Rice-Wheat Cropping Systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India

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encouraging and the ‘Wheat Green Revolution’ along with the ‘Rice Green Revolution’, is maintaining a steady growth rate, but the wheat growth rates tend to be much superior to those of rice (Fig. 21 and Table 2). Concerted extension efforts and the related developmental efforts at the state level at accelerated rates are needed if this region is to positively contribute to attaining the national food production target of 240 million tonnes by 2010 AD. ACR IV—Middle Gangetic Plain Region (Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar): A sharp reduction in area of rice (-5%) (Fig. 14 and Table 2) and a significant reduction in wheat (-1.8%) (Fig. 22 and Table 2) in ACR IV is a matter of serious 32 concern, when viewed with zero growth rate in productivity of rice. The productivity of rice is pegged down to just nearly 1.5 t/ha even nearly 25 years after inception of the “Green Revolution”. Wheat area has been declining from 1991–92, though productivity level is being sustained at an impressive 3.1%. Reasons are complex and many as explained earlier. But primarily they seemed linked with the large-scale migration of the labor-force from this area, and general subsistence level of farming practices used by the residual laborforce. A possible approach to improve the situation in this important and very large agroclimatic region, would be to reorient extension services towards female farmers and address problems of input supply. ACR III—Lower Gangetic Plain Region (West Bengal): In West Bengal (Fig. 23 and Table 2), growth rate in area of wheat (-1.7%) is not very encouraging. The adoption of wheat in sequence to rice has not been a smooth success anyway. Wheat hectarage increased during 1971–80 at a fast rate but declined over three years, touching the lowest ever in 1983. It again increased in 1987 and ever since it has again been on a steady decline (Fig. 23). The productivity of wheat too has not been sustained at the 1971–80 level. It has since
declined from 4.8% (1971–80) to 3.8% (1981–90) to 3.2% (1991–95); and so has the production rate reduced from peak of 10.3 in 1971–80 to just 1.6% in 1991–95 (Table 2). By contrast, the progress in rice has been very consistently positive throughout and hence priority needs to be given to steadying the wheat area to sustain RWCS in West Bengal. Focused attention should also be given to developing the upper reaches of ACZ D1, where wheat area has shown a significant reduction. Adjoining Non-IGP Western Himalayas Region (Kumaon and Garhwal Hills of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh): Both rice and wheat individually seem to be declining in area, the extent being more severe and sharp in wheat than in rice (Figs. 24 and 16). The inference emerging is that RWCS is not capable of being sustained over extended areas in the hills, probably on account of uncertainty and inadequacy of water resources, continuous degradation of land resources, and poor or inadequate arrangements for procurement of grains by the Government agencies in the hills. Adjoining Non-IGP Eastern Plateau and Hills Region (Bihar): A steady decline in wheat area and production until 1991, followed by a steady rise, thereafter, indicates renewed interest of farmers in adopting RWCS (Fig. 25). A watershed management program aimed at harnessing rainwater storage to provide one irrigation at sowing to facilitate timely planting of wheat or to provide at least one supplementary irrigation later in the crop cycle seems to hold the key for steadying RWCS in this region. Conclusions Even though there are signs of area and yield plateau in RWCS of the “Green Revolution” areas of Punjab and Haryana, it is suggested that the system is sufficiently robust to get over the present temporary and transitory emerging problems of (i) receding water-table, (ii) skewed cropping patterns focused around rice-wheat in the hub-position, and (iii) the emerging problems of depleting soil fertility. The solutions to these problems are known but need to be applied diligently to sustain RWCS at a well-stabilized high productivity level, without much possibility of further degradation. One immediate priority task would be to develop agro-technology to organically recycle the vast bio-mass (crop residue, of rice and wheat : 12–16 million tonnes) which is burnt annually, causing a serious waste of precious nutrient resource 33
Page 1 and 2: Rice-Wheat Cropping Systems of the
Page 3: Of late, concerns have been express
Page 6 and 7: 6 Table 1. Modified agroclimatic zo
Page 8 and 9: preparatory tillage, puddling and t
Page 10 and 11: a minimal area of rice (confined to
Page 12: However, unambiguous rice area data
Page 22 and 23: incompletely filled grains. Seed da
Page 24 and 25: The fourth band of high rice produc
Page 26 and 27: large-scale migration of able-bodie
Page 28 and 29: The compound rate of growth (Table
Page 30 and 31: ineffective extension/inputs servic
Page 34: esides contributing to intense air
Page 37: Acknowledgements The authors would

Rice-Wheat Cropping Systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India

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