RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Session 6 Production Technolgoy
R. V. Vidyabhushanam* Discussant—1
Sorghum, especially in the traditional areas of Asia
and Africa, is usually grown in harsh environments.
The level of management in traditional
dryland subsistence agriculture in these countries
is poor. In recent years, considerable emphasis is
being given in several of the developing countries
to evolve superior genotypes capable of giving
high yields. This is quite important in India which
has the largest area sown to sorghum in the
world. The attempt has been total transformation
to stable and high levels of production. This
necessitates evolving new production technology
capable of realizing the full yield potential from
new genotypes.
Cropping Systems
In traditional dryland agriculture, the practice of
mixed cropping is extensively followed and serves
to cover risk against unpredictable seasonal conditions.
The cultivation of early maturing high
yielding hybrids and varieties of sorghum was
found to reduce vulnerability to adverse seasonal
conditions thereby leading to stable and higher
productivity. In this context, the cropping systems
evolved should be able to (a) furnish better risk
cover in subnormal years and greater profitability
in normal years, (b) enrich cereal diets and soil
fertility through incorporation of legumes in the
system, and (c) improve land-use efficiency and
increase overall productivity.
Evolving appropriate cropping systems for inter
and sequence cropping situations suited for the
short and early maturing genotypes has been an
integral part of the strategy for enhancing production
and productivity of sorghum lands in India. To
* Project Coordinator (Sorghum), All India Coordinated
Sorghum Improvement Project, Hyderabad. A.P.,
India.
this effect, a large number of studies have been
carried out during the past decade in the All India
Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project and
the All India Coordinated Research Project on
Dryland Agriculture. The results from these studies
clearly demonstrated the profitability of the
sorghum based intercropping systems with different
legumes (pigeonpea, cowpea, greengram,
groundnut, soybean, etc). In terms of monetary
returns, the increase ranged from 10 to 50% of
the sole crop depending upon the location and the
intercrop. The sorghum-pigeonpea system was
found to be the most profitable combination.
Dr. Willey and his colleagues in their paper on
sorghum-based cropping systems have skilfully
reviewed the work done in various countries. It is
evident from their review that opportunities for
utilizing sorghum in various cropping systems are
indeed unlimited. Besides yield advantage, several
other benefits from intercropping have been
listed. For India, the inclusion of food legumes or
oilseed crops in the cropping systems with
sorghum is extremely important in view of the
acute deficit the country is facing for pulses and
edible oils. Apart from increasing the production
of these scarce commodities, the beneficial
effects of nitrogen fixation by legumes is also an
important consideration. It is, however, significant
to note that substantial benefits of nitrogen
fixation by groundnut could not be observed from
ICRISAT studies. It is suggested that detailed
studies be undertaken to quantify the beneficial
effects of nitrogen fixation from various sorghumlegume
combinations. The possibility of sorghumchickpea
intercropping in the postmonsoon (rabi)
season deserves to be further explored.
The finding that in a high rainfall, deep Vertisol
situation like Indore, the probabilty of taking a
successful second sequence crop is only 27%, is
revealing. The reason attributed for this low
probability is the nonavailability of adequate soil
moisture in the surface layers. This aspect needs
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. 1982. Sorghum in the Eighties: Proceedings
Symposium on Sorghum, 2-7 Nov 81, Patancheru, A.P.. India. Patancheru, A.P. India: ICRISAT.
of the International
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