(The Gist of Kurukshetra) INNOVATIVE
TECHNOLOGIES FOR HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY
[DECEMBER-2018]
Innovative Technologies For Higher Productivity
India has achieved a remarkable growth in production and productivity of various
agricultural commodities over the last five decades. Major changes in
agricultural commodities over the last five decades. Major changes in
agricultural production took place in mid-1960s with the production technologies
which is known as “Green Revolution” technology. Initially introduced in
resource endowed areas in 1960s it spread into our parts of the country during
1980s The agricultural sector observed spectacular growth of over 4% per annum
during 1990s due to several reasons including slowdown in public investment, low
yield growth, decline in food productivity, declining water table and
environment led stress problems, climate changes etc.
Agriculture is still the main livelihood of approximately half of the rural
households in India and contributing over 16% to its gross domestic product (GOI,
2018). The population of india is growing at 1.24% per annum and is expected to
increase from 1.21 billion in 2011 to about 1.46 billion in 2030. It is
estimated that in the year 2035 the total domestic food grains demand will be
398.6mt and milk 237.8mt against 264mt and 132.4 mt respectively in 2013-
To meet the estimated demand, the yield level over the base period yield level
(1994-95) ids required to be enhanced by more than 50%. It is pertinent to
mention here that these targets are to be achieved in a scenario of several odd
factors which will constraint the sustainable development of agriculture.
Natural resources comprising of soil, water, vegetation and climate form the
essence of all kinds of life and provide support to its various processes.
Intensive input based has stressed high tech agriculture during last three
decades has stressed these resources.
Innovation in efficient Input Resources Utilization:
Site-specific input management which based on the spatially and temporally
variable conditions, have proved tangible yield gain, along with higher
efficiency, profits and better soil health. Precision farming technologies have
now been developed to spatially vary nutrients within a field based on various
information sources (soil properties maps, terrain attribute, remote sensing,
yield maps, etc.). Precision agriculture involves the integration of the modern
technologies (including GI, GPS and Rs) to allow farm products to manage within
and RS) to allow farm producers to manage within field and variability to
maximize the benefit-cost ratio. Variable rate technology (VRT) available with
farm implements, such as fertilizer applicators and yield implements, such as
fertilizer applicators, such as fertilizer applicators and yield monitors, has
evolved rapidly and he fostered the monitors, has evolved rapidly and has
fostered the growth of precious agriculture.
Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNIM):
Integration of SSNIM with GIS based spatial variability mapping is much more
useful technique as it provides an opportunity to assess variability in the
distribution of native nutrients and other yield limiting/improving soil
parameters across large area and thus aids in developing appropriate nutrient
management strategies leading to better yield and environmental protection. With
GIS technology, homogenous fertility parameters classified into low, medium and
high categories using the user defined ranges. Based on the developed homogenous
fertility zones, the fertilizer recommendation can be developed for its
practical significance for farmers.
Real-time Nitrogen supply:
Synchronization between crop Nitrogen demand and the available N supply is an
important Key to improve N-use efficiency. Crop N requirement are closely
related to yields levels, which in turn are sensitive to climate, particularly
solar radiation and the supply of nutrients and crop management practices. The
LCC strategy, which has been calibrated with SPAD, is a simple and efficient way
of managing N in real time. However, this requires the determination of critical
LCC values for a group of varieties exhibiting similar plant type and growth
duration (e.g. traditional long duration, semi-dwarf short duration (e.g.
traditional long duration, semi-dwarf short duration, hybrid etc.) Once the
critical values for different varietal groups are determined, they are valid for
similar groups of varieties grown elsewhere in the tropics.
Use Decision Support System (DSS):
Use of software based skills like Nutrient Experts, Crop manager, Geographical
Information Systems(GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) in monitoring and
application of nutrients , Integrated use of decision support tools (Nutrient
Expert, NE) and Greek Seeker (GS) was studied on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE)
in wheat, system productivity and economics of maize-wheat system.
Improving water productivity:
Water productivity defined as the output of goods derived from the unit volume
of water. The productivity of water irrespective of environment will be governed
by those factors which minimize the water losses from the soil system improve
the transpiration water use by the crops. The alternatives for increasing water
productivity are changing of crop varieties, crop substitution, deficit,
supplemented and precision irrigation, improved water management practices and
improving non water inputs. However, under all situations, the productivity of
water could be enhanced either by saving of water use by cutting of
non-productivity water loss or by increasing the productivity per unit process
depletion (crop transpiration in agriculture) or other beneficial depletion and
by allocation of water to higher values uses would generally not help in any
direct water saving but may increase the economic productivity of water. In
north India, harvested rain water. In north India, harvested rain water in farm
ponds, may be used as a pre-sowing life saving irrigation in rainfed crops to
improve productivity of water.
Nanotechnology :
Sustainable agriculture can stand to benefit from the application of
nanotechnology which has gained momentum to mitigate biotic and abiotic stress
as well as other constraints causing low crop yields. The unique characteristics
of Nano materials makes the suitable for the design and development of novel
tools to support sustainable agriculture. Some of the main application of
nanotools are schematically described as below:
- Increase productivity using Nano-pesticides & Nano-fertilizers e.g. Nano
zinc particles. - Improves soil quality using Nano-zeolites and hydrogels.
- Stimulate plant growth with nanomaterials (e.g. sio2, Tio2, and carbon
nanotubes) - Provide smart monitoring using Nano-sensors by wireless communication
devices.
Integrated Farming Systems:
One of the best approaches in building farm resilience is through spreading
risks and creating buffers, i.e not putting ‘all fruits in one basket’. The
farming systems approach is considered as important and relevant, especially for
the small and marginal farmers as location-specific IFS will be more resilient
and adaptive to climate variability. Integration of livestock rearing with crop
production gave higher economic returns compared to crop production alone for
both marginal and small farmers.On-station and on farm research in
identification of many sustainable and profitable IFS models for rainfed areas.
In general, in regions with rainfall of 500 to 700mm, the farming systems should
be based on live stock with promotion of low-water requiring grasses, trees and
bushes to meet fodder, fuel and timber requirements of the farmers. In 700 to
1,100mm rainfall regions, crops, horticulture and livestock and livestock-based
farming systems can be adopted depending on the soil type and the marketability
factors.
Climate smart Cropping:
In changing climate scenario, developing cultivators resistant to climate change
may become important adaptive mechanism for maximizing resource-use efficiency.
For example, crop varieties those are resistant to lodging (e.g., short winds
during the sensitive stage of crop growth, are viable alternatives. Similarly,
change of planting dates to minimize the Similarly, change of planting dates to
minimize the effect of temperature increase and reducing spikelet sterility can
be used to enhance yield stability, by avoiding the flowering period to coincide
with the hottest period. Such adaptation measures like change in crop calendar
to reduce the negative effects of in crop calendar to reduce the negative
effects of increased climatic variability in arid and semi-arid tropics proved
advantageous to avoid extreme weather events (e.g. typhoons and storms) during
the growing season.
Integrated Crop Management (ICM):
ICM suggests the use of good agriculture practises (GAP) which is an alternative
system of crop production , which is an alternative system of crop production,
which conserves and enhances natural resources while producing quality food on
economically viable and sustainable foundation. It combines the best of
traditional methods with appropriate modern technology for balancing the
economic production of crops with positive environmental management. ICM is
particularly beneficial for small and marginal farmers because it aims to
maximize dependence on purchased inputs while utilizing on farm-resources.
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