NEWSLETTER July - December, 2010

Abstract

The challenges of technology upscaling Returns from agricultural research are realized only when improved technologies are adopted by the farmers. There are numerous examples of excellent technologies that work well at the research farms, on farmers' fields, or in a whole village but fail to move beyond. For successful upscaling, besides technology it self, large number of other factors like farmers' resources, land holding, market prices, institutional support and Government policies come into play. Technologies related to improved seed, agro-chemicals, machinery and irrigation are adopted more quickly, but natural resource management practices like soil and water management, cropping systems and any integrated crop management practicies are more difficult to be upscaled. As we move into the 21st century, the sustainability of agriculture depends on how we manage our natural resources efficiently. Though it is challenging, we need to devise ways and means of upscaling the system based technologies. Innovations in technology transfer through working with communities is one of the approaches to overcome this problem. Under National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), CRIDA has attempted technology upscaling in 8 village clusters of Andhra Pradesh in the livelihood security project. Our experience so far indicates that for successful upscaling of system based technologies, it is important to pay attention to village level institutions and support systems in addition to the technology itself. For example, CRIDA has successfully implemented ground water sharing innovation in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh where by building necessary institutional mechanism, the cropping intensity was increased, water productivity enhanced and fallow lands brought under cultivation. Like-wise, several other innovations were introduced for upscaling technologies related to varietal adoption, farm machinery and livestock production. We need to mainstream such approaches into our formal research system. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture CRIDA - News Letter 2 NEW RESEARCH INITIATIVES RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Trend of solar radiation during southwest monsoon season Solar Radiation over Indo-Gangetic Plains Solar radiation is one of the most important factors affecting crop environment. It provides energy for photosynthesis. There are reports that global dimming, which refers to the reduction in solar radiation is also taking place along with global warming. A study was carried out on the solar radiation trends in IndoGangetic plains during 1970-2009. It showed significant declining trend during summer, northeast monsoon and winter seasons. It may be due to increasing aerosol content in the atmosphere. The presence of high concentration of aerosols may trim down incoming solar radiation (Solar dimming) which in turn reduces photosynthesis and thus crop production. Further, studies are required to clearly understand its impact on crop yields and initiate efforts to reduce atmospheric aerosol concentration by reducing pollution. VUM Rao & AVM Subba Rao National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture ICAR has initiated a new scheme, National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) which is approved by the Cabinet on 15 December, 2010 with an outlay Rs.200 crores for 2010-11 and 150 crores for 2011-12. This scheme has three components, i.e. (i) strategic research on adaptation and mitigation on important grain and horticulture crops critical for food security, livestock and fisheries, (ii) technology demonstration in 100 most vulnerable districts on best bet practices to cope with current climate variability and (iii) capacity building of different stakeholders (scientists, policy makers, extension staff and farmers) on climate change. The distinctive features of the scheme are: • Critical assessment of different crops/zones in the country for vulnerability to climatic stresses and extreme events, in particular, intra seasonal variability of rainfall. • Installation of the state-of-the-art equipment like flux towers for measurement of green house gases in large field areas to understand the impact of management practices on emissions. • Rapid and large scale screening of crop germplasm including wild relatives for drought and heat tolerance through phenomics platforms for quick identification of promising lines and early development and release of heat/drought tolerant varieties. • Comprehensive field evaluation of new and emerging approaches of paddy cultivation like aerobic rice and SRI for their contribution to reduce the GHG emissions and water saving. • Special attention to livestock and fishery sectors including aquaculture which have not received enough attention in climate change research in the past. • Thorough understanding of crop-pest/pathogen relationship and emergence of new biotypes due to climate change. • Simultaneous up scaling of the outputs both through KVKs and the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture for wider adoption by the farmers. The Scheme will be implemented for the remaining two years of XI Plan involving seven key Institutes as major partners and collaborating with 14 other Institutes of ICAR for strategic research on climate resilience. Simultaneously, demonstration of the existing technologies to cope with current climate variability will be undertaken in 100 districts through KVKs. This programme will be coordinated by CRIDA, Hyderabad