Critical Role of Nutrient Management in Climate Adaptive Dryland Farming Systems in India

Abstract

Drylands are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and would incur huge losses impacting livelihood and security of resource-poor farmers residing in these lands. In order to limit the potential risks of climate change, adaptation is necessary. The current paper majorly focuses on climate change adaptation-led mitigation through nutrient management strategies viz., enhancement of organic matter, minimizing crop residue burning, biochar, tank silt application, harnessing soil water interactions, foliar nutrition, mulch-cum-manuring, soil test based nutrient application, cover crops with legumes, conservation agriculture, relay cropping with legumes, weed or water bodies based biomass composting, city waste/fruit/vegetable market waste recycling, slow release nutrient sources and coated fertilizers/neem coated urea, nutrient placements and mechanized fertilizer application, nanofertilizers, fertigation, precision nutrient application and variable rate of technology. Combination of these technologies has a larger potential to contribute towards climate adaptive or climate resilient agriculture and food systems in predominant rainfed regions of India.