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Extending rabi cropping in rice fallowsof eastern IndiaJ.V.D.K. Kumar Rao, D. Harris, M. Kankal, and B. GuptaSouthern Asia is one of the major rice-producing regions of the world, whereabout 50 million hectares are grown. Using satellite imagery and GIS, it wasestimated that about 30% of kharif (rainy season) rice area (14.3 millionha) remains fallow in the rabi (postrainy) season. The spatial distribution ofthese “rice fallows” in southern Asia was documented. In India, rice area wasestimated at 40.2 million ha during the 1999 kharif season and the total ricefallow area during the 1999-2000 rabi season was 11.7 million ha. Chattisgarh,Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, eastern Madhya Pradesh, and Assam statesaccount for most of the rice fallows in India. These rice fallows represent anenormous underused resource for crop diversification and increasing croppingintensity and production.In India, after preliminary surveys during 2001-02 had identified severalreasons why farmers do not sow a second crop after harvesting rice, exploratoryfarmer participatory trials of technology previously developed in Bangladesh,with chickpea as a test crop, generated enormous enthusiasm among farmersfor rainfed rabi cropping (RRC).Subsequent research with many more farmers (2002-05) refined the technologyto include the use of short-duration chickpea varieties, block planting soas to protect the crop from grazing animals, sowing using rapid minimum tillageas soon as possible after harvesting rice, seed priming for 4–6 hours with theaddition of sodium molybdate to the priming water at 0.5 g L –1 (kg –1 seed) andRhizobium inoculum at 5 g L –1 (kg –1 seed), and the application of manure andsingle superphosphate. Chickpea yield following kharif rice ranged from about0.4 to about 3.0 t ha –1 across various rice fallow areas in eastern India. Althoughyields were invariably low for the first year that farmers tested the package,making their own mistakes proved to be a valuable learning experience andfarmers were always enthusiastic about growing chickpea in subsequent years.The various biotic and abiotic constraints of rainfed rabi cropping of chickpeain rice fallows of eastern India will be discussed along with possible avenuesto overcome some of those constraints. More than 10,000 farmers who havebeen exposed to this technology are now convinced that a second crop can begrown without irrigation in rice fallows. An effective approach to disseminationof the RRC technology to new villages includes the identification of farmers whoExtending rabi cropping in rice fallows of eastern India 193
must agree to plant in a block to facilitate protection from grazing by free-ranginglivestock; the provision of training on crop production technology; the provision ofseed of short-duration chickpea; starter packs of sodium molybdate, Rhizobiuminoculum, and P fertilizer; and technical backstopping.South Asia is one of the major rice-producing regions of the world, where about 50million hectares are grown. Much of this area has a single crop per year, usually rainyseasonrice, and no crop is grown after the rains mainly due to a lack of irrigation.Despite growing demand for food production because of increasing population inSouth Asia, there is little scope for expanding cropping into new areas. Therefore, anincrease in cropping intensity along with raising of yields needs to take place on existingagricultural lands. Rice fallows (land kept fallow after the harvest of rainfed rice)present considerable scope for crop intensification and diversification if the appropriatetechnology is applied. Using satellite imagery and GIS, it was estimated that about30% of kharif (rainy-season) rice area amounting to 14.3 million ha remains fallowin the rabi (postrainy) season in South Asia (Table 1) and its spatial distribution wasdocumented (Subbarao et al 2001). Our study also attempted to relate the spatial andtemporal distribution of rice fallows with the various climatic and edaphic variablesand socioeconomic information to assess the possibility of legume intensification forspecified rice fallow situations. Accordingly, recommendations for better use of ricefallows through legume cultivation have been made. Crop diversification through theaddition of new regenerative components such as legumes, and the adoption of minimum-tillagemethods, seed priming, and crop rotations can be particularly successfulapproaches to sustainable intensification (CSD 2000, Harris et al 1999, 2000).In India, the rice area was estimated as 40.2 million ha during the 1999 kharifseason and the total rice fallow area during the 1999-2000 rabi season was 11.7 millionha (Subbarao et al 2001). Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, easternMadhya Pradesh, and Assam account for most of the rice fallows in India. These ricefallows represent an enormous underused resource for crop diversification and increasingcropping intensity and production. We report salient fndings of our participatoryapproach to promote rainfed rabi cropping (RRC) of chickpea (as a case study) in ricefallows of eastern India during 2001-05. The main objective is to improve the livelihoodsof the farmers in the study areas by making better use of their land by growingshort-duration crops with minimal inputs in the rabi season on residual moisture afterkharif rice has been harvested.Reasons for not growing a second crop and preliminaryevaluation of rainfed rabi-cropping technologyThe reasons why farmers do not sow a second crop after harvesting rice were exploredin a combined survey (Joshi et al 2002) and trials during the 2001-02 season. Thesurvey covering about 320 farmers in 18 villages in five Indian states (Chattisgarh,Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, and eastern Madhya Pradesh) indicated that farmers194 Kumar et al
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Improving AgriculturalProductivity
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Bangladeshi experiences with a drum
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AcknowledgmentsIRRI is most gratefu
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The High Barind Tract: a challengin
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irrigation across the entire Barind
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Workshop synthesis
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and, with representatives from the
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Subsistence pressureLand pressure,
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HerbicidesEarlier efforts to introd
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volume). PVS is an effective way to
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Farmers may use wet-seeded DSR as a
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process and distributing HNPV to fa
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an NGO, have successfully collabora
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Workshop discussionParticipants dis
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How can we identify a short-duratio
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to fixed tenancy. The implication i
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Opportunities for improving ricepro
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that the reliability and productivi
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Table 1. Planting dates, direct-see
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Table 2. (A) Mean effect of fertili
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Table 5. On-farm trials of a drum s
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Upper toposequenceYield (t ha -1 )7
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and perennial grasses (e.g., Ischae
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Direct-seeded rice in the HighBarin
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Table 1. Sample selection for costs
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Table 4. Variations in weed managem
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Table 7. Labor requirements (days h
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Table 10. Farmer perceptions of dis
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Farmers (no.)1412108DSRWet-seededDr
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able commercially. Other OFT farmer
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Box 1. Farmers’ comments on DSRPo
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NotesAuthors’ addresses: M.A. Jab
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This paper explores the role of som
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(Olsen method, atomic absorption),
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Mean biomass (g m −2 )1,000.000Fi
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Fig. 3. Log rank abundance of weed
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attested by Fig. 2). Diversity in t
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Bangladeshi experiences with a drum
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Table 1. Grain yield and crop durat
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Table 5. Grain yield and growth dur
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ACEy = 0.0001x + 0.7089Yield (t ha
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Table 11. Partial budget analysis f
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ConclusionsDirect wet-seeded rice u
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A 178% increase in rice production
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Table 1. Components of yield gaps d
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Table 3. Weed management in Comilla
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Table 5. Weed management practices
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Table 7. Significance (P H o ) of t
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Since 2000, there has been an incre
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Identifying varieties for the High
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Table 1. Rice varieties bred by cli
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Table 2. Grain yield advantage of J
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Table 3. Plant height and crop dura
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Table 6. Summary of adoption and sp
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Freeman GH, Perkins J.M. 1971. Envi
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Opportunities for improving rabi cr
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Grain yield (t ha -1 )2.0npp1.5LSD
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In each of the plots, numbers of He
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Table 2. Effect of IPM components o
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Unit plot size was 10 10 m and the
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Yield (t ha -1 )5Straw4321GrainP (g
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Nodulation score3AControl Soil Mo P
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even at low levels of production. B
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Integration of chickpea and other r
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Grain yield (t ha -1 )3.02.51989-99
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Improved Improved Rainfed rainfed C
Page 150 and 151: Table 1. Preharvest and postharvest
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Page 154 and 155: wheat varieties). There is also sco
Page 156 and 157: Developing seed systems fordissemin
Page 158 and 159: This paper describes attempts to em
Page 160 and 161: seed needed to attain the recommend
Page 162 and 163: introduced to permit sale beyond th
Page 164: pesticides, inoculation with benefi
Page 168 and 169: for the rabi crop in 2001. Hence, b
Page 170: where farmers decided not to relay-
Page 174 and 175: Table 2. Mean dates of T. aman harv
Page 176 and 177: Table 4. Subsistence pressure and r
Page 178 and 179: Table 7. Subsistence pressure and r
Page 180 and 181: cite the absence of rent as a facto
Page 182 and 183: abi cropping in the HBT through ear
Page 184 and 185: Formulation and dissemination ofimp
Page 186 and 187: in India, for which shorter-duratio
Page 188 and 189: Applied researchOFTsAdaptive resear
Page 190 and 191: Table 1. Recommended package of pra
Page 192 and 193: Table 2. Grain yields (kg ha -1 ) o
Page 194 and 195: Table 4. Grain yields (t ha -1 ) of
Page 196 and 197: Table 6. Mean grain yields (t ha -1
Page 198: constraints present. This in itself
Page 204 and 205: Table 1. Estimates of rice area dur
Page 206 and 207: Yield (kg ha -1 )1,2001,00080060040
Page 208 and 209: Future disseminationThrough dialogu
Page 210 and 211: Direct seeding of rice andopportuni
Page 212 and 213: Table 1. Time of establishment and
Page 214 and 215: Table 3. Weed density and biomass a
Page 216 and 217: than in Central Java and many farme
Page 218 and 219: Proportion abundance (log scale)Ran
Page 220 and 221: CAN FIELD BE DRAINED?YesCAN FIELD B
Page 222 and 223: Johnson DE, Mortimer AM. 2005. Issu
Page 224: Zhao DL, Atlin GN, Bastiaans L, Spi
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