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Agronomic improvements can make future cereal systems in South Asia far more productive and result in a lower environmental footprint

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Title Agronomic improvements can make future cereal systems in South Asia far more productive and result in a lower environmental footprint
 
Creator Ladha, Jagdish Kumar
 
Contributor Rao, Adsumilli Narayana
Raman, Anitha K.
Padre, Agnes Tirol
Dobermann, Achim
Gathala, Mahesh Kumar
Kumar, Virender
Saharawat, Yashpal
Sharma, Sheetal
Piepho, Hans-Peter
Alam, M.Murshedul
Liak, Ranjan
Rajendran, Ramasamy
Reddy, Chinnagangannagari Kesava
Parsad, Rajender
Sharma, Parbodh C.
Singh, Sati Shankar
Saha, Abhijit
Noor, Shamsoon
 
Subject best management practices
cereal productivity
cereals systems
global warming potential
rice-based cropping system
 
Description South Asian countries will have to double their food production by 2050 while using resources more efficiently and
minimizing environmental problems. Transformative management approaches and technology solutions will be
required in the major grain-producing areas that provide the basis for future food and nutrition security. This study
was conducted in four locations representing major food production systems of densely populated regions of South
Asia. Novel production-scale research platforms were established to assess and optimize three futuristic cropping
systems and management scenarios (S2, S3, S4) in comparison with current management (S1). With best agronomic
management practices (BMPs), including conservation agriculture (CA) and cropping system diversification, the productivity
of rice- and wheat-based cropping systems of South Asia increased substantially, whereas the global warming
potential intensity (GWPi) decreased. Positive economic returns and less use of water, labor, nitrogen, and fossil
fuel energy per unit food produced were achieved. In comparison with S1, S4, in which BMPs, CA and crop diversification
were implemented in the most integrated manner, achieved 54% higher grain energy yield with a 104%
increase in economic returns, 35% lower total water input, and a 43% lower GWPi. Conservation agriculture practices
were most suitable for intensifying as well as diversifying wheat–rice rotations, but less so for rice–rice systems. This
finding also highlights the need for characterizing areas suitable for CA and subsequent technology targeting. A comprehensive
baseline dataset generated in this study will allow the prediction of extending benefits to a larger scale.
 
Date 2016-09-20T11:16:19Z
2016-09-20T11:16:19Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13143/abstract
https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/downloadmelspace/hash/25oK8cQb/v/73b7bab778e5265de575a378acbaeba8
Jagdish Kumar Ladha, Adsumilli Narayana Rao, Anitha K. Raman, Agnes Tirol Padre, Achim Dobermann, Mahesh Kumar Gathala, Virender Kumar, Yashpal Saharawat, Sheetal Sharma, Hans-Peter Piepho, M. Murshedul Alam, Ranjan Liak, Ramasamy Rajendran, Chinnagangannagari Kesava Reddy, Rajender Parsad, Parbodh C. Sharma, Sati Shankar Singh, Abhijit Saha, Shamsoon Noor. (14/12/2015). Agronomic improvements can make future cereal systems in South Asia far more productive and result in a lower environmental footprint. Global Change Biology, 22 (3), pp. 1054-1074.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/4915
Limited access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-NC-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher John Wiley and Sons
 
Source Global Change Biology;22,(2015) Pagination 1054-1074