Agronomical management practices for higher productivity, resource use efficiency and farm income in semi-arid region

Abstract

Watershed management has emerged as a new paradigm for planning, development and management of land, water and biomass resources with a focus on social and environmental aspects following a participatory approach. Scientific planning and management of the available resources is vital for the maintenance of their production potential, quality and diversity. Watershed programs in India so far have focused mainly on natural resource conservation and interventions such as soil and rainwater conservation. As for as the production aspect is concerned, no much important has been given. For meaningful interventions in the production aspects, it is important to design the interventions as technical package as per the constraints identified for various production system in a particular area. Agronomical interventions like integrated nutrient management, intercropping, crop diversification, improved compost production, integrated farming system, fodder improvement and alternate land use system were carried out in Ayalur watershed, Erode district, Tamil Nadu to increase productivity, resource use efficiency and farm income based on the constraints identified in relation to agriculture in the watershed. The watershed comes under semi-arid region which receives about 600 mm of rainfall annually. The soil is gravelly red sandy to sandy loam which is poor in soil depth, water holding capacity and nutrient content which resulted in poor productivity. An average additional yield of 42%, 34%, and 22% with an additional benefit of Rs 21732, Rs 15450 and Rs 8000 per ha was achieved with the improved cultivation practices respectively for supplemental irrigated groundnut, rainfed groundnut and maize. Intercropping of rainfed groundnut with red gram at 10:1 ratio resulted in 20% increase in groundnut equivalent yield besides increasing rainwater use efficiency. Preparation of compost with locally available coir pith waste was demonstrated and its application increased the yield of rainfed maize by 17% due its moisture absorption capacity. Crop diversification with marigold and cabbage produced an additional farm income of Rs 44225 and Rs 36615 compared to the conventional crops like groundnut and maize. Integrated farming system model which involves fish culture in the surface pond, poultry unit in cage constructed over the pond, fertigation with cow urine resulted in an additional income of Rs 10800 per unit. Higher survival rate of fruit trees in dryland horticulture and agri-horticulture was achieved with micro-site improvement. From annual crops, during first three years, an average income of Rs 87890 per ha was realized. After five years of planting, mango is expected to yield 8-10 t ha-1 with a net benefit of Rs 160000 per ha. Melia dubia, a money spinning tree, was introduced as block plantation for commercializing the agriculture. These demonstrations on agronomical interventions on production system in a systematic way in the watershed not only helped in conserving the natural resources but also helped in increasing productivity and maximising the farm income.