forage yield (t.ha-1)

Cropping Systems Forage yield

C p 6.13c

M 1 10.47a

M 2 11.13a

M 3 10.16a

C 8.7b

LSD at 0.05% 1.44

Different letters indicate significance at P ≤ 0.0 Cp: sole cow pea; M 1: alternate-row intercrop; M 2: within-row intercrop; M 3: mixed intercrop; C: sole maize

Source: Eskandari et al.,2009

Selection of crop depends on a no. of factors

1. Depends on

- allelopathic effect. Eg. Sorghum after sunflower

- depletion of nutrients i.e., rooting depth

2. Irrigation water availability

Eg. Rice- Cotton/gingelly

Rice- Black gram

3. Influenced by the timing of the rainfall.

For example, winter wheat is more suited to regions with higher winter rainfall while areas with summer wet seasons may be more suited to summer growing crops such as sorghum, sunflower or cotton.

4. Vegetables deserve their place in cropping systems

Choice of Crops & Varieties

For Inter cropping situation :-

a) Cereals- Sorghum + Pigeon pea

Maize + Bean

Pearl millet + Castor/ Groundnut/ Black gram

b) Pulses- Red gram + Ground nut

Red gram + Black gram/ Soybean

c) Cotton- Cotton + Green gram/ Black gram/ Groundnut/ Cluster bean/ Onion

d) Sugarcane- Sugarcane + Black gram/ Soybean

Sugarcane + Green manure- Dhaincha

e) Dry lands – Pigeon pea + Green gram/ Bajra/ Sorghum/ Groundnut

For Sequential cropping situation:-

a. Wetlands – Rice- Rice

b. Irrigated uplands – Maize- Wheat

Green gram- Maize – Wheat

c. Dry lands – Sorghum- Safflower/ Horse gram

Pearl millet- Cowpea/Black gram

Selection of varieties – Region/season/duration• Low temperature – MDU 2 rice• Saline soil – CO 43 rice• Rice fallow – Black gram T9

Cotton MCU 9

Seed treatment

E.g. Carbendazim @ 1gm/kg seed

Raising disease tolerant varieties

E.g. Rice variety Vijetha is tolerant against blast

Time of sowing

E.g. Early sowing of maize controlled Fusarium

spp. related diseases (ear, stalk & root rot)

in MBCSs.

Practicing crop rotation

- Cereals – legumes etc.

Pest management

Non host plants in mixtures emit chemicals/ odours that affect the pests there by

protecting host plants.

E.g. Volatiles released from Mustard have a inhibitory effect on Groundnut stem rot

pathogens – Sclerotium rolfsii.

IPM / IPDM

Alteration in micro climate

E.g. Sorghum + pulses reduced

the early shoot borer

incidence

Population of DBM on cabbage intercropped with selected crops

Source: Talekar et al

Average pest densities in each cropping system

Source: Fabiao et al.,2007

Weeding during critical crop weed competition period

- Maize – 10-35 DAS

- Sugarcane- 21-90 DAP

Depends on growth habit of intercrop

E.g. Greengram/Cowpea in Sorghum

Cowpea in Banana

Pre-emergence herbicide with little residual effect

E.g. Butachlor- Maize + Green gram

Trifluralin – Maize + Groundnut

Line sowing/ planting for inter cultivation

Weed management

Effect of different cropping systems on dry wt of weed (kg/ha)

Cropping System

C I 1 I 2 I 3 M LSD at 0.05%

Weeds dry wt.

106.23b 96.85a 97.51a 97.65a 116.23c 6.22

C: Sole Cow pea; I 1: Alternate-row intercrop; I 2: Within row intercrop; I 3: Mixed intercrop; M: sole maize

Source: Eskandari et al.,2011

Weed biomass in sole- cropped barley and barley intercropped with red clover.

Asterisks indicate significant differences between treatments (P < 0.05).

Source : Liebman et al.,2001

Mulching and irrigation in tea is a practical example for low cost technology. The mulching was done with coir pith. Instead of that mulch crops are grown in the field and then cut and incorporated it as mulch and then tea plantation is taken up.

Usage of Neem leaves for cereal storage is another low cost technology.

Sun drying is a common low non monetary input which has got lot of prospects in the processing industry also.

Use of biofertilizer like Azospirillium for cereals, millets, cotton, sesame and Rhizobium for pulses.

Some practical low cost technologies:

Thank U ….