Improving productivity and rural livelihoods through sustainable development of dryland areas in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh

Sep 2014Ministry of Agriculture Government of India

This initiative is supported by Sir Ratan Tata

Trust

Background• Yieldlevelsinfarmers’fieldsintargetdrylandregionsofRajasthanand

MadhyaPradesharelowerby2to4foldsthanachievableyields.

• Soilfertilityrelateddegradationalongwithwatershortageisresponsiblefortheexistingyieldgaps.

Strategy• ICRISAT-ledconsortiumadopted

ascience-ledstrategyofparticipatoryresearchforimpactintargetsites(Fig1)throughcollectiveactionandcapacitybuilding(Fig2).

• Soilsampling&analysiswasimplementedasentrypointactivity.

• Soiltest-basedfertilizerrecommendationsweredevelopedatblocklevelagainststatelevelblanketrecommendations.

• Resultsweresharedwithfarmers/stakeholdersthrudifferentmedia.

• Trialswereconductedandscaled-outonbalancednutrition(BN),recyclingoffarmwastesasvermicompost(VC)&useinINM(as50%chemicalfertilizer+50%VC)andimprovedcultivars.

Findings • Soilanalysisrevealedwidespreaddeficienciesofsecondaryand

micronutrientslikeS,B,ZnalongwithNandP.(Table1)

• BNsignificantlyincreasedsoybeanproductivityoverthefarmerspractice(FP)(12–25%)withfavourablebenefit:cost(B:C)(1.31–2.99)(Table2).

• Substitutionof50%offertilizerswithVCinINMoptionfurtherenhancedyieldsandB:CratiosoverBNsolelythroughchemicalfertilizers(Table2).

Table1.Soiltestresultsoffarmers’fieldsinEasternRajasthanandMadhyaPradesh

DistrictNo.of

farmers%deficiency

Organic C P K S B ZnRajasthan Alwar 30 67 10 0 63 87 83Banswara 30 43 50 17 70 100 80Bhilwara 30 17 40 17 43 47 37Bundi 36 39 53 50 72 72 67Dungarpur 99 1 48 8 72 31 0Jhalawar 30 7 30 0 87 77 60SawaiMadhopur 44 84 73 7 86 52 41Tonk 78 72 55 32 79 64 94Udaipur 44 25 18 0 48 25 5Madhya Pradesh Badwani 20 45 70 0 55 80 75Guna 38 21 79 0 87 50 95Indore 23 9 39 0  9 17 22Raisen 20 30 90 0 90 90 90Rajagarah 30 13 60 0 53 73 27Sagar 32 9 78 0 63 91 34Sehore 19 53 84 5 74 95 95Shajapur 20 10 25 0 25 80 40Vidisha 72 32 92 0 96 93 97

Conclusions• Soilsfromfarmers’fieldsindrylandareasofEasternRajasthanandMadhyaPradesharenotonlythirstybuthungryalsoforsecondaryandmicronutrients.

• Adoptionofbalancednutrition,useoforganicmanuresandimprovedcultivarsareneededtoharnessproductivitypotentialandenhanceresourceuseefficiencyinrainfedSATsystemsinRajasthanandMadhyaPradesh.

Fig.1. Target sites in Eastern Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Awareness/capacity building and monitoring/evaluation

Fig. 2. Capacity building of farmers through farmer meetings and field days

• Rainwateruseefficiency(RWUE)alsoenhancedundertheimprovedmanagement,theINMrecordedhighestfollowedbyBNandFPthelowest.

• PlantgrainnutritiontendedtoimproveunderimprovedpracticeofBNandINM(Table3).

Table2.Effectsofnutrientmanagementonsoybean(Glycine max)grainyield,B:CratioandrainwateruseefficiencyinMadhyaPradesh,India

District

Grainyield(kgha-1)LSD (5%)

Benefit/CostratioRainwateruseefficiency

(kgmm-1ha-1)

FP BN INM BN INM FP BN INM

2010

Guna 1270 1440 1580  34 1.31 4.58 1.76 1.99 2.19

Raisen 1360 1600 1600 115 1.85 3.55 1.76 2.07 2.07

Shajapur 1900 2120 2410  69 2.99 10.2 3.45 3.85 4.38

Vidisha 1130 1410 1700 640 2.16 8.43 1.48 1.84 2.22

2011

Guna 1370 1560 1600 169 1.47 3.4 0.83 0.95 0.97

Shajapur 1220 1400 1510  44 2.45 5.8 1.12 1.28 1.38

Vidisha 1190 1380 1460  91 1.47 3.99 0.88 1.02 1.08

Table3.Effectsofnutrientmanagementsonsoybean(Glycine max)grainnutrientcontentsinRaisen,MadhyaPradesh,rainyseason2010

Treatment

Grain nutrient contents

N P K S B Zn

gkg-1 mgkg-1

FP 59.8 5.20 18.8 3254 33.7 55.6

BN 60.2 5.20 18.3 3279 33.9 56.4

INM 61.0 5.70 18.9 3807 34.6 67.3

LSD(5%) 7.2 0.80 1.7 415 5.09 11.2

• ReplacementoflocalcultivarswithimprovedonesisanopportunitytoincreaseyieldsinRajasthan(22to68%)andotherSATregions(Table4).

• BestbetpracticeofadoptingimprovedcultivarsalongwithBNrecordedthehighestyield(92to204%),B:CandRWUEovertheFP.

Table4.EffectofintegratedimprovedcropcultivarandbalancednutrientmanagementonmaizegrainyieldandRWUEinRajasthan,rainyseason2009

District

Yield(kgha-1)LSD (5%) B:Cratio

RWUE(kgmm-1ha-1)LSD (5%)FP IC IC+BN FP IC IC+BN

Tonk 1150 1930 3160 280 4.26 3.36 5.52 9.13 0.73

SawaiMadhopur

1430 2030 3000 420 3.33 4.09 5.77 8.59 0.95

Bundi 1380 2180 4240 714 6.05 3.59 5.68 10.93 1.68

Bhilwara 2990 4340 6510 860 7.45 7.39 10.76 16.15 1.69

Jhalawar 2550 3520 4960 316 5.11 4.21 5.82 8.20 0.52

Udaipur 2530 3090 6320 509 8.03 4.45 5.43 11.11 0.89