Conservation agriculture (CA) is a protective system of crop production. It endeavors to make a judicious use of land, water and natural resources to maximize crop yields and arrest their deterioration to make agriculture sustainable. It aims to increase input efficiency to reduce cost of crop production and harmful effects of chemicals and fossil fuels on environment.
CA has sprung to forefront in importance due to climate change. Industrial growth, expanding agriculture and massive energy use are all spewing out harmful gases and chemicals into environment. The composition of atmosphere is changing and water aquifers are polluting. Accumulating CO2, nitrogen & sulfur oxides and methane in the air are obstructing escaping heat from the earth surface into the space and so raising earth temperature. The rising heat is harmful to life; crops and livestock. Crop yields and livestock productivity would suffer. Heat would affect adversely in many other ways. Current favorable crop production zones would be rendered less favorable; glaciers feeding rivers would shrink and rising heat would increase insect and pathogen activity. So humanity is facing a dilemma; rising food needs and deteriorating food base.
Future agriculture, therefore, should produce abundant food at low rates, conserve natural resources, use inputs efficiently and reduce energy use to arrest environmental degradation. Room for free will is shrinking and man needs to act in unison with nature to avoid catastrophe. Use of natural forces - biodiversity - would be to his advantage. Biodiversity is nature’s means to maintain health of planet and is man’s free but tool to attain his goals. These are the ingredients of CA. CA
CA package includes:
· Laser leveling
· Bed planting
· Zero-tillage
· Direct seeding of rice
· Crop residue management
· Alternate wetting and drying in rice
· Site specific nutrient management
· Balanced fertilizer management
· Relay, inter and catch cropping
Laser leveling has gained wide acceptance here. By eliminating unevenness in field it saves more than 20 per cent water and makes irrigation easy and labor saving.
Bed planting of has several advantages. It reduces wheat crop irrigation needs upto 40 percent. Bed planted crop shows less lodging and sunny and aerated conditions in the field promote tillering and reduce disease and insect damage. For this reason, farmers often report yield edge of bed planted wheat crop. A local version of bed planting is also in practice. Farmers prepare the field, broadcast seed and fertilizers and make beds with a ridger. Though less precise yet it shows all advantages of bed planting.
Zero-til planting eliminates preparatory tillage and allows timely planting of wheat after rice. By using remnant moisture it can have water saving element too. The rice residues in the soil conserve moisture, add organic matter, make soil porous, increase biological activities and keep crop environment cool. It, thus, has a heat busting effect.
Direct seeding of rice (DSR) involves seeding crop like wheat without raising nursery or soil puddling. It save 75 per cent labor. Combined with alternate wetting and drying and elimination of puddling it can save large quantity of water. DSR ensure optimum plant population which in nursery transplanted fields is often low. Weeds are, however, serious problems for DSR. It has, nonetheless been successfully demonstrated in Hafizabad district this year. In non-core-rice areas this technology needs to be further refined.
Relay, inter and catch cropping increase system productivity and are means to enhance food availability and raise income. These crops are grown with/in/between other (main) crop(s) and mostly use main crop resources for their growth. So water and input use is maximized. Other elements of CA are intended for same purpose. CA, therefore is a way out to sustain agriculture in rising temperatures and receding waters.
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