Livelihood Impacts ofSoil Health Improvement inBackward and Tribal Districtsof Andhra Pradesh, CRIDA

Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Tel:+91-40-2453 0161/157, Telefax:+91-40-2453 5336 www.naip.icar.org.in

SOIL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD AND TRIBAL DISTRICTS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture

Livelihood Impacts of

Soil Health Improvement in Backward and Tribal Districts of Andhra Pradesh

Ch. Srinivasa Rao B.Venkateswarlu, Sreenath Dixit Sumanta Kundu and K. Gayatri Devi

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Dedicated to the fond memory of

Padmasree Dr. I.V. Subba Rao Former President ISCA and Former Vice-Chancellor, ANGRAU, Hyderabad

Renowned Soil Scientist and Father of On-farm Sustainable Soil Health Improvement Initiatives

Livelihood Impacts of Soil Health Improvement in Backward and Tribal Districts of Andhra Pradesh

Ch. Srinivasa Rao B.Venkateswarlu, Sreenath Dixit Sumanta Kundu and K. Gayatri Devi

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Citation: Srinivasarao, Ch., Venkateswarlu, B., Sreenath Dixit, Sumanta Kundu and Gayatri Devi, K. (2011). Livelihood Impacts of Soil Health Improvement in Backward and Tribal Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, pp. 119

2011

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ISBN: 978-93-80883-04-5

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Indian Council of Agricultural Research National Agricultural Innovation Project Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-II, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012

Dr. Bangali Baboo National Director (NAIP)

FOREWORD India has only 2.3% of the world’s geographical area but supports 17% of its population.

India’s population increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1131 million in 2007: a threefold increase in a span of over 50 years. By 2020, India will need about 294 m t foodgrains (i.e., 268 m t cereals + 26 m t pulses). However, only 230.67 m t was produced in 2007–08, implying that about 63 m t additional foodgrains have to be produced from the same or even lesser land area.

Out of estimated 141 m ha net cultivated land in India, 80 m ha is rainfed which produces 40 percent of the food grains in the country. Low and erratic rainfall, high temperature, degraded soils with low available water content and multi-nutrient deficiencies are important constraints causing low crop yields in these regions. National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) (Component III) sub project on “Sustainable rural livelihoods through enhanced farming systems productivity and efficient support systems in rainfed areas” is being implemented by consortium led by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad since Sep, 2007. The project is implemented in 8 backward and tribal districts of Andhra Pradesh. It intends to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor by improving the overall systems productivity through application of good agricultural practices, better natural resource management and addressing issues such as profitability and sustainability through better institutions and support systems.

One of the important constraint in improving crop productivity in these eight districts is poor soil health with multi-nutrient deficiencies. Major reasons for poor soil health of these drylands are low organic matter (OM), low biomass generation and rapid oxidation of OM due to high temperatures. There is growing deficiency of secondary and micronutrients such as S, Ca, Zn, Fe and B due to intensive cropping with use of high analysis fertilizers.

The glaring non-responsiveness to application of recommended or elevated levels of NPK

is due to the growing hidden hunger for secondary and micronutrients and soil organic carbon depletion. Balanced fertilization and site specific nutrient management are the key to achieve higher productivity and nutrient-use efficiency.

Integrated plant nutrient supply (IPNS) system is an approach, which adapts plant nutrition to specific farming systems and particular yield targets, with consideration of the resource base, available plant nutrient source, and the socio economic background. IPNS demands a holistic approach to nutrient management for crop production and it involves judicious and integrated use of fertilizers, biofertilizers, organic manures (FYM, compost, vermicompost, biogas slurry, green manures, crop residues etc.), and growing of legumes in the cropping systems. Considerable research on IPNS has been done in India. However, translating IPNS into farm fields is most important in order to maintain better soil health, higher productivity and food security of rural poor. I am happy that soil health programme has been implemented through balanced nutrition and IPNS in about 50 villages in 8 backward and tribal districts of Andhra Pradesh under “Sustainable rural livelihoods through enhanced farming systems productivity and efficient support systems in rainfed areas� of National Agricultural Innovation Project (component-3).

I complement the authors for their commendable on farm participatory work on soil health, productivity and livelihoods in 8 districts of AP which are mostly tribal dominated.

New Delhi January, 2011

(B li Baboo) B b ) (Bangali National Director (NAIP) Indian Council of Agricultural Research KAB-II, New Delhi-110 012

Indian Council of Agricultural Research Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan-II, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012

Dr. Anil Kumar Singh

Deputy Director General (NRM) ICAR

PREFACE Ever since the green revolution, there has been a continuous effort to increase food grain production by using chemical fertilizers in India. The cereal production in the country increased only five folds while the fertilizer consumption increased more than 300 times during the period 1950-51 to 2007-08 implying that the response to chemical fertilizers is declining due to low fertilizer use efficiency. Imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers, particularly nitrogen has caused deleterious effects on nutrient balance in soils, ground water and crop quality. Therefore, balanced fertilization of not only NPK but also micro and secondary nutrients has now become inevitable for sustaining soil quality and ensuring adequate quantity and quality of food grain production. In addition to emphasizing the balanced use of macro and micro nutrients, new policy initiatives like nutrient base subsidy are meant to promote balanced use of chemical fertilizers.

However, for long term sustenance of soil quality dependence on chemical fertilizers alone is not adequate. Research has shown that the Integrated Plant Nutrient Supply (IPNS) system alone can ensure long term sustenance of soil quality and crop yields. Integration of chemical fertilizers with organic manures, bio-fertilizers and legumes in the cropping system forms the core of IPNS. Despite the proven benefits of IPNS through long term fertilizer experiments, the farm level adoption has been quite poor mainly due to lack of awareness among farmers, nonavailability of organic manures and crop biomass for soil incorporation in adequate quantities and the labour constraints associated with implementation of IPNS modules.

In the NAIP project on “Sustainable rural livelihoods for enhanced farming systems productivity and efficient support systems in rainfed areas�, a consortium consisting of nine institutions under the leadership of CRIDA, Hyderabad has tested innovative modules for demonstrating the upscaling of balanced nutrition and IPNS modules in the farmers’ fields

in more than 50 villages of 8 backward and tribal districts of Andhra Pradesh and brought out this publication on soil health management through integrated and balanced nutrition and its livelihood impacts. The project team has made an excellent effort in documenting the entire process of upscaling this important intervention through farmer’s participation and provided guidelines to line departments for further upscaling.

I congratulate the authors for documenting this unique and innovative experience of participatory upscaling of IPNS strategy in rainfed and tribal districts of Andhra Pradesh.

This book will be highly useful for extension functionaries and NGOs in implementing such programs at the village level.

(A.K. Singh)

Acknowledgements This publication “Livelihood Impacts of Soil Health Improvement in Backward and Tribal Districts of Andhra Pradesh� is an outcome of natural resource management and livelihoods interventions of National Agricultural Innovation Project of the ICAR funded by World Bank. This book deals with importance of soil health management, balanced and integrated nutrient management in rainfed agriculture for sustainable productivity and profitability and its impact on livelihoods in selected backward and tribal dominated areas of Andhra Pradesh. We thank ICAR for financial support through NAIP in undertaking interventions on soil health and related issues in participatory action research mode.

We are highly thankful to Dr. S Ayyappan, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi for highlighting the importance of soil health and encouraging us to implement similar interventions in study area of NAIP. Dr. Anil Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (NRM) has been a great source of inspiration throughout the process of implementing interventions and bringing out this book. We thank the National Director (NAIP), Dr. Bangali Baboo for showing his keen interest in bringing out this publication. We also thank Dr. Mangala Rai, ex-Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, Dr. Mruthyunjaya, ex-National Director (NAIP), Dr. A.P. Srivastava, National Coordinator, NAIP (component 3), Dr. Y.S. Ramakrishna, ex-Director, CRIDA for supporting and encouraging the project team right from the beginning of the project. Our heartfelt thanks go to the great visionary scientist and messiah of the poor farmers late Padmasri Dr. I.V. Subba Rao, Chairman of the Consortium Advisory Committee of the project for his active participation and valuable suggestions in every activities of the project. We thank all the scientists, technical staff, project staff, RAs and SRFs, who have directly or indirectly contributed to the project.

We firmly believe that this publication will be very useful for researchers, academicians, extension workers, policy makers, planners and students in one way or the other. As it documents the field implementation process and discusses technologies, their success and limitations. We hope that this publication will give an insight to the future researchers in refining the technologies by overcoming the limitations and developing more realistic and farmer friendly technologies. Further, we hope that this publication will help policy makers to ponder over ways and means of up scaling similar interventions on a large scale in the backward regions of the country.

Ch. Srinivasarao B.Venkateswarlu, Sreenath Dixit Sumanta Kundu and K. Gayatri Devi

Contents Introduction

1

Constraints in rainfed production systems

1-6

Dominant crops in eight target clusters in Andhra Pradesh

7-8

Participatory soil sampling

8-10

Soil analysis and soil health programme

10-23

Nutrient removal by intensive cropping systems

23-25

Nutrient deficiency symptoms

25-40

Site Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM)

40-50

Impacts of balanced nutrition

50-67

Soil health improvement through Integrated Nutrient Management (INM)

68-79

Importance of legume in soil health management

79-82

Inclusion of legumes in the cropping systems: a strategy towards INM

82-84

Gliricida: a potential leaf manure in rainfed regions

84-86

Incorporation of Subabul leaves in furrow- a good practice for mulch cum manuring

86

Vermicompost

87-89

Case Studies

90-99

Tank silt: Improves soil health

99-102

Enhancing nutrient use efficiency through supplemental irrigation

102-103

Soil health improvements through soil health cards

103-105

Awareness building on soil health improvement

106-112

Conclusions

112-113

Research needs References Acknowledgements

113 114-117 118

Introduction Rainfed farming in India comprises about 80 per cent area of coarse cereals (sorghum, pearl millet, maize and finger millet), 85% pulses (chickpea, pigeonpea, urdbean, mungbean and lentil), 72% of oil seeds (groundnut, sunflower, rapeseed, mustard and soybean) and 64% of cotton, besides supporting two thirds of livestock population. Andhra Pradesh (AP) also has nearly 60% area under rainfed farming. Different type of soils exists in the rainfed regions of the state, major types being red and black soils. These soils are low to medium in organic carbon, coarse to medium in texture and low in biological activity. Modest quantities of organic residues recycled to soil are rapidly oxidized due to high temperature prevalent in the arid and semi-arid regions, allowing little humification of the added organic matter. The soils are not only thirsty but are also hungry. Erosion with depletion of nutrients under continuous cropping without adequate addition of nutrients and organic matter over the years has resulted in soil degradation.

Wide-spread deficiencies of macro, micro and secondary nutrients have been reported in the rainfed areas, which need to be addressed through integrated nutrient management to achieve balanced nutrition of crops. This will enable sustainable soil health management besides enhancing productivity to meet the current and future food needs of the growing population.

While much attention has been paid to correcting nutrient deficiencies in irrigated areas, little attention has been paid for nutrient deficiencies in the rainfed regions of India.

Constraints in rainfed production systems Unlike irrigated agriculture, the productivity of rainfed crops has not shown significant growth though in some crops marked yield gains are noticed. This is because of several constraints ranging from cultivation to marketing. Following are some of the major constraints in achieving higher productivity of rainfed crops.  Uncertainty in rainfall: Due to uncertainty in rainfall, agriculture in rainfed regions remains a gamble with monsoon. Increased frequency of droughts in recent years is posing major challenge to rainfed agriculture. Due to this, rainfed crops frequently face moisture stress at critical growth stages resulting in lower productivity.  Degraded lands: Degraded lands with high levels of soil erosion resulting in loss of fertile top soil.  Low input application: Use of production inputs like fertilizers, life saving irrigation, good quality seeds, pesticides, and herbicides is lower in rainfed crops. Because of this, productivity has remained low. Though it has been amply demonstrated that soils are multi nutrient deficient, balanced use of these inputs in rainfed crops is rarely practiced.

1

Drought scenario of India. (Source: Rao et al. 2009)

Soil takes away fertile top layer

a) Physical land degradation in India (Source: NRSA, Hyderabad), b) Soil loss by water erosion (>10 tonnes/ha/yr) (Source: Maji et al. 2008), c) Wind erosion in India (>10 tonnes/ha/yr) (Sources: CAZRI & NBSS&LUP, 2008 unpublished)

2

Degraded soils: a predominant feature of rainfed regions

 Biotic stresses: Yield losses of several rainfed crops in general and pulses in particular are very high due to high incidence of diseases and insect pests. Many times, entire crop is lost due to severe infestation. Though technological and management options are available, they are seldom practiced by farmers.  Untapped water-nutrient synergy: Rainfed regions often suffer from water scarcity and multi nutrient deficiency. However, applying plant nutrients in synergy with adequate profile moisture content is crucial in improving crop productivity and nutrient and water use efficiency.  Poor crop management: Untimely sowing, lack of weeding and irrigation, suboptimum plant population results in poor crop stand. Many times weeds overtake the growth of the crops and reduce their productivity severely.  Lack of focused extension programme: Improved and short duration varieties and matching production technologies are available for rainfed crops. But due to lack of a focused extension programme, specially aimed at rainfed regions, transfer of improved technologies is often the major casualty in states.  Lack of appropriate policy support: Many coarse grains like fingermillet, sorghum, pearlmillet and others do not have proper price policy, though they are highly nutritious compared to rice.

Since rainfed crops are largely grown on marginal and sub-marginal lands and receive least attention of farmers in application of fertilizers and manures, nutrient deficiencies are emerging as the most important constraint to achieve the targeted yields in these crops.

In most of the rainfed crops, for example in pulses (Table 1) average productivity is almost one third of potential on research plots and half of the yield in frontline demonstrations at farmers fields. This indicates that rainfed agriculture in India has a lot of untapped potential. With proper

3

crop management, synchronizing nutrient application with moisture availability or rainfall and timely weed control, we can easily improve crop yields by 30 to 60 per cent.

Table 1. Critical yield gaps (q ha-1) in major rainfed pulse crops Yield potential on research plots

Yield in FLDs at farmers fields

National average

Chickpea

20-22

15-18

8.06

Pigeonpea (Early)

15-17

12-15

7.97

Pigeonpea (Late)

20-25

20-22

-

Mungbean

11-12

9-10

3.81

Urdbean

10-12

8-9

4.40

Fieldpea

20-22

15-18

10.34

Lentil

15-18

12-14

7.32

Crop

Chaturvedi and Ali (2002)

Study area: The target area for this study comprises of eight backward districts of Andhra Pradesh covered under the component 3 sub project on “Sustainable rural livelihoods through enhanced farming systems productivity and efficient support systems in rainfed areas” under NAIP which is being implemented by a consortium of institutions led by Central Research Institute for Dryland

Fig. 1. Map of Andhra Pradesh showing the target districts

4

Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad since September, 2007. It aims at improving the livelihoods of the rural poor by improving the overall system productivity through adoption of good agricultural practices, better natural resource management and addressing the issues of proďŹ tability and sustainability through better institutional and support systems. The action research pilot project is being implemented in a cluster of 5-10 villages/hamlets each falling under one gram panchayat in Adilabad, Warangal, Khammam, Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Kadapa and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh. The project sites are selected based on the criteria of dominance of rainfed farming, SC and ST population, low household income and poor infrastructure.

Table 2. Details of Project Sites/Villages Selected in the target districts District

Panchayat/ Villages

No. of Households

Area (ha)

Characteristics of the cluster

Adilabad

Seetagondi panchayat with 7 hamlets

575

1296

High tribal population (70%) and close to forests, very low productivity and technology adoption. VSS are active.

Nalgonda

Dupahad, Gajulamalkapuram, Chetla Mukundapuram

621

500

Highly drought prone area, off season employment and high migration rates, small hamlets/ tandas with more than 50% tribes.

Khammam

Tummalachervu

650

1000

High tribal population, assigned and forest lands, poor communication and market facilities, high indebtedness.

Mahabubnagar

Zamistapur, Telugugudem, Kodur Thanda

734

756

Highly drought prone area, more landless families, degraded lands, high livestock population, fodder scarcity, high migration and, limited livelihood opportunities.

Anantapur

Pampanoor panchayat with thanda and Kothapalli village

576

1430

Most drought prone area, extensive monocropping of groundnut, repeated crop failures and water shortages, limited livelihood opportunities.

Kadapa

B.Yerragudi with 4 hamlets

216

1060

Drought prone area with predominance of small and marginal farmers with maximum erodable lands. Lacks proper credit and agricultural market facilities.

Warangal

Jaffergudem with 5 tandas/hamlets

689

2070

Village with high tribal population, degraded soils with good potential for water harvesting and drought proofing measures.

Ranga Reddy

Ibrahimpur panchayat with 3 hamlets

409

346

Village with high migration rates and lack of irrigation facility, more forest land, high use of chemical inputs and indebtedness.

5

The population of 3 clusters (Dupahad (Nalgonda), Seetagondi (Adilabad), Thummalacheruvu (Khammam district) consists 70-100 per cent tribals

Fig. 2. Soils of Andhra Pradesh (Subba Rao et al. 1995)

6

Dominant crops in the study area Most of the dryland crops like cotton, sorghum, maize, groundnut, pigeonpea, greengram, castor and chickpea (in black soil area of Adilabad) are grown in these districts. Total area under individual crops and their percent share in total cultivated area is presented in figure 3a-3i. In Adilabad district, more than 35 percent area is under cotton cultivation. In Anantapur, more than 76 percent and in Kadapa around 40 percent area is under groundnut.

In Khammam, Nalgonda and Warangal, cotton is the major rainfed crop cultivated during kharif season.

7

Fig. 3a-3i. Area of major field crops grown in the clusters of eight backward districts of Andhra Pradesh and their percentage share in total cropped area

Participatory soil sampling Soil samples from 1050 farmers’ fields covering 50 villages of the eight districts (Fig. 1) were collected by involving farmers as active participants in sampling. The number of households varied from 216 in B.Yerragudi to 734 in Zamistapur cluster (Table 2). Details of cluster, villages, soil type and dominant crops are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Soil types and dominant crops/cropping systems in the project clusters

Adilabad Nalgonda

Seethagondi Dupahad

No of villages 8 9

Khammam Mahbubnagar Anantapur Kadapa Warangal Rangareddy

T.Cheruvu Zamistapur Pampanur B Yerragudi Jaffergudem Ibrahimpur

7 3 3 8 7 4

District

8

Cluster

Soil Type Black Red and black Red and black Red and black Red (gravelly) Red and black Red and black Red sandy

Crops Cotton+ pigeonpea Groundnut, pigeonpea, greengram, sorghum, vegetables Cotton, sorghum Castor, sorghum, groundnut Groundnut Groundnut, sunflower Cotton, rice Maize + pigeonpea

Soil samples collected after conducting farmers meeting in each village. Depending upon soil type, crop, slope and management, about 30 per cent farmers’ fields were sampled. The identified farmers were made into groups for demonstration of soil sampling procedure.

Collected soil samples were labeled with cluster name, village name and farmer’s name.

In most of the clusters, village sarpanch or village heads were involved in participatory soil sampling. Collected soil samples were tested at the analytical laboratories at CRIDA and some of the soil and water samples were tested in KVK soil testing laboratories at SAIRD, Gaddipally and at ANGRAU, Adilabad. Tank silt samples were collected in the clusters and analyzed for salinity to assess its suitability as amendment in light textured red soils.

Similarly water samples were tested in some of the clusters to identify water quality and pollution aspects. Soil samples were also collected from adjoining regions of the clusters in order to expand the awareness to other regions in the district of Nalgonda, Warangal, Anantapur, Kadapa and also from Khammam and Rangareddy.

Farmers meett and F d explaining l i i participatory ti i t soil il sampling li

Participatory soil sampling in Dupahad cluster in Nalgonda district

9

Participatory soil sampling in Seetagondi cluster in Adilabad district

Participatory soil sampling in Ibrah Ibrahimpur himpur cluster in Rangareddy district him (Village Sarpanch is seen with collected soil samples)

Soil analysis and soil health programme As soils of rainfed regions are multi nutrient deficient, further productivity enhancement is not possible without optimum plant nutrition. Yield levels of rainfed crops are extremely low leading to low income to farmers. In the present project, soil health management through balanced fertilization and integrated nutrient management for productivity enhancement is one of the several interventions for enhancing livelihoods of rural poor.

Under soil health management, soil samples were tested to diagnose fertility problems in 90 villages and impacts of balanced nutrition were demonstrated through farmers’ participatory trials based on site specific nutrient management and integrated nutrient management principles in several hundreds of farmers fields, impacts were demonstrated and awareness was created by Information Communication Technology (ICT)-Kiosk, field

10

days, farmer days, group meeting, extension literatures, TV, radio talks, wall writing etc.

Impacts of these interventions on enhanced income and livelihoods have been examined.

Soil Salinity: Soils in many farmers’ fields are salt affected. For examples, in Jaffergudem cluster of Warangal, we found samples with EC as high as 4 dS m-1 (Fig. 4). Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), many tanks are being desilted in A.P. and this silt is used as soil amendment. However, tank silt collected from many tanks in Warangal is saline. Therefore, it was realized that tank silt should be tested before recommending to field application. In some cases, tank silt application is made even up to 60-80 t ha-1. If saline tank silt is applied in such quantities, crops are exposed to salinity, lowering of yields was observed despite best efforts for improving productivity.

Most of the pulse crops are salinity sensitive and due care should be taken while using tank silt to these crops on light textured and red and lateritic soils.

Soil il salinitty: Productivi vitty constraint in J Jaf affergundem m cluste e r in Warangal (Saline = >0.8 dS Wa S /m /m) 3.5 3

EC (dS ( /m)

2.5 2 1.5 5 1 0.5 5

us em hm ba iT ha nd a Ja ff er gu da Ja ff er gu da Ja ff Ya er pa gu la da ga dd a Ya Th pa an la da ga dd a Sa Th ty an an da ar ay an ap ur R am am an na gu de m

an na gu d K

R

am

Ja ff

er gu

da

0

Fig. 4. Extent of soil salinity in villages of Jaffergudem cluster

Organic carbon: Organic carbon content varied widely among different clusters. Mean values of organic carbon ranged from 0.26 % in B. Yerragudi to 0.70% in Tummalacheruvu cluster. The per cent of soil samples under below low category (<0.5%) varied from 25% in Tummalacheruvu to 96% in B. Yerragudi cluster. Soil analysis report of different villages under Jaffergudem cluster, has been presented in Table 4. For other district like Nalgonda (Table 5), soil analysis has been done in several farmers fields. While characterizing 21 profiles representing major rainfed production systems of India, Srinivasarao and Vittal (2007) reported that most of the rainfed soils were low in organic carbon. Organic matter is

11

the major source of N in soils and therefore rainfed soils which are poor in organic matter are deficient in N. Srinivasarao et al. (2009a) computed the organic carbon stocks in different soil types under diverse rainfed production system in India and reported that Vertisols showed higher organic carbon followed by Inceptisols, Alfisols and the lowest was found in Aridisols. As indicated in the figure all the ten farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields in Jaffergudem cluster were low in organic carbon (Fig. 5). The summary of soil analysis of 8 clusters (Table 6) shows that rainfed regions of Andhra Pradesh have low to medium in organic carbon content.

Fig. 5. Organic carbon content of villages in Jaffergudem cluster

Table 4. Soil test report of selected farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fields of Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal district, A.P. Farmer No

12

Location

pH (1:2)

EC (dS/m)

OC %

5.2

0.49

0.41

N

P

(kg/ha)

(kg/ha)

169

45

K

Zn

Fe

Cu

Mn

251

0.47

25.0

0.90

22.3

(kg/ha) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)

1

Jaffergudem

2

Ramannagudem

5.6

1.61

0.35

156

15

258

0.55

13.1

1.08

16.0

3

Kushmbai thanda

6.0

2.61

0.42

169

37

268

0.48

13.9

0.43

16.2

4

Jaffergudem

6.4

1.28

0.40

194

38

227

0.58

12.6

0.59

11.4

5

Jaffergudem

7.0

0.99

0.43

117

16

122

0.27

8.3

1.14

10.7

6

Jaffergudem

6.6

2.89

0.38

182

30

289

0.77

10.9

0.98

12.0

7

Yapalagadda thanda

6.8

1.08

0.36

194

30

102

0.43

10.9

0.64

18.9

8

Yapalagadda thanda

6.8

1.39

0.41

116

29

446

0.52

11.1

1.09

16.1

9

Satyanarayanapuram

6.8

2.21

0.43

194

16

244

0.31

8.7

0.48

18.4

10

Ramannagudem

8.3

3.34

0.49

182

24

309

0.49

10.6

0.89

12.0

Range

5.2-8.3

0.493.34

0.350.49

116194

15-45

102446

0.270.77

8.3-25

0.431.14

10.722.3

Mean

6.6

1.8

0.41

167

28

252

0.49

12.5

0.82

15.4

Table 5. Soil test report of selected farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fields in adjoining Mandals of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district, A.P. S. No

Farmer Name

pH (1:2)

EC dS/m

OC %

N P K S Zn Fe Cu Mn (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)

1

Oggy Nagaiah

7.8

0.52

0.58

107

11

310

307

3.15

41.4

0.65

2.57

2

Thaluri Laxminarayan

7.9

1.48

0.95

144

15

391

49

3.21

25.6

0.50

16.51

3

Rajapolu Venkanna

7.9

0.38

0.90

119

25

276

45

2.01

24.0

0.30

4.52

4

Sarredy Nagi Reddy

7.4

0.31

1.11

132

19

180

42

0.71

21.4

0.15

2.24

5

Sarreddy Venkateshwar Reddy

7.2

0.52

0.90

107

21

366

80

3.48

17.8

0.18

3.22

6

Karne Lachi Reddy

7.9

0.45

1.41

169

33

237

64

3.47

18.4

0.14

2.74

7

Chinnaboina Nagaiah

7.5

0.29

0.61

107

65

257

171

1.48

45.9

0.08

1.36

8

Mende Saidulu

7.9

1.24

1.45

119

21

353

55

3.08

20.8

0.06

13.49

9

Pothuki Pedda Lachi Reddy

7.3

0.42

0.60

107

34

212

73

1.47

48.6

0.09

1.40

10

KethiReddy RamReddy

7.8

0.56

0.84

144

5

337

78

3.72

20.4

0.38

3.64

11

NakariKanti Suryam

7.7

0.45

1.10

132

21

243

106

3.31

18.2

1.25

2.87

12

Thokala Rajaiah

7.4

0.71

1.54

508

21

254

55

1.65

45.7

1.14

6.34

13

KethiReddy ChinnaRam Reddy

8.1

0.41

0.77

113

24

192

60

0.95

32.7

0.93

1.51

14

NakeriKanti Bixam

8.0

0.46

0.68

107

14

410

59

0.45

12.9

0.50

1.29

15

Gelli Sathyanarayan

7.5

0.34

0.98

107

49

188

61

1.95

47.6

1.17

1.52

16

Vempati Janiki Ram Reddy

7.8

0.39

0.85

132

12

237

75

0.96

24.0

1.29

1.95

17

Thokala Venkateshwarulu

7.8

0.26

1.12

107

26

175

82

1.50

46.2

1.03

1.56

18

Sarreddy Saidi Reddy

8.0

0.48

1.31

132

21

229

175

3.29

22.7

1.29

2.84

19

Sarreddy Linga Reddy

7.2

0.32

1.16

144

15

248

86

2.11

36.9

0.58

2.45

20

Burri Saidulu

7.5

0.57

1.19

119

36

301

138

3.21

16.8

1.16

2.56

21

Megineti Veeraiah

7.9

0.47

0.63

107

26

233

119

1.21

39.0

0.85

1.28

22

Sarreddy Chinna Saidi Reddy

8.1

0.32

0.49

132

38

172

84

1.32

47.1

0.98

1.32

23

KethiReddy Srinivas Reddy

7.6

1.27

1.53

82

7

342

95

3.00

24.3

1.77

9.92

24

Padigapati Saidi Reddy

7.7

0.36

1.07

169

27

169

110

0.65

21.2

0.95

1.99

25

Padigapati Lachi Reddy

7.8

0.52

0.65

119

14

260

163

3.25

18.6

1.06

3.39

26

Sarredy Venkat Reddy

7.9

0.34

0.95

119

25

296

88

1.03

40.8

0.93

2.16

27

S Laxminarayan reddy

8.0

0.78

0.80

119

7

226

110

3.15

24.8

0.59

4.27

28

Sarredy Venkat Reddy

7.4

0.35

0.88

132

3

192

65

2.21

37.5

0.73

4.64

29

Chinnaboina Nagaiah

7.3

0.54

1.25

132

26

260

103

1.61

43.9

0.53

6.70

30

S K Sadulu

8.3

0.27

1.08

370

7

210

56

1.63

33.5

0.56

3.48

31

Karene Vankat Reddy

7.9

1.09

1.58

495

47

353

93

0.86

26.1

1.25

5.18

32

Gandra Somi Reddy

7.8

0.35

1.02

157

6

216

80

0.93

15.5

0.47

3.45

33

ParvathaBoina Lingaiah

8.1

0.28

1.09

169

17

178

51

1.20

19.2

0.48

3.63

34

Panga Naresh

7.8

0.69

1.37

270

20

219

240

0.46

33.0

0.51

1.33

35

Barredy Linga Reddy

8.1

0.28

1.00

194

25

222

62

1.91

14.0

0.57

3.94

36

Barreddy Venkat Reddy

8.1

0.32

0.97

194

33

473

50

2.75

12.1

0.27

1.92

37

Karne Saidi Reddy

7.6

0.26

1.19

169

53

480

50

1.42

14.5

0.25

1.78

38

Gummadapu Venkateshwarulu

7.7

0.50

0.38

194

33

386

138

0.41

23.6

0.51

0.99

39

Vempati Janiki Ramulu

7.8

0.85

1.21

282

53

420

266

0.45

37.0

0.59

1.73

40

Parvathaboina Naga Raju

7.9

0.38

0.93

194

22

520

93

0.63

14.7

0.29

0.87

13

Contd...

S. No

14

Farmer Name

pH (1:2)

EC dS/m

OC %

N P K S Zn Fe Cu Mn (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)

41

Parvathaboina Pullaiah

8.2

0.31

1.14

182

19

438

87

0.36

6.4

0.36

0.98

42

Mattapallu Venkanna

7.4

0.94

1.93

470

28

505

310

0.66

46.6

0.85

6.03

43

Chinthalacheruvu Venkanna

8.0

0.63

1.22

470

36

495

109

0.84

34.7

0.43

2.24

44

Mende Saidulu

8.0

0.19

0.62

169

28

406

64

1.26

13.8

0.26

3.57

45

Chinnaboina Nagaiah

7.4

0.25

0.78

169

36

299

53

2.19

37.6

0.21

1.86

46

Chinnaboina pullaiah

7.9

0.58

0.22

232

45

436

93

0.90

14.6

0.42

2.09

47

Karrrapidutha Venkanna

7.6

0.18

0.92

157

33

367

62

1.08

28.9

0.39

1.68

48

Vasukarla Narasaiah

7.7

0.56

0.57

182

32

481

69

1.07

12.6

1.06

2.77

49

S k Jailulu

7.9

0.52

1.56

370

41

244

54

1.88

30.4

0.62

3.11

50

Vasukarala Lachaiah

7.3

0.30

0.58

257

25

411

52

0.36

20.7

0.27

6.91

51

Karne Ramaiah

7.2

0.16

1.36

345

50

408

271

0.26

26.7

0.71

1.32

52

Vasukarla Venkateshwarulu

7.8

1.17

1.55

558

89

409

424

0.61

16.5

1.67

5.33

53

Vasukarala Ramaiah

7.8

0.51

1.13

220

75

445

97

1.13

36.3

0.55

3.86

54

Vasukarla Rangaiah

7.1

0.39

1.21

157

55

389

149

0.83

23.3

0.47

1.97

55

Karene Koti Reddy

7.3

1.15

1.19

169

22

484

505

1.59

14.4

1.47

7.88

56

Thokala Nagaiah

8.2

0.32

0.92

220

52

404

77

0.32

32.2

0.53

1.157

58

Thokala Chandraiah

7.4

0.36

0.13

144

34

351

108

0.78

5.7

0.79

1.06

59

Maganti Veeraiah

7.8

0.36

0.64

194

33

410

51

0.30

34.2

0.18

3.51

60

Maganti Saidulu

7.5

0.30

0.84

119

20

353

73

1.43

14.4

0.86

4.25

61

Sarredy Saidi Reddy

7.6

0.32

0.72

157

35

451

52

0.80

17.0

0.48

4.26

62

Sareddy Koti Reddy

7.9

0.45

0.28

295

59

435

149

2.30

30.2

1.20

1.91

63

Sarredy Subba Reddy

7.7

0.84

1.10

433

74

451

376

1.43

45.0

1.47

5.50

64

Dhamarcharla Saidi Reddy

7.7

0.38

0.80

119

82

399

153

0.88

14.9

0.99

1.98

65

Oggu Lathip

7.9

0.30

1.19

107

38

353

56

0.95

25.6

0.44

4.67

66

Yarra koti reddy

7.7

0.37

1.09

107

51

417

89

1.47

34.4

0.98

3.39

67

Gandra Venkat reddy

7.6

0.40

0.82

119

46

224

65

1.09

46.9

1.01

2.04

68

Mungala Vevkat Reddy

7.4

0.74

1.22

207

42

387

166

2.77

28.1

1.73

3.85

69

Yarra Pramela

8.1

0.49

1.11

232

73

332

85

1.52

47.2

1.23

3.54

70

Munagala Bhaskar Reddy

7.9

0.69

0.91

332

68

357

102

2.85

13.4

1.86

4.23

71

Deddkuntla Krishna Reddy

7.9

0.50

1.29

144

36

389

55

0.31

13.9

0.63

1.03

72

Godati Akkulu

8.9

0.41

0.88

107

78

390

56

0.39

14.8

0.44

1.08

73

Bogala Venkat Reddy

7.9

0.37

1.41

132

62

399

55

0.66

43.1

0.52

2.12

74

Deddekuntla Amrutha Reddy

7.4

0.46

0.72

320

46

224

91

1.12

18.7

0.78

1.51

75

Gandra Nagi Reddy

8.0

0.39

0.90

182

77

457

54

1.17

23.0

1.00

2.92

76

Dundra Shembi Reddy

7.4

0.60

0.51

182

11

417

98

2.27

22.7

1.49

3.20

77

Deddkuntla Krishna Reddy

8.0

0.73

0.23

270

37

402

142

1.66

21.5

1.19

2.74

78

Gajala Ram Reddy

7.7

0.35

0.97

232

46

263

57

1.04

43.6

0.89

2.84

79

Kistapati Ram Reddy

7.9

0.64

1.22

220

11

317

130

2.08

21.8

1.43

2.32

80

Deddkuntla Krishna Reddy

7.7

0.63

0.98

220

34

446

122

2.10

47.2

1.13

2.74

81

Gandra Seetha RamReddy

7.8

0.31

0.44

194

86

357

57

1.99

45.0

0.77

1.19

82

Garjala JanikiRamulu

7.7

0.28

0.52

132

44

222

76

1.09

21.2

0.69

0.96

83

Dangala Venkataiah

8.0

0.65

0.92

194

17

113

150

0.43

23.6

0.97

0.88

84

Burri Venkaiah

7.8

0.43

0.23

144

18

414

53

1.40

36.1

0.86

2.32

Contd...

S. No 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Farmer Name Burri Veeraiah Dongala Mallaiah Gandra Narasimma Reedy Deddekuntala Chinna Lachi Reddy Gujala Bakki Reddy Yarra Ramreddy Gujala Pedda Venkat Reddy Gajjala RamChandra Reddy Kandula Ravindar Reddy Kandula Sudakar Reddy Gundra Ram Reddy Gandra Linga Reddy Usipally Punna Reddy Gundra Narayana Reddy Kandula PullaReddy Gandra Jogi Reddy Range Mean

pH (1:2)

EC dS/m

OC %

7.4 7.7 7.4 7.8 7.4 7.2 8.0 7.5 7.1 8.0 7.9 7.7 7.8 8.0 8.3 8.0 7.1-8.9

0.32 0.54 0.21 0.27 0.37 0.41 0.08 0.38 0.42 0.28 0.30 0.35 0.27 0.55 0.25 0.33 0.081.48 0.47

0.45 1.89 0.18 0.37 0.13 0.83 0.71 0.82 0.95 1.00 0.92 0.91 0.48 1.19 0.28 0.90 0.131.93 0.92

7.7

N P K S Zn Fe Cu Mn (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) 119 257 113 119 119 144 151 176 119 151 157 257 182 332 194 307 82-558

56 8 37 43 32 20 15 19 16 33 22 8 29 31 25 33 3-89

193

33

396 103 173 182 374 92 337 86 389 80 387 54 477 132 376 82 408 54 480 54 332 51 424 76 418 52 467 167 496 75 459 88 113-520 42-505 344

107

0.44 0.53 0.63 0.37 0.45 0.66 0.31 0.41 0.82 0.36 0.60 1.84 1.18 1.39 0.35 1.07 0.263.72 1.39

24.0 48.1 39.3 42.0 15.6 9.2 39.6 15.5 10.9 11.9 14.5 16.3 18.3 18.9 45.5 9.6 5.7-48.6 27.0

0.54 1.27 0.96 0.70 0.94 0.94 0.88 1.00 0.92 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.43 0.55 0.47 1.06 0.061.86 0.76

0.35 0.89 0.53 0.46 0.83 1.17 1.24 4.88 1.19 1.15 4.57 1.78 3.21 4.00 1.23 5.26 0.3516.51 3.02

Available Nitrogen: All the farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields tested for available N were found to be low (<280 kg ha-1) (Table 6). Many fields were extremely low in available N showing less than 100 kg ha-1. Low levels of soil N is attributed primarily to low soil organic matter content and imbalanced nutrient application, and hot climate prevalent in the region. This indicates the need for regular additions of nitrogen for maintaining good crop yields. Among clusters, soils of B. Yerragudi cluster were extremely low because of low organic carbon content.

Even fields under legume crops like pigeonpea (Nalgonda), groundnut (Anantapur, Kadapa, Rangareddy), chickpea (Adilabad), greengram (Nalgonda, Kadapa), horsegram (Anantapur) etc. also showed N deficiency in soils.

Table 6. Nutrient deficiencies in different clusters of 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh Cluster Adilabad Nalgonda Khammam Mahaboobnagar Anantapur Kadapa Warangal Rangareddy

OC L-M L-M L-M L-M L L L-M L-M

N L L L L L L L L

P L L-H L-H L-M M-H L-M M-H L-M

K H L-M L-H M-H L-H L L-M L-H

S D-S D-S D-S D-S D D D-S D-S

Zn D-S D D D-S D-S D D D-S

B D-S D D D-S S-D D D D-S

Fe S D-S S S S D-S S S

Cu S S S S S D-S S S

L= Low; M= Medium, H= High, D= Deficient, S = Sufficient

15

Most of the rainfed crops grown in the 8 clusters, on an average remove 80 to 100 kg N ha . Due to high mobility of N in plants, its deficiency symptoms first appear on the older leaves in the light green to pale yellow colouration. The general recommendation of N to various dryland crops ranges between 20 kg ha-1 (pulses) to 120 kg ha-1 (cereal crops). Accordingly, 20 kg N ha-1 is recommended for chickpea, pigeonpea and for other pulse crops like fieldpea and lentil as a starter dose assuming that remaining N requirement comes from N fixation.

This assumption is not universally true as large gap exists between N additions (including fixed N) and N removals by pulses. The variability in nitrogen fixation in some pulse crops and yield response to Rhizobium inoculation are presented in Table 7. Nitrogen fixation

by Rhizobium is often affected adversely by variable soil moisture, temperature, organic matter content, salinity and sodicity conditions. Absence of suitable rhizobia, deficiency and toxicity of a nutrient, organic carbon, crop history, water logging, unfavourable pH, predators and pests are other factors which indirectly influence the population of Rhizobium in soils (Srinivasarao et al. 2003a).

-1

Thus in kharif and summer pulses, the variability in the proportion of N derived from fixation varies widely from 0 to 96% in pigeonpea and 0 to 100% in greengram and blackgram depending upon soil and environmental conditions. In winter pulses also the observed range of N fixation is very wide. Therefore, in most of the pulse based cropping systems, N balance in soil is negative. A good starter dose of N and proper inoculation of Rhizobium are therefore essential for increasing productivity of pulses. Crops like rajmash, late sown chickpea, rabi pigeonpea, spring/summer greengram and blackgram require special attention in their N management. Rajmash is one of the highly productive pulse crops and this has yield potential at par with many cereals. Rajmash is a low nodulating pulse crop and hence its N requirement is very high (100-120 kg N ha-1) compared to any other pulses.

Table 7. Experimental estimates of % Ndfa and N2 fixed by some pulse crops.

Crop

16

% Ndfa

N2 fixed

Chickpea

8-82

3-100

Lentil

39-87

10-102

Peas

23-73

17-110

Fababean

65-92

53-105

Pigeonpea

0-96

-

Reference

Peoples et al. 1995

Kumara Rao et al. 1987, 1996.

Mung

0-100

-

Peoples et al. 1991, Shah et al. 1997, Ali et al.1997

Urd

0-100

-

Peoples et al. 1991, Shah et al. 1997, Ali et al. 1997

Table 8. Response of major pulse crops to Rhizobium inoculation at different locations Location

Soil Type

Yield (q ha-1) Range

Mean

Mean increase due to inoculation over control (%)

Chickpea Hisar

Aridisol

13.42

16.46

22

Varanasi

Entisol

19.51

26.46

36

Jabalpur

Vertisol

20.27

22.12

9

Durganpura

Inceptisol

11.23

13.10

16

Jabalpur

Vertisol

4.82

6.93

44

Pigeonpea Ludhiana

Entisol

6.21

7.49

20

Coimbatore

Alfisol

3.58

4.16

16

Hyderabad

Alfisol

11.30

16.52

46

Subba Rao (1982)

Greengram and blackgram grown during summer are exposed to severe heat wave with temperature touching as high as 48 oC. Under such conditions the nutrient uptake efficiency of the crop is badly affected which ultimately affects the yields. Particularly, Rhizobium activity in the soil is drastically reduced under such harsh environment. Hence, spring and summer crops suffer from low availability of nitrogen. Surface soil remains dry during this period, therefore supplemental nitrogen must be given through foliar sprays. Experiments conducted over years have shown significant yield improvements by supplemental nitrogen supplied through foliar spray in the form of 2 per cent urea or DAP. N and carbon losses were more pronounced in areas having dry climates. Soils of India have very low nitrogen content. About 63% of total districts surveyed in India are low in available N, while 33% fall under medium category. Out of the 21 profiles under rainfed regions of India characterized, available N was low in 19 profiles (Srinivasarao et al. 2006, 2007a). As cotton, sorghum, maize and castor are the dominant crops in these districts, they require higher amounts of N, and its adequate application and proper management is essential.

Some of the details of nutrient deficiencies in individual farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields of B. Yerragudi (Table 9) and Dupahad (Table 10) clusters indicate severe nitrogen deficiency in soils and warrant critical nitrogen management strategies for higher crop productivity and improved nitrogen use efficiency.

17

Table 9. Soil test report of selected farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fields of B. Yerragudi cluster, Kadapa district, A.P. Farmer No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

18

pH (1:2) 7 6.2 6.6 5.9 6.1 5.7 4.5 5.8 5.5 5.4 6.1 5.6 6.1 5.4 5.3 5.6 6.2 5.6 5.9 6 5.8 6.1 5.7 5.5 6 5.7 5.8 5.8 6.7 5.9 7 6.9 5.2 5.9 5.6 6.8 5.3 4.7

EC ds/m 0.415 0.002 0.08 0.131 0.185 0.108 0.001 0.093 0.083 0.015 0.056 0.037 0.151 0.192 0.089 0.107 0.158 0.002 0.200 0.064 0.097 0.064 0.008 0.204 0.088 0.008 0.061 0.013 0.185 0.108 0.192 0.316 0.099 0.162 0.002 0.002 0.09 0.037

Av. N (kg/ha) 235 221 229 199 215 216 165 187 178 188 235 198 245 223 216 152 257 245 188 188 246 243 215 218 248 199 200 209 289 185 203 249 188 198 196 239 206 178

Av. K (kg/ha) 178 83 98 3 108 41 92 31 30 44 29 26 22 141 26 69 45 46 73 53 26 71 49 73 86 50 53 52 108 44 141 93 45 134 105 231 47 30

Zn (mg/kg) 0.76 0.07 0.67 0.45 1.25 1.33 0.73 0.73 0.69 0.71 1.12 0.51 1.26 0.66 0.3 0.27 1.21 0.16 1.23 0.8 0.51 0.43 0.52 0.38 0.75 0.21 0.21 0.44 0.41 0.57 0.54 0.92 0.99 1.02 0.86 0.53 0.6 0.25

Fe (mg/kg) 4.8 10 5.5 11.3 4.6 14 18.6 13.2 14.4 18.2 8.9 18.8 13.8 3.4 11.4 10.9 8.8 7.8 16.1 7.5 8.4 10 15.7 20.1 20.2 16.4 16.5 11.2 12.5 7 9.8 1.4 18 10.7 14.4 4.9 13.3 8

Cu (mg/kg) 0.5 0.15 0.32 0.25 0.2 0.18 0.31 0.22 0.57 0.28 0.29 0.51 0.28 0.41 0.63 0.53 0.18 0.29 0.51 0.31 0.24 0.53 0.25 0.66 0.5 0.38 0.35 0.28 0.24 0.2 0.16 0.2 0.28 0.22 0.31 0.22 0.61 0.33

Mn (mg/kg) 17.2 8.8 25.4 43.6 30.7 22.6 44.2 29.4 21.5 36.1 27.1 35.9 10.4 48.4 19.4 15.1 10.8 13.4 54.7 41.8 27.2 21.5 22.1 47.1 25.8 18.5 16.5 17.7 16.5 9.7 10.5 15.3 20.2 43.9 38.6 24 24.7 33.4

Contd...

Farmer No. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Range

pH (1:2) 5.7 7.6 5.8 6.9 7.5 6.9 4.7 6 5 4.6 5.6 7 4.5-7.6

Mean

5.9

EC ds/m 0.1 0.609 0.14 0.004 0.607 0.415 0.202 0.001 0.204 0.066 0.006 0.004 0.0010.609 0.125

Av. N (kg/ha) 184 268 189 206 268 199 174 235 180 175 149 203 149-289

Av. K (kg/ha) 65 31 44 65 83 178 39 26 73 92 40 178 3-231

Zn (mg/kg) 0.29 1.43 0.65 0.31 0.58 0.52 0.37 0.25 0.25 0.35 0.41 0.52 0.07-1.43

Fe (mg/kg) 9 13.3 15.5 3.1 1.9 1.9 17.3 20.8 16.8 15.6 20.8 21.5 1.4-21.5

Cu (mg/kg) 0.35 0.43 0.31 0.29 0.42 0.39 0.25 0.33 0.34 0.42 0.36 0.54 0.15-0.66

Mn (mg/kg) 19.6 19.9 39.5 16.8 14.6 13.2 25.5 11.3 12.3 12.3 36.2 24.5 8.8-54.7

210

72

0.62

12.0

0.35

24.7

Table 10. Soil test report of selected farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fields of Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda district, AP P

K

S

(kg/ha)

(kg/ha)

(kg/ha)

Green gram

80.3

104

90.6

2.72

1.2

6.4

3.5

Groundnut

23.4

74

43.8

0.38

0.6

12.5

8.4

New Banjarahills

Green gram

38.8

152

5.5

0.58

0.7

6.4

7.6

4

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

57.6

399

41.6

0.90

1.4

6.4

6.1

5

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

24.9

116

16.1

0.44

0.9

2.0

7.6

6

Seetamma tanda

Groundnut

41.7

97

31.0

0.37

0.9

10.6

20.3

7

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

35.9

308

22.5

0.41

0.7

1.7

5.8

8

New Banjarahills

Green gram

28.7

217

5.5

0.22

1.2

2.6

6.7

9

Peddagarakunta tanda

Green gram

42.2

70

7.6

0.51

1.3

5.5

4.5

10

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

21.0

305

37.4

0.46

0.6

1.0

8.0

11

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

9.9

83

67.2

0.53

0.9

9.9

6.4

12

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

28.7

198

41.6

0.55

1.3

3.9

4.2

13

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

21.5

118

7.6

0.51

0.9

10.4

11.6

14

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

14.7

193

9.8

0.39

1.0

3.2

5.2

15

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

14.7

283

7.6

0.47

1.6

6.2

8.3

16

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

18.1

170

41.6

0.89

1.5

6.6

3.8

Farmer No.

Village

Crop

1

Jalmakunta tanda

2

Jalmakunta tanda

3

Zn

Cu

Fe

Mn

(mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)

19

Contd...

P

K

S

(kg/ha)

(kg/ha)

(kg/ha)

Green gram

38.8

284

52.3

0.41

0.5

1.3

4.8

Green gram

32.6

114

33.1

0.39

0.6

5.1

1.5

Jalmakunta tanda

Bhendi

11.4

77

35.3

0.41

1.2

8.0

2.7

Peddagarakunta tanda

Green gram

35.5

151

26.8

0.79

1.1

5.6

3.1

Farmer No.

Village

Crop

17

Jalmakunta tanda

18

Jalmakunta tanda

19 20

Zn

Cu

Fe

Mn

(mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (mg/kg)

Phosphorus Available P status of soils varied widely (from very low to high) among the villages and clusters. For example, in Thummalacheruvu cluster among 105 farmers’ fields, available P status varied from 1.0 to 57.8 mg kg-1. Similarly in Ibrahimpur cluster, available P status varied from 0.5 to 59.2 mg kg-1 among 135 farmers’ fields. However, cluster mean of available P status varied from 2.5 mg kg-1 (B. Yerragudi cluster) to 16.0 mg kg-1 (Jaffergudem cluster). The percent P deficient farmers’ fields varied among the villages and clusters and could be attributed to native P status as well P management. In Jaffergudem cluster (Warangal district), application of DAP is very common and some times level of application exceeds the recommended levels, resulting in higher mean P status of the soils. On the other hand in B. Yerragudi, soils are light-textured, sandy, with undulated topography where P application is not common. This has resulted in low mean available P status (3.8 mg kg-1). Wide variation in available P status of soils was reported among production systems as well as soil types under various production systems (Srinivasarao et al. 2006) and indicated that P deficiency considerably constraints productivity of rainfed crops.

In general, black soils are highly deficient in P and therefore P application should be included in crop nutrition in these soils. Black soils of Adilabad district are deficient in available P, therefore regular P application is required particularly for cotton and chickpea. However, in red soils, due to high P applications and less P fixation soil P buildup has increased. We examined individual farmers’ fields in Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda, some of the fields showed available P status as high as 80 kg ha-1. Similarly Pampanur cluster, Anantapur and Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal available P status varied from medium to high. Therefore, P application may be omitted based on soil testing for few years or for few crops in these high P soils.

Potassium In the semi-arid tropics, deficiency has been noticed in coarse textured soils, some red soils and in soils in which have high crop yield levels without K applications for long time (Srinivasarao et al. 2000, 2002). In the present study also, 85% of 190 farmers’ fields were K deficient in B.Yerragudi, where soils are sandy, undulating and highly

20

degraded. In other clusters also where soils are red and sandy, K deficiency was found in the order of 14% (Dupahad), 17% (Ibrahimpur) and 18% (Zamistapur). Continuous cultivation of cotton, sorghum, maize and groundnut crops on these soils result in further K deficiency. Black soils (Vertisols and Vertic intergrades) are generally sufficient in available K because of higher clay content and nature of clay (Srinivasarao et al. 2001).

Potassium status of different agro ecological sub-regions of India (Subba Rao and Srinivasarao, 1996, Srinivasarao et al. 2007 b&c, 2010a) indicated that available K of rainfed regions varied from low to high, depending upon soil type, parent material, texture, mineralogy and management practices. In other locations in Nalgonda (Miryalaguda and Nereducherla regions) the available K status varied from low to medium. In 20 farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields tested during pre kharif, 2010 for site specific nutrient management in greengram, groundnut and vegetable crops, 12 fields needed K application. Fifty farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields tested in B. Yerragudi cluster of Kadapa showed that almost all the fields were low in available K. In this region, annual crops like groundnut, fruit crops like mango and banana showed K deficiency in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields. Similarly in red soils of Anantapur, K deficiency was documented in groundnut, clusterbean and banana.

Sulphur Like nitrogen, the content and availability of sulphur are largely determined by the organic matter level of the soils. Sulphur is generally to be deficient in a vast majority of dryland soils (Srinivasarao et al. 2000, 2003a, 2004). In the project sites of NAIP also, sulphur deficiency was widespread and per cent deficient farmers fields ranged from 30 (Dupahad cluster) to 60 (B. Yerragudi). However, sulphur content in each cluster varied from low to high. The mean sulphur content varied from 3.7 mg kg-1 (Ibrahimpur cluster) to 17.0 mg kg-1 soil (Dupahad cluster). Although, sulphur deficiency occurs at varying degree in 90 districts of India, the available database is grossly inadequate to delineate sulphur deficient areas (Takkar, 1996). Grain legume crops like pigeonpea, groundnut and vegetable crops grown in Kadapa, Anantapur, Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda and Rangareddy districts require considerable amounts of sulphur.

Iron Iron is a constituent of two groups of proteins and it activates a number of enzymes.

It plays an essential role in the nucleic acid metabolism and necessary for synthesis and maintenance of chlorophyll in plants. Plants having less than 50 ppm of Fe are usually classified as iron-deficient. Deficiency of iron is most widespread, next only to zinc; and pulses mostly being dryland crops often suffer from Fe deficiency. Calcareous soils with high pH and compact soils are deficient in available Fe content. Unfavorable conditions 21

for reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ as a consequence of rapid percolation of irrigation water in coarse textured soils could also cause Fe deficiency. Deficiency and sufficiency ranges of Fe in greengram indicate that concentrations below 66 mg kg-1 are Fe deficient.

Soil application of 10 to 20 kg Fe ha-1 helps to alleviate iron deficiency in most of the pulse crops. As efficiency of applied FeSO4 is very low due to its oxidation, application of organic manures would be a better option for micronutrient availability to crop plants.

Copper Copper is a constituent of number of enzymes. It is important in imparting disease resistance in plants and it enhances the fertility of male flowers. Plants having less than 5 ppm Cu are regarded as Cu deficient. Male flower sterility, delayed flowering and senescence are the most important effects of Cu deficiency. Chlorosis of younger shoot tissues, white tips, necrosis, leaf distortion and die-back are the characteristics of Cu deficiency symptoms.

Indian soils are well supplied with Cu. Generally Cu deficiency is not encountered in field crops. But soil analysis showed 5 per cent deficiency in Karnataka and 4 per cent in Gujarat.

On the other hand, soils of U.P., Punjab and M.P. have very less number of soils deficient in Cu (1%). Based on critical limit of 0.2 mg kg-1 (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978), some of the clusters like Dupahad were deficient in available Cu. It could be due to continuous vegetable cultivation, intensive cultivation, low soil organic matter and soil erosion. Like other micronutrients, a wide variation was reported in sufficiency and deficiency ranges of Cu content among crops between 4 to 12 mg kg-1. If soils are very low in available Cu as in the case of Nalgonda, application of copper sulphate either to soil or foliar spraying would be beneficial.

Manganese Manganese is an integral component of the photolysis enzymes and if plants have less than 25 ppm of Mn, pulse crops express chlorotic and necrotic spots in the interveinal areas.

Symptom of Mn-deficiency is popularly known as marsh spot in field peas. Similar to Cu, Indian soils are well supplied with available Mn. Most of the soils representing different clusters showed sufficient quantities of available Mn. Optimum Mn concentration in some rainfed crops varied from 7 mg kg-1 in mungbean to above 20 mg kg-1 in urdbean.

Boron While organic matter levels and the soil mineralogy determine the micronutrient content of soils, their retention, release and availability are controlled by clay type, content, pH and lime content (Takkar, 1996). Among nutrients, B deficiency is an 22

emerging problem in the Andhra Pradesh soils. The mean B content among clusters varied from 0.16 mg kg-1 (B. Yerragudi cluster) to 0.39 mg kg-1 (Thummalacheruvu cluster). The percent B deficient farmers fields varied from 40 (Zamistapur cluster) to 60 (Ibrahimpur cluster) based on critical level taken at 0.58 mg kg-1. Even in other studies conducted in dryland conditions, out of 21 locations of India studied, eleven locations showed deficiency of B (Srinivasarao and Vittal. 2007). While explaining experiences from participatory watershed management under semi-arid India, Rego et al. (2007), and Srinivasarao et al. (2008a) reported that B deficiency in soils of several states was where upto 98 per cent soils tested showed deficiency and significant response to B application was found.

Zinc The mean Zn status of soils from different clusters varied from 0.61 mg kg-1 soil (B. Yerragudi) 1.22 mg kg-1 soil (Ibrahimpur). The per cent deficient farmers fields varied from 25 (Ibrahimpur) to 80 (B. Yerragudi). Among 21 profiles at different locations of All India Coordinated Programme on Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) studied, most of the profiles showed Zn deficiency. Similarly, soils from semi-arid tropical of India also showed extensive Zn deficiency in soils (Rego et al. 2007 and Srinivasarao et al. 2008b). Many farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields in eight clusters showed Zn deficiency in soils and crops. Deficiency symptoms were found in maize and orange plantations.

Nutrient removal by cropping systems Some highly intensive production systems can remove up to 500 kg of N + P2O5 + K2O ha-1 year-1 (Table 11). On the whole, the ratio of N: P2O5 : K2O removal in these systems is 100: 34: 119.

Table 11. Nutrient removal by some intensive cropping systems in India Cropping system

Yield (t ha-1)

Nutrient uptake (kg ha-1 year-1) N

P2O5

K2O

Total

Maize-wheat

7.7

220

87

247

554

Pigeonpea-wheat

4.8

219

71

339

629

7.7

260

85

204

549

Pigeonpea + sorghum**

Soybean-wheat

0.8+1.1

185

19

299

503

Pigeonpea + pearl millet**

0.7+1.3

203

14

336

553

Pigeonpea + urdbean**

0.9+0.2

154

26

132

312

** Intercropping system

Tandon and Sekhon (1998)

23

However, under dryland agriculture, the situation differs from that under irrigated, intensified systems. Most of the soils are marginal and frequent drought of various intensities result in low yields. Farmers have observed responses to small quantities of N, P, and K fertilizers and most of the farmers do apply some amount of fertilizers for crops like groundnut, maize, castor and sorghum. Thus, these crops mine the limited stocks of macro, micro and secondary elements from the marginal soils, resulting in decline of these nutrients in the soil (Srinivasarao and Venkateswarlu, 2010). With irrigation, however the extent of soil micronutrient depletion is much higher than under dryland conditions. Even through the quantities of nutrients removed are small when compared to irrigated crops because of low yields, deficiencies do occur due to relatively small reserves in these marginal soils.

Table 12. Amount of micronutrients removed by major intensive production systems in India.

Nutrient removed (g ha-1)

Total grain yield (t ha-1)

Zn

Fe

Mn

Cu

B

Mo

Rice-rice

8.0

320

1224

2200

144

120

16

Rice-wheat

8.0

384

3108

2980

168

252

16

Maize-wheat

8.0

744

7296

1560

616

-

-

Soybean-wheat

6.5

416

3362

488

710

-

-

Pigeonpea-wheat

6.0

287

4356

493

148

-

-

Cropping system

In the eight target districts studied, important crops are cotton, maize, pigeonpea, groundnut, sunflower, greengram, castor, sorghum, fruit crops like mango and sweet orange, vegetables like tomato, bendi, brinjal, coriander, palak. All these crops are nutrient exhaustive. Cotton and sunflower remove nutrient in large quantities, to the extent of 200-300 kg ha-1 of NPK in rainfed conditions. Sulphur removal extends upto 2.8 kg ha-1(pigeonpea), castor (3.7 kg ha-1), mungbean (4.1 kg ha-1), groundnut (6.4 kg ha-1) and maize (7.1 kg ha-1).

Zinc removal per ha in mungbean (68 g), maize (192 g), groundnut (81 g), pigeonpea (45 g) and castor (62 g). Similarly B removal varied from 19 g (maize) to 52 g (groundnut) Table 13. Nutrient requirement per tonne of production in important rainfed crops Crop

24

Produce

kg nutrient/tonne produce N

P2O5

K2O

Sorghum

Grain

22.4

13.3

34.0

Pearl millet

Grain

42.3

22.6

90.8

Rice

Grain

20.1

11.2

30.0

Chickpea

Grain

46.3

8.4

49.6

Contd...

Crop

kg nutrient/tonne produce

Produce

N

P2O5

K2O 30.1

Groundnut

Grain

58.1

19.6

Soybean

Grain

66.8

17.7

44.4

Sunflower

Grain

56.8

25.9

105.0

Cotton

Seed

44.5

28.3

74.7

Table 14. Average uptake of micronutrients by some rainfed crops grown in Andhra Pradesh Total uptake, g/ha

Economic yield (t ha-1)

Zn

Fe

Mn

Cu

B

Mo

1.0

130

1200

320

130

-

-

Sorghum

1.0

72

720

54

6

54

2

Pearlmillet

1.0

40

170

20

8

-

-

Crop Maize

Chickpea

1.5

57

1302

105

17

-

-

Pigeonpea

1.2

38

1440

128

31

-

-

Soybean

2.5

192

866

208

74

-

-

Groundnut

1.9

208

4340

176

68

-

-

Sunflower

0.6

28

645

109

23

-

-

Sesamum

1.2

202

952

138

140

-

-

Linseed

1.6

73

1062

283

48

-

-

Nutrient deficiencies: Documenting field scale nutrient deficiency symptoms In general, frequency of field scale nutrient deficiency symptoms increase with years of cropping. For example, in early years of intensive cropping, the deficiencies were limited to few major nutrients. Consequently, the intensity of cropping coupled with increased food production resulted in the multiple nutrient deficiencies as shown in the figure.

It is unusual to find any one leaf or even one plant that displays the full array of symptoms that are characteristic of a given deficiency. It is thus highly desirable to know how individual symptoms look, for it is possible for them to occur in many possible combinations on a single plant. Most of the terms used below in the description of deficiency symptoms are reasonably self evident; a few however have a distinct meaning in the nutrient deficiency field. For example, the term chlorotic, which is a general term for yellowing of leaves through the loss of chlorophyll, cannot be used without further qualification because there may be an overall chlorosis as in nitrogen deficiency, interveinal, as in iron deficiency, or marginal, as in 25

250

Emerg ging nutrient deficiences s as a result of inc creased production (even true in rainfed agriculture i lt !)

200

150

Nutrient Deficiencies

Production (mt)

100

50

0 1950

N

196 60

1970

N Fe

N Fe P Zn K

1980

N Fe P Zn K S Mn

19 990

N Fe P Zn K S Mn B

2000

N Fe P Zn K S Mn B ?

calcium deficiency. Another term used frequently in the description of deficiency symptoms is necrotic, a general term for brown, dead tissue. This symptom can also appear in many varied forms, as is the case with chlorotic symptoms.

Nutrient deficiency symptoms for many plants are similar, but because of the large diversity found in plants and their environments there is a range of expression of symptoms.

Because of their parallel veins, grasses and other monocots generally display the affects of chlorosis as a series of stripes rather than the netted interveinal chlorosis commonly found in dicots. The other major difference is that the marginal necrosis or chlorosis found in dicots is often expressed as tip burn in monocots. General thematic representation of various nutrient deficiency symptoms are presented in the following figures.

Nitrogen: The chlorotic symptoms shown by the leaf is resultant of nitrogen deficiency. A light red cast can also be seen on the veins and petioles. Under nitrogen deficiency, the mature older leaves gradually change from their normal characteristic green appearance to a much paler green. As the deficiency progresses these older leaves become uniformly yellow (chlorotic). Leaves approach a yellowish white color under extreme deficiency. The

26

Identification of nutrient deficiency symptoms in crop plants

Typical nutrient deficiency symptoms in crop plants

27

young leaves at the top of the plant maintain a green but paler color and tend to become smaller in size. Branching is reduced in nitrogen deficient plants resulting in short, spindly plants. The yellowing in nitrogen deficiency is uniform over the entire leaf including the veins. However in some instances, an interveinal necrosis replaces the chlorosis commonly found in many plants. In some plants the underside of the leaves and/or the petioles and midribs develop traces of a reddish or purple color. In some plants this coloration can be quite bright. As the deficiency progresses, the older leaves also show more of a tendency to wilt under mild water stress and become senescent much earlier than usual. Recovery of deficient plants to applied nitrogen is immediate (days) and spectacular. Some of the considerations regarding N management are highlighted here.

• Sunflower, cotton, maize, sorghum, vegetables grown in eight districts respond to 30-80 kg N ha-1 depending upon soil moisture status.

• Crops usually respond upto 80-90 kg ha-1 but only 40-60 kg N ha-1 was economical.

• Very high rates of N can depress the oil content in groundnut, sunflower, castor, linseed etc. and impair seed quality.

• Excess N application in cotton in Jaffergudem cluster resulted in dark green foliage and succulent leaves.

• For rainfed crop the nitrogen schedules need to be adjusted as per soil moisture status.

Phosphorus: Phosphorus-deficient leaves show necrotic spots. P deficiency symptoms are not very distinct and thus difficult to identify. A major visual symptom is that the plants are dwarfed or stunted. Phosphorus deficient plants develop very slowly in relation to other plants growing under similar environmental conditions but without phosphorus deficiency.

28

Nitrogen defi Nit d ficiency i in i a)) tobacco t b (Pampanur)) b) cotton (P tt (J (Jaffergudem) ff d ) c)) chickpea hi k and d d) maize (clock wise) (Seethagondi)

Typical N deficiency symptoms in maize in red soils of Rangareddy district

Phosphorus deficient plants are often mistaken for unstressed but much younger plants.

Some species such as tomato, lettuce, corn and the brassicas develop a distinct purpling of the stem, petiole and the under sides of the leaves. Under severe deficiency conditions there is also a tendency for leaves to develop a blue-gray luster. In older leaves under very severe deficiency conditions a brown netted veining of the leaves may develop. In case of P deficiency root development hampers. Surface area of tap root as well as lateral roots decreases. Plant can not absorb water and nutrient from the deeper layers. Significance of optimum P nutrition on different components of roots is depicted in the figure. This indicates that lateral root development is much more affected with sub optimal P nutrition as compared to tap root. However proper root development including tap root is essential in rainfed conditions to utilize moisture from deeper layers of the soil profile (Srinivasarao et al. 2007a; Eshel et al. 2001)

29

20 15

0.02mM 0.2mM 1.0mM

10 5 0

Tap Root

Laterals

Fig. 6. Impact of P concentration on root surface area (Y axis) (cm2) of beans

Typical P deficiency in chickpea and maize in Seethagondi and Ibrahimpur clusters

Typical P deficiency in chickpea and maize in Seethagondi and Ibrahimpur clusters

30

About 25-60 kg P2O5 ha-1 has been recommended for different crops in rainfed regions in the country. It has been found that single super phosphate is the best source of phosphorus as it contains calcium (19.5%), sulphur (12.5%) and phosphorus (16%). Most of the rainfed crops in the eight districts, cotton, maize, groundnut, chickpea, pigeonpea, castor, greengram, blackgram, sorghum, sunflower etc. respond to 40-60 kg P2O5 ha-1, the response to P is much higher in black soils compared to red soils. However in some of the clusters like Pampanur, Jaffergudem, Dupahad the continuous excess P application in the form of DAP resulted in the accumulation of soil P. In these conditions, we are recommending to farmers to go for ½ the dose of P recommended. Higher P accumulation in soil may result in P induced Zn deficiency.

Potassium: Some of these leaves show marginal necrosis (tip burn), others at a more advanced deficiency status show necrosis in the interveinal spaces between the main veins along with interveinal chlorosis. This group of symptoms is very characteristic of K deficiency symptoms.

The onset of potassium deficiency is generally characterized by a marginal chlorosis progressing into a dry leathery tan scorch on recently matured leaves. This is followed by increasing interveinal scorching and/or necrosis progressing from the leaf edge to the midrib as the stress increases. As the deficiency progresses, most of the interveinal area becomes necrotic, the veins remain green and the leaves tend to curl and crinkle. In some plant such as legumes, the initial symptom of deficiency is white speckling or freckling of the leaf blades. In contrast to nitrogen deficiency, chlorosis is irreversible in potassium deficiency, even if potassium is given to the plants. Because potassium is very mobile within the plant, symptoms only develop on young leaves in the case of extreme deficiency.

Field scale K deficiency symptoms were observed in Pampanur cluster of Anantapur (groundnut, clusterbean, mango, banana), Jaffergudem cluster of Warangal (cotton and pigeonpea), B. Yerragudi, Kadapa (groundnut, sunflower and mango), Dupahad, Nalgonda (Vegetables and fruit crops), Jamistapur, Mahboobnagar (cotton), Tummalacheruvu, Khammam (cotton and maize), Seethagondi, Adilabad (soybean), Parigi, Rangareddy (maize).

Normally, about 50 kg K2O ha-1 will be adequate for the soil deficient in potassium. Potassium may be supplied regularly in the form of potassium chloride or muriate of potash. All K2O should be applied at the time of sowing as a basal-dressing by adopting furrow placement method.

However, in the clusters of Anantapur and Kadapa, under rainfed conditions K loving crops like tobacco and banana are being cultivated. The K recommendations are much higher for banana (300 kg K2O ha-1) and tobacco (150 kg K2O ha-1). Potassium application to rainfed tobacco should be done in the form of K2SO4 instead of KCl. In rainfed crops, application of K in 2 splits improves yields particularly in light textured K deficient fields.

31

Potassium deficiency symptoms in dry paddy (upper left), maize (upper right), cotton (middle left), soybean (lower left).

32

K deficiency in groundnut, pigeonpea, cotton, maize and soybean in different clusters of 8 districts of A.P.

33

During drought or intermittent drought spells foliar spray of K helps in alleviating drought effects as K regulates water relations in the plants.

Calcium: These calcium-deficient leaves show necrosis around the base of the leaves. The very low mobility of calcium is a major factor determining the expression of calcium deficiency symptoms in plants. Classic symptoms of calcium deficiency include blossom-end rot of tomato (burning of the end part of tomato fruits), tip burn of lettuce, blackheart of celery and death of the growing regions in many plants. All these symptoms show soft dead necrotic tissue at rapidly growing areas, which is generally related to poor translocation of calcium to the tissue rather than a low external supply of calcium. Very slow growing plants with a deficient supply of calcium may re-translocate sufficient calcium from older leaves to maintain growth with only a marginal chlorosis of the leaves. This ultimately results in the margins of the leaves growing more slowly than the rest of the leaf, causing the leaf to cup downward. This symptom often progresses to the point where the petioles develop but the leaves do not, leaving only a dark bit of necrotic tissue at the top of each petiole. Plants under chronic calcium deficiency have a much greater tendency to wilt than non-stressed plants.

In some vegetables like tomato grown in light textured red soils of Dupahad cluster, Ca deficiency was observed in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields. However application of gypsum in these fields as a sulphur source helped in the correction of Ca deficiency in field crops.

Magnesium: The Mg-deficient leaves show advanced interveinal chlorosis, with necrosis developing in the highly chlorotic tissue. In its advanced form, magnesium deficiency may superficially resemble potassium deficiency. In the case of magnesium deficiency the symptoms generally start with mottled chlorotic areas developing in the interveinal tissue.

The interveinal laminae tissue tends to expand proportionately more than the other leaf tissues, producing a raised puckered surface, with the top of the puckers progressively going

Mg deficiency in maize and tomato leaf

34

Magnesium deficiency in cotton (Zamistapur, Dupahad, Jaffergudem and Seethagondi clusters)

from chlorotic to necrotic tissue. In some plants such as the Brassica (The mustard family, which includes vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower), tints of orange, yellow, and purple may also develop.

Mg deficiency was observed more commonly in cotton in Jamistapur (Mahboobnagar), Tummalacheruvu (Khammam), Dupahad (Nalgonda) and in some fields of Jaffergudem (Warangal) cluster.

Sulphur: This leaf shows a general overall chlorosis while still retaining some green color.

The veins and petioles show a very distinct reddish color. The visual symptoms of sulfur deficiency are very similar to the chlorosis found in nitrogen deficiency. However, in sulfur deficiency the yellowing is much more uniform over the entire plant including young leaves.

The reddish color often found on the underside of the leaves and the petioles has a more pinkish tone and is much less vivid than that found in nitrogen deficiency. With advanced sulphur deficiency brown lesions and/or necrotic spots often develop along the petiole, and the leaves tend to become more erect and often twisted and brittle. In case of S deficient fields, the recommendation is to apply gypsum (250-500 kg ha-1) through soil.

In case of oilseed crops like sunflower, groundnut, casor grown in eight clusters (Kadapa, Mahaboobnagar, Anantapur, Nalgonda) • Application of 25 kg S ha-1 increases seed yield by 30-40%.

• An average increase of 3.8% in the oil content of seeds was reported due to S application.

• In alkaline, clay soil having 12 ppm available S, application of 10 kg S ha-1 more than doubled seed yield and increased oil yield.

• N+S application produces largest heads, heaviest grains and more seeds/head.

• 80 kg N+25 kg S will give more oil yield.

35

Similarly, pulse crop like pigeonpea, greengram, blackgram, chickpea grown in Nalgonda, Warangal, Adilabad clusters need sulphur application at the rate of 20 kg S ha-1 atleast in alternate years.

Sulphur deficiency in cotton (upper left and right), pigeonpea (lower left) and sorghum (lower right)

Zinc: This leaf shows an advanced case of interveinal necrosis. In the early stages of zinc deficiency the younger leaves become yellow and pitting develops in the interveinal upper surfaces of the mature leaves. Guttation is also prevalent. As the deficiency progress these symptoms develop into an intense interveinal necrosis but the main veins remain green, as in the symptoms of recovering iron deficiency. In many plants, especially trees, the leaves become very small and the internodes shorten, producing a rosette like appearance. In Zn deficient fields, recommendation is to apply 15 kg ha-1 or more Zn through soil; spray 10 kg ZnSO4 ha-1 Iron: These iron-deficient leaves show strong chlorosis at the base of the leaves with some green netting. The most common symptom for iron deficiency starts out as an interveinal chlorosis of the youngest leaves, evolves into an overall chlorosis, and ends as a totally bleached leaf.

The bleached areas often develop necrotic spots. Up until the time the leaves become almost 36

Field scale symptoms of Zn deficiency in sweet orange in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh and Zn deficiency in cotton, sorghum and maize.

completely white they will recover upon application of iron. In the recovery phase the veins are the first to recover as indicated by their bright green color. This distinct venial re-greening observed during iron recovery is probably the most recognizable symptom in all of classical plant nutrition. Because iron has a low mobility, iron deficiency symptoms appear first on the youngest leaves. Iron deficiency is strongly associated with calcareous soils and anaerobic conditions, and it is often induced by an excess of heavy metals. Correction of Fe deficiency can be made by 2 or 3 foliar sprays in the form of FeSO4 solution.

Within each crop species there is a considerable variation in Fe requirement and degree in expressing Fe chlorosis on Fe deficient soil. Deficiency of iron results in interveinal chlorosis appearing first on the younger leaves with leaf margins and veins remaining green.

Some genotypes showed hidden hunger without showing any visual symptoms. This relates mechanism of iron transformation in the plant system. It has been reported that in spite of adequate iron in soil some genotypes showed severe iron chlorosis. The total uptake of iron by plants showing iron chlorosis was more than healthy plants. Analysis for biologically 37

active form of iron (Fe+2) showed that healthy plants had higher biologically active iron where as the chlorotic plants had very low biologically active form of iron. It appears from this that some genotypes fail to retain iron in Fe+2 form while others can. Similarly different genotypes of lentil expressed different degree of Fe chlorosis on these soils.

Iron deficiency in groundnut (Pampanur) and chickpea (Seethagondi).

Manganese: These leaves show a light interveinal chlorosis developed under a limited supply of Mn. The early stages of the chlorosis induced by manganese deficiency are somewhat similar to iron deficiency. They begin with a light chlorosis of the young leaves and netted veins of the mature leaves especially when they are viewed through transmitted light. As the stress increases, the leaves take on a gray metallic sheen and develop dark freckled and necrotic areas along the veins. A purplish luster may also develop on the upper surface of the leaves. Many cereal crops are extremely susceptible to manganese deficiency. They develop a light chlorosis along with gray specks which elongate and coalesce, and eventually the entire leaf withers and dies. Manganese deficiency can be corrected by applying 10 kg ha-1 manganese sulphate through soil or by foliar application @ 0.12 kg Mn ha-1.

Copper: These copper-deficient leaves are curled, and their petioles bend downward.

Copper deficiency may be expressed as a light overall chlorosis along with the permanent loss of turgor in the young leaves. Recently matured leaves show netted, green veining with areas bleaching to a whitish gray. Some leaves develop sunken necrotic spots and have a tendency to bend downward. Trees under chronic copper deficiency develop a rosette form of growth. Leaves are small and chlorotic with spotty necrosis. Cu deficiency was found in some crops in Nalgonda district which can be corrected by small amount of soil application of CuSO4. Apply 2-6 kg Cu ha-1 as copper sulphate once in 3-4 years. Application should be discontinued with Cu build up in the soil and those with 0.2 ppm Cu or more should not be fertilized with Cu. 38

Boron: These boron-deficient leaves show a light general chlorosis. The tolerance of plants to boron varies greatly, to the extent that the boron concentrations necessary for the growth of plants having a high boron requirement may be toxic to plants sensitive to boron. Boron is poorly transported in the phloem of most plants, with the exception of those plants that utilize complex sugars, such as sorbitol, as transport metabolites. In a recent study, tobacco plants engineered to synthesize sorbitol were shown to have increased boron mobility, and to better tolerate boron deficiency in the soil.

In plants with poor boron mobility, boron deficiency results in necrosis of meristematic tissues in the growing region, leading to loss of apical dominance and the development of a rosette condition. These deficiency symptoms are similar to those caused by calcium deficiency. In plants in which boron is readily transported in the phloem, the deficiency symptoms localize in the mature tissues, similar to those of nitrogen and potassium. Both the pith and the epidermis of stems may be affected, often resulting in hollow or roughened stems along with necrotic spots on the fruit. The leaf blades develop a pronounced crinkling and there is a darkening and crackling of the petioles often with exudation of syrupy material from the leaf blade. The leaves are unusually brittle and tend to break easily. Also, there is often a wilting of the younger leaves even under an adequate water supply, pointing to a disruption of water transport caused by boron deficiency.

Boron deficiency in cotton (Jaffergudem) and groundnut (B. Yerragudi)

Boron deficiency symptoms were found frequently in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields in several field crops like groundnut and cotton, vegetable crops like tomato and plantation crop like coconut in these clusters. Correction of B deficiency can be bade either soil application of 10 kg borax ha-1 or foliar spray of 0.2% borax solution. However once applied, crops on the same fields do not need borax application in next two years. Care should be taken while recommending borax, as repeated B application to soil may lead to B toxicity which results in yield reductions significantly.

39

Molybdenum: These leaves show some mottled spotting along with some interveinal chlorosis. An early symptom for molybdenum deficiency is a general overall chlorosis, similar to the symptom for nitrogen deficiency but generally without the reddish coloration on the undersides of the leaves. This results from the requirement for molybdenum in the reduction of nitrate, which needs to be reduced prior to its assimilation by the plant. Thus, the initial symptoms of molybdenum deficiency are in fact those of nitrogen deficiency.

However, molybdenum has other metabolic functions within the plant, and hence there are deficiency symptoms even when reduced nitrogen is available. In the case of cauliflower, the lamina of the new leaves fail to develop, resulting in a characteristic whiptail appearance. In many plants there is an upward cupping of the leaves and mottled spots developing into large interveinal chlorotic areas under severe deficiency. At high concentrations, molybdenum has a very distinctive toxicity symptom in that the leaves turn a very brilliant orange.

Mo deficiency cannot be identified in field conditions easily though yields are affected by Mo deficiency particularly legume crops.

Site Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) is a widely used term in all parts of the world, generally with reference to addressing nutrient differences which exist within fields, and making adjustments in nutrient application to match these location or soil differences.

SSNM results in reduction in cost of inputs, higher nutrient use efficiency and protects environmental safety. SSNM was done in eight project sites by testing individual fields for nutrient deficiencies and correcting them by applying that particular nutrient depending upon crop requirements. Some of the examples of SSNM are presented in Table 15-18. In Warangal and Nalgonda districts where farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fields showed high P, P dose was reduced.

Potash was not applied at all so far. K was applied in K deficient fields. In Kadapa district cluster, most of the fields are K deficient. Similarly Zn, S and B were recommended depending upon deficiency and crop. For legumes and oilseed crops like sunflower, groundnut, castor, greengram, pigeonpea sulphur application is essential particularly in S deficient fields. In Nalgonda district cluster, some of the fields were iron deficient and last year groundnut crop showed Fe deficiency. Therefore, iron sulphate foliar spray was introduced which benefited the crop considerably.

Depending upon cropâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical stages, nutrient requirement rates and soil texture (light or fine) (high P/low P fixation), nutrient recommendation was done as split doses. In some cluster, fertilizer was applied as placement method to improve nutrient use efficiency.

Nutrient recommendation was also modified depending upon hybrid and variety.

40

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was applying fertilizers every year to groundnut and greengram and getting lower yields. But this year I was advised to omit some fertilizer and add other fertilizers. My crop is very good compared to other farmers. I spent less amount of money compared to previous year. I am happy.â&#x20AC;?

D. Samya Village: Jamlakunta

Table 15. Farmer field specific fertilizer recommendation for oilseed/pulse crop (viz. Groundnut and greengram) based on soil test value for Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda district, AP Farmer No.

Village

Crop

Fertilizer requirement (kg ha-1) Urea

DAP

50

MOP

Gypsum

ZnSO4

1

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

90

2

Jalmakunta tanda

Groundnut

3

New Banjarahills

Green gram

50

4

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

50

5

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

6

Seetamma tanda

Groundnut

50

7

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

50

8

New Banjarahills

Green gram

9

Peddagarakunta tanda

Green gram

10

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

11

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

12

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

13

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

90

150

50

14

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

65

150

50

15

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

65

150

50

16

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

125

65

25

17

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

50

65

50

18

Jalmakunta tanda

Green gram

50

90

50

19

Jalmakunta tanda

Bhendi

90

50

20

Peddagarakunta tanda

Green gram

65

25

125

65

50 150

50 25

125

90

150

90

50 50 50

125 50

50

125 50

90

65

150

50

90

150

50 50

90

50

65

50

41

Table 16. Farmer field specific fertilizer recommendation for groundnut/redgram based on soil test value for B. Yerragudi cluster, Kadapa district, A.P. Farmer No.

Urea (kg)

SSP (kg)

MOP (kg)

ZnSO4(kg)

Borax (kg)

1

10

75

18

10

1

2

10

75

18

-

1

3

10

75

18

10

1

4

10

75

18

-

1

5

10

75

18

10

1

6

10

75

18

10

1

7

10

75

18

10

1

8

10

75

18

10

1

9

10

75

18

10

1

10

10

75

18

10

1

11

10

75

18

10

1

12

10

75

18

10

1

13

10

75

18

10

1

14

10

75

18

10

1

15

10

75

18

10

1

16

10

75

18

10

1

17

10

75

18

10

1

Table 17. Farmer field specific fertilizer recommendation for cotton (variety) based on soil test value for Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal district, A.P. Fertilizer requirement (kg ha-1) Farmer No

42

Location

2 splits

Urea (total amt.)

30 DAS

120

60

60 DAS

DAP (entire amt as basal)

MOP (total amt)

2 splits 30 DAS

60 DAS

ZnSO4 (as basal)

Borax (as basal)

60

65

70

35

35

50

5

1

Jaffergudem

2

Ramannagudem

100

50

50

110

70

35

35

50

5

3

Kushmbai thanda

120

60

60

65

70

35

35

50

5

4

Jaffergudem

120

60

60

65

70

35

35

50

5

5

Jaffergudem

100

50

50

110

90

45

45

50

5

6

Jaffergudem

120

60

60

65

70

35

35

50

5

7

Yapalagadda thanda

120

60

60

65

90

45

45

50

5

8

Yapalagadda thanda

120

60

60

65

50

25

25

50

5

9

Satyanarayanapuram

100

50

50

110

70

35

35

50

5

10

Ramannagudem

100

50

50

110

50

25

25

50

5

Table 18. Farmer field specific fertilizer recommendation for cotton (hybrid) based on soil test value for Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal district, A.P. Fertilizer requirement (kg ha-1) Farmer No

Urea (total amt.)

Location

3 splits

DAP (entire 30 60 90 amt as DAS DAS DAS basal)

MOP (total amt)

3 splits 30 60 90 DAS DAS DAS

ZnSO4 (as basal)

Borax (as basal)

1

Jaffergudem

150

50

50

50

75

75

25

25

25

50

5

2

Ramannagudem

120

40

40

40

125

75

25

25

25

50

5

3

Kushmbai thanda

150

50

50

50

75

75

25

25

25

50

5

4

Jaffergudem

150

50

50

50

75

75

25

25

25

50

5

5

Jaffergudem

120

40

40

40

125

95

35

30

30

50

5

6

Jaffergudem

150

50

50

50

75

75

25

25

25

50

5

7

Yapalagadda thanda

150

50

50

50

75

95

35

30

30

50

5

8

Yapalagadda thanda

150

50

50

50

75

55

25

15

15

50

5

9

Satyanarayanapuram

120

40

40

40

125

75

25

25

25

50

5

10

Ramannagudem

120

40

40

40

125

55

25

15

15

50

5

Fertilizers were distributed for on-farm SSNM demonstrations based on 50:50 percent cost sharing. As per recommendations made for each farmer, fertilizers were applied to each selected farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field. Before this intervention, meetings were organized in these villages and demonstration plots were measured for 0.5 acre as SSNM (improved practice based on soil testing) to compare with farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; practice of blanket application without soil testing (Fig. 7). Fertilizer application in the fields was supported by the scientists and technical staffs of CRIDA with the help of cluster coordinating Agricultural University or NGO or private organizations in order to improve confidence to get reliable data from these on farm trials in eight districts.

Identification of deficient nutrients Soil analysis Demo plots

Meetings Parcipatory soil sampling

Literature Trainings INM Trials

SSNM of farm trials

Fig.7. Towards SSNM and INM in the villages

43

Correction of nutrient deficiencies through site specific nutrient application

Fertilizer distribution to farmers for on farm trails in Dupahad cluster in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh (Nutrients recommendations are made based on soil test results and site specific nutrient requirements of each farmers fields)

44

Correction of nutrient deficiency in B. Yerragudi cluster of Kadapa district. Nutrient recommendations made based on soil testing and accordingly fertilizer distribution was made on 50% shared basis.

(N, P, K, S, Zn and B fertilizers distributed)

45

Field measurements for laying out of on farm demonstration on balanced nutrition in different districts of Andhra Pradesh

46

Application of balanced fertilization in Jaffergudem (Warangal district) and Thummalcheruvu (Khammam district)

Seed cum fertilizer application in B.Yerragudi cluster in Kadapa district

Potassium application in balanced nutrition trials in K deficient B.Yerragudi cluster of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh (Soils are multinutrient deficient)

47

Site specific nutrient application in groundnut and pigeonpea in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fields

Potash application to green gram on K deficiency red soils of Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh

48

Site specific nutrient application in Warangal and Khammam districts of Andhra Pradesh

Balanced use of fertilizer inputs at Kadapa and Nalgonda district clusters

49

Fertilizer placement in red soils of Jaffergudem cluster in Warangal district improved use efficiency of nutrients and productivity of different crops particularly in Bt cotton

Impacts of balanced nutrition In all the eight districts of Andhra Pradesh, impacts of balanced nutrition, SSNM and INM on crop growth, grain yields and economics were monitored intensively. Besides other crop management practices like weeding and pest and disease control measure were followed. Impacts of nutrient management in cotton (Adilabad, Warangal and Khammam), groundnut (Nalgonda and Kadapa), cotton and castor (Mahboobnagar) and mango and groundnut (Anantapur) were documented. Similarly, impacts on crops like tomato, okra, pigeonpea, greengram, sorghum in on-farm trials were also documented.

A uniform data recording sheet was prepared and circulated to field and technical staffs for collecting yield data. Crop yields (gram and straw) were recorded and presented in figures for individual farmers.

In Jaffergudem cluster of Warangal, balanced nutrition improved cotton yields significantly in many farmers’ fields. In some of the farmers’ fields, cotton yields reached to 1.6 t ha-1 with balanced nutrition registering the increase in yields from 5 to 30 percent over farmers’ practice.

In this cluster, farmers apply fertilizers in excess particularly DAP, therefore soils in many farmers fields showed available P as high as 50-60 kg ha-1. However, some of the emerging nutrient deficiencies such as K, S, and Zn etc. were not applied in farmer’s practice. Another specific problem associated with soils in the cluster is salinity. Though cotton, a predominant crop in this cluster is tolerant to salinity, other pulses and quality crops like tobacco suffer from

50

Template for yield data recording under NAIP in different clusters Name of the District Name of the cluster Sl No

Name of the village

Name of the farmer/ Father’s name

Crop Taken

T1 Straw Grain (quintals/ha)

T2 Straw Grain (quintals/ha)

T1: Farmers Practice, T2: Balanced nutrient treatment Yields should be recorded in quintals/ha Inputs for T1 and T2 should be specified. Grain and Straw samples should be collected for chemical analysis

salinity. Liming is suggested when salinity is high and pH is below 6.0. Most of the farmers (250 attended farmers meet on 13-5-2010) informed that upto 30 to 40 percent yield improvements were observed in most of the crops due to balanced nutrition in Warangal district. Based on this feedback, the intervention on balanced nutrition was extended to 70 other farmers’ fields in the district during kharif 2010 on cotton.

In Adilabad district, the benefits of balanced nutrition were much higher compared to that in Warangal. This could be due to continuous cotton based system in these tribal regions with the cotton yields upto 2 to 2.5 t ha-1 and low levels of fertilizer application to cotton, chickpea or cotton-pigeonpea intercropping system, resulted in mining of soil nutrients.

Though, these villages are with 100 percent tribal population, the cotton is being grown for last 10-15 years without much input. This is one of the reasons for higher cotton response to balanced nutrition. As such FYM application to cotton is not common in these villages.

Soils in Tummala Cheruvu cluster in Khammam district are fine textured red soils with multinutrient deficiencies. Cotton yields (Bt) ranged from 1.1 to 2.4 t ha-1 in farmers’ practice and yield levels improved to the range of 1.2 to 3.1 t ha-1 in balanced nutrition showing above 50% crop response. As soils are deep and fine textured, with better soil moisture storage resulted in the additional benefits due to balanced nutrition.

Soils of B. Yerragudi cluster in Kadapa district are highly degraded, coarse textured, shallow with poor soil fertility, low in organic carbon, low in N,P,K,S and Zn status and 51

regular application of these nutrients is essential. However application of urea and DAP is common in this area. But with multiple nutrient deficiencies in soil, groundnut responded to balanced nutrition to the extent of 15 to 45%.

On the other hand, soils of Anantapur are low in organic carbon, available N, K, Ca, Zn and S. Moreover moisture stress due to low rainfall (<500 mm) and low moisture retention (due to shallow and sandy nature of soils) resulted in lower groundnut yields. Regular addition of DAP resulted in accumulation of P in soil in this cluster similar to the case in Warangal cluster. The response of groundnut to balanced nutrition ranged from 20 to 50% but generally it was around 25%.

Among rabi crops, chickpea (variety JG-11) showed significant response to balanced nutrition in Seethagondi cluster of Adilabad district. Being a pulse crop, its S requirement is met from added sulphur in the form of gypsum besides application of other nutrients.

However, the variation in the crop response to balanced nutrition was wide among farmers fields. The improvement in chickpea yields with balanced nutrition was from 12 to 60% over farmers’ practice. This indicates that with improved varieties of chickpea (JG-11) well nourished crop can yield upto 1.6 t ha-1 on deep black soils of Adilabad district.

In Jamistapur cluster of Mahboobnagar district, rabi groundnut (variety K6) yielded upto 2 t ha-1 with balanced nutrition. The percent increase in groundnut yields ranged from 14 to 18 in farmers’ fields.

Farmer’s response “I was using fertilizers in excess particularly N and P. Based on soil testing and soil health cards I was advised to go for lesser N and P and include other deficient nutrients like K, S, Zn, B. Within same cost, now my cotton crop is very good.”

Farmer from Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal district.

52

“I was not using any other fertilizers except some urea and DAP. With CRIDA recommendation, the balanced and INM practices resulted in higher yields of cotton.

Farmer from Seethagondi cluster, Adilabad district

Bala alanced nut ala nutrition (t/ha))

Farmer's practic ctice e (t/ha)

% yield eld increa ease

1.8 80

35.00 0

1..60

30.00 0

% yiel yiel ield d iincr ncreas ncr ease eas

Yield Yie ld (t/ (t/ha) ha)

1.40

25.00

1.20 1.00

20 0.00

0.80 0

15 5.00

0.60

10 0.00

0.40

5.00

0.20 0..00

0.00 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 11 1 12 13 3

Farmer No.

Fig. 8a. Impact of balanced fertilization in cotton yield in farmer’s field of Jaffergudem cluster, Warangal district. (2009-2010) Farmer's practi ctice ce (t/ha)

% yiel eldd incrreas el e e

3.0 00

60.

0.00 0

2.50

50.00 0

2.00

40.00

1.50 0

30 0.00

1.00

20 0.00

0.50

10.00

% yiel yiel ield d iincr ncreas ncr ease eas

Yield Yie ld (t/ (t/ha) ha)

Ballanced nut utrition (t/ha))

0.00 0.

0.00 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Farmer No.

Fig. 8b. Impact of balanced fertilization in cotton yield in farmer’s field of Seethagondi cluster, Adilabad district. (2009-2010)

53

Farmer's pract ctic icee (t/ha)

% yi yield inncr c ease

3.5 50 50

60 0.00

3.00

50.0 00

2.50

4 .00 40

2.00

30.00

1.50

20.00

1.00 0.50

10.00 0

0.0 00

0.0 00 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

% yield increase

Yield (t/ha)

Balaanced nuttri rittion (t/ha)

13

Farmer No. Fig. 8c. Impact of balanced fertilization in Bt-cotton yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of T. Cheruvu cluster, Khammam district. (2009-2010)

Farmer's pra ract ctic ice (t/ha)

% yi yield inncr c ease

1.20

50.0 00 45.00 0 40.00 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 0 10.00 0 5.00 0 0.0 00

Yield (t/ha)

1.00 0.80 0.60 0.40 0.20 0.0 00 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

% yield increase

Balaanced nutri rittion (t/ha)

13

Farmer No. Fig. 8d. Impact of balanced fertilization in groundnut yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of B. Yerragudi cluster Kadapa district. (2009-2010)

54

Balaanced nutri rittion (t/ha)

Farmer's pract ctic icee (t ( /ha)

% yi yiel e d incr crease 60 0.0 . 0

0.90 90 0 0..80

Yield (t/ha)

40.00

0.60 0.50

30.00

0.40

20.00

0.30 0.20

% yiiel eld ld incr inc ease

50.00 0

0.70

10.00 0

0.10 0.

0.00 00

0.00 00 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Farmer No. Fig. 8e. Impact of balanced fertilization in groundnut yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Pampanur cluster, Anantapur district. (2009-2010)

Farmer's pract ctic icee (t ( /ha)

% yi yiel e d incr crease

1.60 0

70 0.0 . 0

1..40

60.00 0

Yield (t/ha)

1.20

50.00

1.00

40.00

0.80

30.00

0.60

20.00

0 40 0.

0.20 0.

10.00 0

0.00 00

0.00 00 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

% yiiel eld ld incr inc ease

Balan nc nutri nced riti tion (t/ha)

10 11 12 13 14

Farmer No. Fig. 8f. Impact of balanced fertilization in chickpea (var. JG-11) yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Seethagondi cluster, Adilabad district. (rabi season, 2009-2010)

55

Balan nc nutri nced riti tion (t/ha)

Farmer's pra ract ctic i e (t/ha)

% yi yield inncr c ease

2.50 50 0

20 0.00

Yield (t/ha)

16.00 0 14.00 12.00

1.50

10.00 8.00

1.00

6.00

% yield ld increase

18.0 00 2.00

4.00

0 50 0.

2.00 0 0.0 00 00

0.0 00 1

2

3

4

Farmer No. Fig. 8g. Impact of balanced fertilization in rabi groundnut (var. K6) yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Jamistapur cluster, Mahboobnagar district. (2009-2010)

BN

FP

%yie %y i ld increase

1..6 1.4

85.00

Yield (t/ha)

1.2

80.00

1 0.8

75.00

0.6

70.00

04 0.

% yield ld increase

90.0 00

65.00 0

0.2 0.

0

60 0.00 Ground ndnut

Greengr gram

Crops Fig. 8h. Impact of balanced fertilization in yields of groundnut and greengram in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district.

56

BN

FP

%yield ld increase

40 0.0

30.0 .0 0 25.0 0

30.0

% yield d increase

Yield (t/ha)

35.0

20.0

25.0 20.0

15.0

15.0

10.0

10.0

5.0

5.0 0.0 0

0..0 G oundnu Gr ut( t(4)

Tomato (2)

Bendi (1) Be

Crops Fig. 8i. Impact of balanced fertilization in yields of some vegetable crops in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district during kharif, 2009 * Figures in parenthesis indicate no. of trials conducted

FP

%yie %y ield increase

35 5

80.0 00

30

70.00 0 60.00

25

50.00

20

40.00

15

30.00

1 10

20.00 0

5

10.0 00

0

0.0 00 00 T mato To

Bendi

% yield ld incr increase

Yield (t/ha)

BN

Palak

Crops Fig. 8j. Impact of balanced fertilization in yields of some vegetable crops in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district.

57

Table 19. Yield increase in greengram due to integrated nutrient management (4 t ha-1FYM) in Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district.

Name of the farmers

Village name

INM (q/ha)

Farmers Practice (q/ha)

Dharavath Gopi

New Banjara hills

2.5

1.5

Nunavath Deepla

Jalmalkunta thanda

2.2

1.1

Dharavath Motya

Jalmalkunta thanda

2.0

1.0

Lavuri Mandya

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.6

1.0

Banoth Somla

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.0

0.6

Nunavath Bhadraiah

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.1

0.6

Bhukya Nandya

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.5

1.3

Nunavath Kotaiah

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.5

1.2

Bhukya Srinu

Jalmalkunta thanda

1.7

1.0

Nunavath Lalu

Jalmalkunta thanda

2.2

1.0

INM

3.0

Farmers Practice

2.5 Yield (q/ha)

2.0 0 1..5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Farmer's No. Fig. 9. Impact of INM in rabi greengram yield in farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district. (kharif, 2010)

Impact of balanced nutrition on farm income Net income due to balanced nutrition in cotton was upto Rs. 20,000 ha-1 while this was around Rs. 16000 ha-1 in farmers practice (suboptimal level of nutrients) in Jaffergudem cluster of Warangal district. Since farmers practice consists higher amount of nutrients the B:C ratio was not much higher with balanced nutrition over farmers practice (Fig. 10a-10g).

However, net income was much higher in the case of cotton with balanced nutrition in

58

Seethagondi cluster of Adilabad district. B:C ratio of balanced nutrition was much higher than that of farmers’ practice.

In case of Tummala Cheruvu cluster in Khammam district, net returns of Bt cotton with balanced nutrition was upto Rs. 50000 ha-1 and B:C ratio upto 4.5. Net income also increased in groundnut in southern Andhra Pradesh (Kadapa and Anantapur) with balanced nutrition.

The net income among farmers showed upto Rs. 6000 ha-1 in Kadapa and upto Rs. 5000 ha-1 in Anantapur district (Fig.10a-10g). The B:C ratio was significantly higher in both the districts with balanced nutrition as compared to farmers practice.

Net retu return rn (FP) (FP)

B:C ratio (BN)

B:C ratio (F (FP)

2500 00

2.5

200 000

2.0

15 5000

1.5

100 000

1.0

500 00

0.5

B:C ratio

Net return (Rs./ha)

Net retu turn (BN)

0.0

0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11 1

12

13 3

Farmer No.

Fig. 10a. Impact of balanced fertilization in net return and benefit:cost ratio of cotton cultivation in farmers’ field of Jaffergudem cluster of Warangal district. (2009-2010)

Net return (FP))

B:C ratio (BN)

B:C ra atio t (FP)

50000

4

45000 0

3.5

40000 0

3

3500 00 3000 00

2.5

2500 00

2

20000 0

1.5

15000 0

B:C ratio ratio

Net return (Rs./ha)

Net return (BN)

1

10000

0.5

5000 0

0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Farmer No.

Fig. 10b. Impact of balanced fertilization in net return and benefit:cost ratio of cotton cultivation in farmers’ field of Seethagondi cluster of Adilabad district. (2009-2010)

59

Net retu turn (BN)

Net return (FP)

B:C ra atio (BN)

B:C ra atio t (FP) P)

5.0 0 4.5

500 000

4.0 3.5

40 0000

3.0

30 0000

2.5 2.0

200 000

B:C C rati tio

Net return (Rs./ha)

6000 00

1.5 1.0 0

1000 00 00

0.5 0.

0.0

0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11 1

12

13

Farmer No.

Fig. 10c. Impact of balanced fertilization in net return and benefit:cost ratio of Bt-cotton cultivation in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; field of T. Cheruvu cluster of Khammam district.

Net retur turn (BN)

Net return (FP)

B:C C ra ratio (BN)

B:C C ra r tio (F FP)

2.5

600 00

2.0 0

50 000 40 000

1.5 5

30 000

1.0 0

200 00 0.5

1000 0 0

0.0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11 1

12

13

Farm Fa rmer er No No.

Fig. 10d. Impact of balanced fertilization in net return and benefit:cost ratio of groundnut cultivation in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; field of B. Yerragudi cluster of Kadapa district.

60

B:C ratio

Net return (Rs./ha)

7000 0

Net returrn (BN)

Net return (FP)

B:C ratio rati (BN)

B:C ra ratio (FP) P

2..5

4500 0 400 00

2.0 0

350 00 300 00

1.5

250 00 200 00

1.0

B:C ratio

Net return (Rs./ha)

5000

1500 0 1000 0

0.5 5

500 0

0.0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Farm Fa rmer er No No.

Fig. 10e. Impact of balanced fertilization in net return and benefit:cost ratio of groundnut cultivation in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; field of Pampanur cluster, Anantapur district.

Gross return (FP)

Additi tiona o l inco ome m

160000 00 0

5300

14000 00 00

52 200

1200 000

510 00 500 00

100 0000

490 00

800 000

480 00

600 000

47 70 700

4000 00

4600 46

20000 0

4500

0

440 00 Ground un nut(4)

Tomato (2)

Additi ition onal al income (Rs./ha) a)

Gross return (Rs./ha)

Gross re return (BN)

Bendii (1 (1)

Crop Cr ops s

Fig. 10f. Impact of balanced fertilization in gross return and additional income realized by farmers through vegetable cultivation in Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district. * Figures in parenthesis indicate no. of trials conducted

61

Fig. 10g. Impact of INM in net return and benefit:cost ratio of greengram cultivation in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; field of Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda district.

Table 20. Economics of balanced fertilization in cotton and groundnut cultivation in NAIP clusters in Andhra Pradesh during 2008-2010.

Name of the cluster

Crop

Mean net return (Rs ha-1)

Mean B:C ratio

BN

FP

BN

FP

BN

FP

Jaffergudem, Warangal

Cotton

31543

27048

15091

12569

1.95

1.84

Seethagondi, Adilabad

Cotton

54655

38631

37907

23724

3.26

2.72

T. Cheruvu, Khammam

Cotton

55273

43973

38557

29741

3.35

3.05

B. Yerragudi, Kadapa

Groundnut

9647

7290

3977

2885

1.78

1.65

Pampanur, Anantapur

Groundnut

9668

8157

4668

3723

1.82

1.66

BN: soil test based nutrient recommendations FP: Suboptimal/excess use of N and P

62

Mean gross return (Rs ha-1)

Higher benefits of balanced nutrition in Seethagondi in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh.

Balanced nutrition improved cotton yields in Thummalacheruvu (Khammam district)

Higher groundnut yields with balanced nutrition in Dupahad cluster in Nalgonda district

63

Balanced nutrition improved cotton yields in Jaffergudem cluster in Warangal district

Influence of balanced nutrition on maize in Ibrahimpur cluster in Rangareddy district

Impacts of balanced nutrition on groundnut in groundnut in B.Yerragudi cluster in Kadapa district

64

Yield improvements in cotton and castor in Zamistapur cluster of Mahaboobnagar district

Impact of balanced nutrition on mango and groundnut in Pampanur cluster of Anantapur district

Impact of INM on greengram green ngram in Dupahad cluster ngra

65

Impact of INM on greengram and groundnut in Dupahad cluster (FYM added plots)

Improved performance of pigeonpea (Kadapa) and cotton (Warangal) through integrated nutrient management

Improved performance of sole cotton and cotton+pigeonpea intercropping at Warangal through balanced nutrition

66

Crop yield measurements in different clusters

67

Soil health improvement through Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) Role of organic carbon in soil health Organic carbon is not directly used by the plant. Organic matter has to decompose to simpler forms before it produces any effect. Its breakdown product (humus) acts as a key controller of the rooting environment. Humus is known to favor many useful physical, chemical and biological processes that occur within the soil. Accordingly, soil organic matter is a key element of soil management that prevents erosion and improves water availability.

Other soil physical characteristics that are linked to soil organic matter are: infiltration, water retention, bulk density and soil strength. When spread on the surface as mulch, organic matter moderates the bomb-like effect of falling rain drops and prevents dispersionmediated erosion, surface crusting, and hard setting. This is a major benefit to rainfed Alfisols that dominate the semi-arid tropics of the world. In India, Alfisols and associated soils occupy an area of 117 m ha and globally these soils cover 33 per cent of the land area in semi-arid tropics alone. The chemical soil properties that are moderated favourably in soil environment by soil organic matter include mineralization of nutrients and their availability to plants, cation exchange capacity, and binding of heavy metals and pesticides. Normally, 95 per cent of N and S residue in organic matter. Almost, 70 per cent of Zn and Cu in soils occur in organic form and 60 to 80 per cent of soil P is of organic origin. Thus, a fall in organic matter represents a serious decline in nutrient availability.

Organic carbon maintenance in rainfed soils Maintaining or arresting the decline in soil organic matter (SOM) is the most potent weapon in fighting against soil degradation and ensure sustainability of agriculture in dryland area. Consequences of depletion of organic matter are poor soil physical health, loss of favourable biology and occurrence of multiple nutrient deficiencies. It was stated that in rainfed arid, semi-arid and sub-humid tracts, next to poor rain water management, depletion of nutrients caused by organic matter deficiency is an important cause of soil degradation. Improving organic matter is, therefore, crucial in the sustenance of soil quality and future agricultural productivity.

Results of long term fertilizer experiments, continuing for almost last 30 years proved beyond doubt that organic manures are necessary to sustain the productivity besides improving soil organic carbon content (Srinivasarao et al. 2009b). However, maintenance of organic carbon is difficult in drylands as the extent of carbon loss is rapid due to high temperatures

68

and at least four times higher organic matter inputs are required in tropical regions than in temperate environments to maintain the soil organic matter. A number of organic resources are available in India such as FYM, crop residue, live stock dung and green leaf manures.

However, under dryland conditions, process of organic matter decomposition is faster and therefore organic matter disappears rapidly. Therefore, frequent and adequate quantities of organic manure additions are essential to maintain soil organic carbon. To achieve this in different rainfed regions, various integrated nutrient management (INM) options are being followed based on locally available organic resources. Build up or depletion of soil organic carbon under these intergrated nutrient management practices and understanding its dynamics under various rainfed production systems will lead to sustainable management of soil organic carbon and arrest the soil degradation.

Organic matter is the storehouse of many plant nutrients and it strongly influences the biological activity and productive capacity of soils. Over the years, efforts have been made to improve organic matter status in continuously cropped soils by fertilization, manuring and residue management practices. Studying 21 locations across rainfed regions of the country covering eight production systems revealed that most soils are low in organic carbon, available N, low to high in available P, K and S. Many soils are deficient in available Mg, Zn and B (Srinivasarao and Vittal, 2007). Therefore, crop and soil management practices have to be tailored to ensure long term crop/ cropping systems that add organic matter to the soil. Application of plant nutrients and organic amendments, inclusion/cultivation of legumes favour improvement of soil fertilty and sustainability. This is directly related to maintaining the quantity of soil organic matter, which is a critical component of soil productivity. However, resource poor farmers in dryland regions apply meager quantity of nutrients and thus crops suffer from multi nutrient deficiencies. The best option seems to integration of farm generated organic manure with inorganic fertilizers in order to improve soil organic matter, improving productivity and sustainability of dryland agriculture. Crop rotation, residue management and fertilization can help to maintain the level of soil organic matter. The availability of organic crop residues is major problem in India due to their competing uses but some products like gliricidia, vermicomposting, tank silt application, cover crops, and locally available organic resources like groundnut shells (for example at Anantapur) are available for soil application as they do not have major other alternate uses.

Though chemical fertilization has demonstrable effect on yields, poor farmers in rainfed regions also rely on FYM and other organic manures because of cost factor. Therefore, application of combination of inorganic and organic manures (INM) is the best option for maintaining long term sustainability of soil productivity. Keeping in view of the importance of soil health, various organic resources available in the eight clusters of the project area was

69

documented (Table ) and based on these available organic resources, integrated nutrient management strategies were developed and implemented on farmers’ fields.

Integrated Nutrient Management: Concept and benefits Integrated Plant Nutrient Supply (IPNS) is an approach, which adapts plant nutrition to specific farming systems and particular yield target.” with consideration of the resource base, available plant nutrient source, and the socioeconomic background. Further, since plant nutrients are transferred in cyclical processes, IPNS involves monitoring all pathways of flow of plant nutrients in agricultural production systems to maximize profit so that farming as a profession can be sustained, which is the only way to produce food. Thus IPNS demands a holistic approach to nutrient management for crop production and it involves judicious combined use of fertilizers, biofertilizers, organic manures (FYM, compost, vermi, biogas slun), green manures, crop residues etc.), and growing of legumes in the cropping systems (Prasad, 2008). IPNS also encompasses balanced fertilization and SSNM. Considerable research on IPNS has been done in India. Moreover, long-term fertilizer experiments have shown that addition of organic manures in addition to NPK (add-on series) results in high yields over a long period of time as compared to a decline in yield over time when only inorganic fertilizers were applied (Swarup, 2002). Sarkar and Singh (2002) responded that for soybean-wheat cropping system in the acidic soils of Ranchi (pH < 5.4), soybean yield (averaged over 28 years) was 0.33 Mg ha-1 and wheat yield, 0.43 Mg ha-1 for plots receiving N alone as compared to 1.59 Mg ha-1 in soybean and 2.65 Mg ha-1 in wheat when NPK was applied. Application of FYM with NPK increased the soybean yield to 1.86 Mg ha-1 and that of wheat to 3.19 Mg ha-1. Further, the effects of NPK + FYM were at par with NPK + lime, implying that in acid soils continuous application of FYM can also partially offset soil acidity.

Data from ‘replacement series’ trials under the Project Directorate on Cropping System Research (PDCSR) reveal that in most cropping systems especially rice-wheat and rice-rice cropping systems, application of 50% N through green manure, FYM or crop residues, and 50% of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) to kharif rice and 100% RDF to rabi crop (rice/wheat) gave the same yield as obtained with 100% RDF to both kharif and rabi crops.

These results show that 25% NPK applied to the cropping system can be saved. However, most inferences in such studies are based on crop yields and the results are reported without accounting for NPK added through organic manures and the interaction effects also have not been studied.

Green manure crops have the intrinsic potential to recycle considerable quantities of organic materials and nutrients. It was reported that Sesbania adds/ recycles much more 70

NPK as compared to other green manures and FYM. On the other hand, wheat straw adds the least amount of NPK. The most important finding was that Sesbania or cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and mungbean (Vigna radiata) residue incorporation produced the same grain yield of rice + wheat without any N application to lice, as obtained with 120 kg N ha-1 applied to rice in the control plot. Further, productivity of lice-wheat cropping could be raised by 1.2 Mg ha-1 with 80 kg N ha-l applied to rice over 120 kg N ha-l applied in control plots (no green manure, residue, or FYM). FYM and Leucaena loppings were, however, inferior to Sesbania or cowpea green manure, or mungbean residue incorporation. Although incorporation of wheat straw was the least effective, it still produced more grain than in the control.

Legumes are the most important component of IPNS. They may be grown as a green manure, grain crop, or as a dual purpose crop (grain as well as green manure) in cropping systems. Soil restoring capacity of legumes has been known in India since historic times even when their capacity to fix N was not known. Legumes fix 50-500 kg N ha-1 depending upon the crop and its growth period, and leave a residual N varying from 30-70 kg N ha-1 to the succeeding. It was reported a saving of 5.6 to 39.1 kg N ha-1 in wheat following mungbean or uridbean (Vigna mungo). The N-saving in wheat decreased as the level of N application was increased. It is estimated that in India legumes fix about 2.4 Tg of N annually.

Green manures contribute 60-120 kg N ha-1 to the succeeding crop. In a study on a sodic soil, green manured crop supplied with 75 kg N + 30 kg PPs +25 kg KP ha-l produced same grain yield as the one receiving 180 kg N + 90 kg PPs + 75 kg KP + 5kg Zn ha-1, showing that benefits of green manuring are not limited to N only. Despite such encouraging results, the area under green manure crops has been declining, mainly because of the nonremunerative nature of these crops. A better alternative is a dual purpose legume such as cowpea or mungbean. When mungbean is grown as a summer catch crop and its residue is incorporated in the soil after one picking of pods (giving about 0.5 Mg ha-1 grain), it contributes N equivalent to 60-90 kg ha-1 to the cropping system. Organic manures also supply small amounts of and when applied regularly over a long time can help to avoid micronutrient deficiencies. Application of organic manures also improves the soil physical, chemical, and biological properties.

Biofertilizers [Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azosprillum, blue green algae (BGA), azolla, phosphate solubilizing organisms (PSO, PSB, PSF), vesicular arbuscular mycorrhyza (VAM)] can become an important component of IPNS special1y dryland agriculture, where only low levels of fertilizers are applied. Organisms accelerating the decomposition of crop residues also have a role.

71

Table 21. Inventory of organic resources available in eight target districts of Andhra Pradesh District

Cluster

Organic manures available

Adilabad

Seetagondi

FYM, gliricidia, cotton residue, redgram residue, vermicompost

Rangareddy

Ibrahimpur

Compost, maize residue, redgram residue, vermicompost, FYM

Warangal

Jaffergudem

FYM, cotton and pigeonpea residue, gliricidia

Khammam

Tummala Cheruvu

Redgram and cotton residue, FYM

Mahboobnagar

Jamistapur

FYM, cotton redgram residue

Anantapur

Pampanur

Groundnut shells, horsegram incorporation, FYM, gliricidia, vermicompost

Kadapa

B. Yerragudi

FYM, vermicompost, groundnut shells, green manure

Nalgonda

Dupahad

FYM, vermicompost, gliricidia, redgram residue, groundnut shells

Farmyard manure Farmyard manure (FYM) is an important form of organic matter. However, its competing uses as fire wood which has become an obstacle in its usage in agriculture. FYM is the most popular form of organic manure. It consists of 0.5% N, 0.2% P and 0.5% K besides all secondary, micro and beneficial nutrient elements. It has been a practice applying FYM regularly to fields before ploughing for many decades. However, decrease of cattle population in the villages and its competing use for firewood limiting its addition to soil in recent years.

Nevertheless, farmers prefer to apply FYM to fields whatever limited quantities available at least once in three years or in rotation.

In all 50-60 villages of NAIP clusters, FYM is available though at variable quantities.

FYM is being applied to specific crops like vegetables etc. Besides nutrition and soil health FYM also improves soil moisture retention which resulted in tolerance of soil plant system to intermittent droughts. This was observed in most of the crops during 2009 drought year

Addition of FYM in different clusters

72

in FYM treated fields, crops withstood more period (at least 5-8 days) as compared to untreated plots.

Integrated nutrient management through FYM and fertilizers in Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda (above left) and Ibrahimpur cluster of Rangareddy (above right) and B. Yerragudi cluster of Kadapa (below)

FYM applied cotton crop could tolerate to intermittent droughts in Seethagondi cluster of Adilabad district

73

Improved nodulation in chickpea with FYM addition (Chickpea acreage increasing in Adilabad district)

FYM addition to field crops and mango orchards in Kadapa district.

Crop residues for soil health management Crop residues can be converted into high-value manure of better quality than farmyard manure, and its use, along with chemical fertilizers, can help sustain or even increase yield.

Inorganic fertilizers have played a highly significant role in intensive cropping systems, bringing about varied increase in crop production. However, with the increased use of inorganic fertilizers alone, often in an unbalanced manner, problems such as diminishing soil health and multiple nutrient deficiencies have started appearing recently in various pockets of the highly potential rainfed regions. Efficient crop residue management can play 74

a vital role in refurbishing soil productivity as well as in increasing the efficiency of inorganic fertilizer. Residue management is receiving a great deal of attention because of its diverse and positive effects on soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Crop residues must be considered a natural resource and not a waste.

Availability of crop residues Major field crops, especially cereals, produce large quantities of stem and leaf in addition to their saleable product, which is usually seed. The straw or stover is usually over half the harvestable vegetation of the crop. Humans cannot eat such coarse roughages, but they can be transformed into economic products by livestock. Straw is the stems and leaves of small cereals; chaff is husks and glumes of seed removed during. Modern combine-harvesters generally deliver straw and chaff together; other threshing equipment separates them.

Stover is the field residues of large cereals, such as maize and sorghum. The leaves and stems of pulses are variously described as haulms or vines. Stubble is the stumps of the reaped crop, left in the field after harvest. Agro-industrial wastes are by-products of the primary processing of crops, including brans, milling offal, dal polishing, press-cakes and molasses. These are mostly concentrating or near concentrate feeds, but since they depend on processing rather than crop production. Brans from on-farm husking of cereals and pulses are fed to livestock or foraged directly by backyard fowls.

Straws and stovers have always been an important part of agriculture. Until the advent of cheap inorganic fertilizers and mechanization, they were an integral part of large-scale farming as feed for draught and other stock and litter for the production of manure, which was essential to the maintenance of soil fertility and sustainability of crop production. At the small-scale farming and subsistence levels, agricultural residues have retained their importance; indeed, the importance is growing because of the everdecreasing access to free grazing as cropping area expands as well of recycling of waste to maintain soil health.

Competing uses of crop residues Though benefits of crop residue incorporation are well documented, the major problem is its availability. Most of the crop residues are taken away except root portion in rainfed regions. Above all, the several other farming practices such as reckless tillage methods, harvest of every small component of biological produce and virtually no return of any plant residue back to the soil, burning of the existing residue in the field itself for preparation of clean seed bed, open grazing etc aggravate the process of soil degradation.

75

Straws, stovers and chaff have many uses other than as animal feed within the farm economy, and these must be taken into account when assessing availability and profitability in livestock feeding systems. Within livestock production systems, straw is also used as litter and bedding (providing farmyard manure or compost), and chopped straw is locally much in demand as poultry litter. Straw, especially rice straw, is often purchased by paper factories; straw is also widely sold for use as packing materials; straw and rice husk is widely used in semi-artisan brick manufacture; chopped straw mixed with mud is used for plastering, both internally and (in hot, dry climates) externally; the strong stems of maize, sorghum and bulrush millet are used in traditional building, screens and grain stores; long straw is used as thatch; and straws and stovers are used as fuel in areas of scarcity, alone or chopped and mixed into dung cakes.

Residue management options in NAIP target districts For sustainable rainfed agriculture, the management of crop residues must from an integral part of the future tillage practices. There are several options available to farmers for the management of crop residues, including burning-the common practice, baling and removal, incorporation and surface retention. Burning, in addition to promoting loss of organic matter, nutrients and soil biota, also causes air pollution and associated ill effects on human and animal health. Baling is not practiced at the farmer level. Removal of crop residues is a loss of organic sources for soil health but is necessary to feed livestock and sustain mixed farming. Incorporation is a better option but it requires large amounts of energy and time; leads to temporary immobilization of nutrients, especially nitrogen; and the C: N ratio needs to be corrected by applying nitrogen at the time of incorporation.

Impact of surface residue retention on soil health Moderates soil temperature: Surface residue retention moderates soil temperature by avoiding soil temperature by avoiding direct exposure of soil to sunlight and/or acting by physical barrier to the heat loss from the soil as well as by increasing the dielectric constant due to moisture conservation. During summers, the maximum soil temperature remains lower and during winters the minimum temperature remains higher compared to bare soil which helps in avoiding adverse effect on crop.

Conserves soil moisture: The surface retained crop residues act as mulch which considerably reduces the evaporation losses from soil and helps in conserving soil and helps in conserving soil moisture. It is of immense importance in areas having scare water resources. In irrigated areas also, it will help in reducing the irrigation water

76

requirement of the crop leading to less ground water mining which is responsible for falling water table in north-western plains.

The great role of stubble in protecting soil against both hydraulic and aeolian erosion is well known. Stubble mulching allied to minimum tillage is a well-established technique for protecting soil and conserving moisture in large-scale farming in cold semi-arid regions.

Stover left on the field will also protect the soil, and cutting crops like maize and sorghum well above soil level can provide useful protection to the soil. In small-scale farm systems, however, straw and stover are often so greatly sought after as feed, thatch, bedding and fuel that crops are frequently cut to ground level, and maize roots may be dug out and dried as fuel.

Helps building up organic carbon and soil fertility: The slow decomposition compared to incorporation helps in building up the soil organic carbon. The soil organic carbon increased from 0.31 to almost 0.50 percent after your rice wheat crop cycles where the residue was either retained or incorporated. The build-up was higher in surface retained residues. In case of burning, there was marginal decrease in soil organic carbon. Besides organic carbon, regular addition of crop residues can cover larger part of nutrient requirement of crop plants. Nutrient contents of manure and different crop residues are presented in table.

Reduces soil erosion: The surface retained residue absorbs the rain drop impact, helps in maintaining the soil structure which leads to increased infiltration and reduced runoff.

Moreover, it acts as a physical barrier for water runoff as well as direct effect of wind on soil.

Reduces nitrogen immobilization: The surface retained crop residue due to limited contact with soil avoids short-term tying up of nutrients as that observed in incorporation. The top dressing of nitrogen in surface retained reduces must be done before irrigation to avoid interaction by the residues and the volatilization losses.

Reduces weed infestation: Crop residues may influence the weed seed reserve in the soil directly or indirectly and also the efficiency of soil-applied herbicides. Residue retention on the soil surface in combination with a zero-till system may also significantly contribute to the suppression of weeds. Zero-till systems help reduce weed emergence though avoiding exposure to light and through mechanical impedance to the weed seed. Due to its influence soil temperature and soil moisture, which may increase or decrease weed germination depending on the types of weeds, soil conditions, and type and quality of crop residue. At lower residue levels the weed populations, may be higher than in residue-free conditions, but at higher residue levels weeds will be reduced considerably.

77

Legume crop residues available in the target districts can be made use

Table 22. NPK content (kg t-1) of some organic manures and crop residues of some rainfed crops Manure / residue

N

P2O5

K2O

Total

Cattle / buffalo dung

5.0

2.0

5.0

12.0

Sheep / goat dung

6.5

5.0

3.0

11.8

Pig dung

6.0

5.0

4.0

15.0

Manures

Poultry manure

18.0

23.0

14.0

55.0

Farmyard manure

7.8

7.2

6.5

21.5

Biogas slurry

14.0

9.2

8.4

31.6

Vermi compost

18.0

20.0

8.0

46.0

Rice

6.1

1.8

13.8

21.7

Wheat

4.8

1.6

11.8

18.2

Sorghum

5.2

2.3

13.4

20.9

Maize

5.2

1.8

13.5

20.5

Crop residues

Pearlmillet

4.5

1.6

11.4

17.5

Pulses

12.9

3.6

16.4

32.9

Oilseeds

8.0

2.1

9.3

19.4

Groundnut

16.0

2.3

13.7

32.0

Sugarcane

4.0

1.8

12.8

18.6

Impact of crop residue like groundnut shells on soil organic carbon, water retention and nutrient status in red soils of Anantapur Groundnut shell residue was tested as organic amendment in light textured red soils of Anantapur. With regular additions soil health parameters like organic carbon, microbial

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biomass carbon, particulate organic carbon etc. were improved besides N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B status of soil. Nutrient status of groundnut shells collected from Anantapur district is presented in Table 23. Water retention characteristics such as available water content of soils improved with the addition of groundnut shells at 4 t ha-1 annually.

Effect of different INM treatments consisting of groundnut shells and FYM at Anantapur for longer period on soil available N is shown in Figure 11. Available N varied from 37.5 kg ha-1 to 78.5 kg ha-1 in untreated plots to 60.1 to 144.5 kg ha-1 in 50% NPK + 4t groundnut shells ha-1.

Water retention characteristics There was a considerable improvement in water retention at 1/3 bar and 15 bar and the available water content in soil profile due to various INM practices (Figure 12). In surface layer (0-20 cm), water retention at 1/3 bar increased from 9.49 per cent in control to 16.75 per cent in INM treatment. In all the treatments, water retention at 1/3 bar increased upto 60 cm and decreased thereafter. Differences in water retention between treatments were of larger magnitude in top two layers viz. 0-20 and 20-40 cm, below which all treatments showed similar values. Water retained at 15 bar varied from 5.03 per cent (control) to 9.43 per cent (50% NPK + 4t FYM ha-1). Available water (retained between 1/3 and 15 bar) ranged from 4.46 per cent in control to 7.32 per cent in 50% NPK+ 4t FYM ha-1.

Table 23. Mean mineral composition of groundnut shells Nutrients

Groundnut shells

N (%)

1.0 (±0.05)

P (%)

0.25 (±0.01)

K (%)

1.1 (±0.06)

S (%)

0.2 (±0.01)

Ca (%)

1.2 (±0.07)

Mg (%)

0.35 (±0.02)

Zn (mg kg-1)

40 (±0.31)

B (mg kg )

40 (±0.28)

-1

Importance of legume in soil health management Management strategies that add or maintain soil carbon have good potential for improving the quality of soil reserves and pulses are known to add significant amount of organic matter to the soil through leaf drop and root biomass. Hence the need to reduce on and off site impact of non-legume rotation will probably provide one of the strongest incentives for introducing pulses into crop rotations.

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Fig .11. Effect of long term addition of crop residue like groundnut shells on soil available N in Anantapur district

Fig . 12. Effect of long term addition of crop residue like groundnut shells on soil available water content (%) in Anantapur district

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Soil chemical properties In the perspective of soil quality, of all the chemical properties, soil organic matter content is the most important one. Though literature is enormous on this it is also the indicator for soil health for which the most unanswered questions remain. The amount of residual organic C left in the soil after the crop is mainly the function of the amount of root and shoot biomass left in the field after the harvest of the crops. It is very difficult to increase the organic matter content of cultivated soils, particularly in dryland agriculture unless legume or bay crops are included in the rotations or organic matte is added from external sources.

Pulses are generally grown in neutral to alkaline soils. Pulse crops have the ability to reduce the pH of the soil in the rhizosphere and make the micro-environment favorable for nutrient availability. It has been seen that the availability of nutrients in the fields cropped with pulses increases after their harvest and their residual effects is seen in the following crops. It is well documented that pulses leave substantial amounts of N in the soil after their harvest. An improvement in the N budget of soils measured by improved soil reserves of readily mineralisable organic N and microbial biomass C and N was reported by many people. Increased N availability is considered one of the important factors responsible for the beneficial effects of pulses on the following non-legume crops.

Pulse residue â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a rich source of nutrients Pulse straw is known for high C:N ratio and other nutrients. Nutrient content of lentil residue in comparison with cereal residue i.e. rice and wheat suggests that nitrogen content was almost 3-fold higher in lentil residue as compared to cereal residues. Similarly higher content of Ca, S and K were also registered in pulse residues, which are subsequently released into soil when they are incorporated.

In field condition, all the required optimum conditions of soil such as optimum moisture, temperature, pH, salinity/sodicity, calcareousness, soil organic matter are rarely occur, therefore, most often, N fixation through legumes is affected. Thus, many crops including legumes suffer from N deficiency. Besides N economy, legumes with deeper root system (pigeonpea) extract all the essential nutrients from deeper layers of the profiles and add to surface ploughed soil in terms of leaf litter. Chickpea rhizosphere with several organic acids can mobilize soil nutrients particularly P. These crops add carbon to soil in the form of rhizodeposition also. Legume residue also provides large amounts of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn and all other required nutrients besides organic carbon (Table 24). The C:N ratio of legume residue is much lesser compared to cereal residues.

Legumes are grown in all the district clusters under this project area. Groundnut and pigeonpea (Kadapa and Anantapur), chickpea and pigeonpea (Adilabad), pigeonpea 81

(Rangareddy), greengram, groundnut and pigeonpea (Nalgonda), pigeonpea (Warangal), greengram and blackgram (Khammam), pigeonpea (Mahaboobnagar) are grown in considerable area.

Inclusion of legumes in the cropping systems: a strategy towards INM It was stated that by improving physical, chemical and biological properties of soils, food legume cultivation could arrest the declining trend in productivity of cereal-cereal systems.

Many studies indicated that with improved management system consisting of legume showed higher productivity besides maintaining better soil health than traditional system (Ali et al.

2002). However, N fixed by these legume crops varied widely from 3 -100 kg ha-1 depending upon soil conditions.

Table 24. Nutrient content of legume residue in comparison with cereal residue Crop residue Nutrient content

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Cereal

Pulse

Rice

Wheat

Lentil

C (%)

47.7

52.8

48

N (%)

0.54

0.64

1.64

P (%)

0.11

0.14

0.12 1.68

K (%)

1.68

0.94

Ca (%)

0.8

0.8

2

Mg (%)

0.48

0.24

0.24

S (%)

0.09

0.13

0.47

Zn (mg kg-1)

119

123

148

C:N ratio

88

85

29

Pigeonpea with deep root system extracts nutrients from deeper layers and adds to the surface soil in the form of leaf litter.

Incorporation of horse gram grown with off-season rainfall for nutrient buildup and soil health maintenance In most of the semi-arid regions of Andhra Pradesh, a single crop is grown during the rainy or post rainy season with the land remaining fallow for the rest of the period. The rainy season crops depend on the southwest monsoon rain during June to September. However, about 20-30% of annual rainfall, which occurs during the post rainy season (October to December), goes largely unutilized. Legumes can be grown with this rainfall for off season fodder or for incorporation into the soil in situ to improve soil organic carbon and partially meet the nutrient requirement of rainy season crops. Horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is sown late in the rainy season by resource-poor farmers in marginal, drought-prone areas of India. Sowing and early crop growth coincides with declining rainfall so crop establishment is often poor and yields are low. Reddy and Willey (1985) reported a reasonable yield of horsegram could be produced after an early pearl millet crop, giving a worthwhile extra profit of Rs. 1000-2000 haâ&#x2C6;&#x2019;1 compared with sole pearl millet in a medium-deep Alfisol (red soil). Though horsegram is not a assured crop for grain production in rabi season in deficit rainfall year, but it is a assured crop for biomass production.

Venkateswarlu et al. (2006) confirmed the possibility of on-farm generation of horsegram biomass by using off-season rainfall in a 10 years long term experiment and reported production of 3.03-4.28 t ha-1 year-1 (fresh weight) biomass. Incorporation of this biomass for longer period results in improvement of soil organic carbon, microbial biomass and nutrient status. Due to the favourable effects, biomass incorporation showed significant yield improvement in several rainfed crops particularly in light textured red soils of Anantapur, Rangareddy and other regions.

These results successfully demonstrated alternative strategy of on-farm generation of legume biomass with off-season rainfall and benefits derived from such incorporation in terms of soil productivity improvement were quantified.

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Horse gram as a cover crop and H d ffor iincorporation ti iinto t soil il tto iimprove soil il h health lth and water retention in drylands of Anantapur

Gliricida: a potential leaf manure in rainfed regions of Andhra Pradesh to improve soil health Gliricidia leaves contain 2.4% N, 0.1% P and 1.8% K besides all other secondary and micro nutrients. Gliricidia plants grown on 700 m long bunds can provide about 30 kg N ha-1 year-1. In a year, three cuttings can be made which act as potential green leaf manure.

Gliricidia can be planted as seedlings as well as cuttings. Before rainy season gliricidia seedlings can be planted on the bunds. Some care should be taken during establishment of the seedlings. In year leaf manure can be taken up to 3 times depending upon luxury of plant growth. The harvested leaf manure can be mixed into surface soil before crop sowing.

The gliricidia leaf manure applied in between rows can also act as mulch cum manuring providing nutrients as well as water conservation during intermittent drought spells.

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Gliricidia seeds (Upper), Gliricidia nursery (lower left) and planting of gliricidia seedling (lower right) at Anantapur district

Gliricidia nursery at Dupahad (Nalgonda) and Jaffergudem (Warangal) clusters

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Gliricidia plantation on castor field bunds (upper left), cotton field bunds (Adilabad) (upper right) and on groundnut field bunds (Anantapur) (lower)

Incorporation of subabul leaves in furrow- a good practice for mulch cum manuring Fast-growing leguminous trees and shrubs like Leucaena are grown in non-agricultural lands or in alley cropping systems for multiple uses such as fodder, fuel and minor timber as well as nutrient cycling from the pruned biomass. Leucaena leucocephala is often hailed as a wonder tree with huge potential for production of biomass (20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;25 t ha-1) and nitrogen (500 kg ha-1) and suitability for excessive pruning in alley or hedge-row cropping systems. In many situations, Leucaena is now growing in wild form as a weed due to its excessive reproductive and regeneration ability. Its prunings can be used as a green leaf manure because of succulent biomass which is rich in nitrogen (3â&#x20AC;&#x201C;5%), with low C:N ratio. There are several research findings which show that incorporation of tender twigs of Leucaena has been found beneficial for meeting N requirement and improving productivity of maize. Further, there are significant residual effects on soil fertility and productivity of the following crops.

Subabul plantation in field bunds and subabul green leaf manure incorporation: Improving soil health and crop productivity

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Vermicompost On one hand tropical soils are deficient of all necessary plant nutrients and on the other hand large quantities of such nutrients contained in domestic wastes and agricultural byproducts are wasted. It is estimated that in cities and rural areas of India nearly 700 million t organic wastes is generated annually which is either burned or land filled. Such large quantities of organic wastes generated also pose a problem for safe disposal. Most of these organic residues are burned currently or used as land fillings. In nature’s laboratory there are a number of organisms (micro and macro) that have the ability to convert organic waste into valuable resources containing plant nutrients and organic matter, which are critical for maintaining soil productivity. Microorganisms and earthworms are important biological organisms helping nature to maintain nutrient flows from one system to another and also minimizing environmental degradation. The earthworm population is about 8–10 times higher in uncultivated area. This clearly indicates that earthworm population decreases with soil degradation and thus can be used as a sensitive indicator of soil degradation. In this report a simple biotechnological process, which could provide a ‘win-win’ solution to tackle the problem of safe disposal of waste as well as the most needed plant nutrients for sustainable productivity is described.

What is Vermicomposting?

Vermicomposting is a simple biotechnological process of composting, in which certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermicomposting differs from composting in several ways. It is a mesophilic process, utilizing microorganisms and earthworms that are active at 10–32°C (not ambient temperature but temperature within the pile of moist organic material). The process is faster than composting; because the material passes through the earthworm gut, a significant but not yet fully understood transformation takes place, whereby the resulting earthworm castings (worm manure) are rich in microbes activity and plant growth regulators, and fortified with pest repellence attributes as well! In short, earthworms, through a type of biological alchemy, are capable of transforming garbage into ‘gold’.

Vermicompost: Rich source of plant nutrients Earthworms consume various organic wastes and reduce the volume by 40–60%. Each earthworm weighs about 0.5 to 0.6 g, eats waste equivalent to its body weight and produces cast equivalent to about 50% of the waste it consumes in a day. These worm castings have been analyzed for chemical and biological properties. The moisture content of castings ranges between 32 and 66% and the pH is around 7.0. The worm castings contain higher

87

percentage (nearly twofold) of both macro and micronutrients than the garden compost (Table 25).

Table 25. Nutrient composition of vermicompost and garden compost Nutrient element

Vermicompost (%)

Garden compost (%)

10-14

10

Nitrogen

0.5–1.6

1.0

Phosphorus

0.2-1.1

0.4

Potassium

0.2-0.7

0.5

Calcium

1.2–7.6

2.2

Magnesium

0.1-0.6

0.4

Organic carbon

Sodium

0.06–0.16

0.01

Zinc

0.004–0.11

0.0012

Copper

0.0026–0.0048

0.0017

Iron

0.2050–1.3313

1.1690

Manganese

0.0105–0.2038

0.0414

*Based on vermicompost analysis in Kadapa, Nalgonda, Anantapur etc clusters.

From earlier studies also it is evident that vermicompost provides all nutrients in readily available form and also enhances uptake of nutrients by plants. The integrated effect of application of fertilizer and vermicompost on soil available nitrozen (N) and uptake of ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) indicated that the soil available N increased significantly with increasing levels of vermicompost and highest N uptake was obtained at 50% of the recommended fertilizer rate plus 10 t ha-1 vermicompost. Similarly, the uptake of N, phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) by rice (Oryza sativa) plant was highest when fertilizer was applied in combination with vermicompost.

Earthworms are invertebrates. There are nearly 3600 types of earthworms in the world and they are mainly divided into two types: (1) burrowing; and (2) non-burrowing. The burrowing types Pertima elongata and Pertima asiatica live inside the soil surface. On the other hand, the non-burrowing types Eisenia fetida and Eudrilus eugenae live in the upper layer of soil surface. The burrowing types are pale, 20 to 30 cm long and live for 15 years.

The non-burrowing types are red or purple and 10 to 15 cm long but their life span is only 28 months.

The non-burrowing earthworms eat 10% soil and 90% organic waste materials; these convert the organic waste into vermicompost faster than the burrowing earthworms. They can tolerate temperatures ranging from 0 to 40°C but the regeneration capacity is more at

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25 to 30°C and 40–45% moisture level in the pile. The burrowing type of earthworms comes onto the soil surface only at night. These make holes in the soil up to a depth of 3.5 m and produce 5.6 kg casts by ingesting 90% soil and 10% organic waste.

How to Use Vermicompost?

• Vermicompost can be used for all crops: agricultural, horticultural, ornamental and vegetables at any stage of the crop.

• For general field crops: Around 2–3 t ha-1 vermicompost is used by mixing with seed at the time of sowing or by row application when the seedlings are 12–15 cm in height.

Normal irrigation is followed.

• For fruit trees: The amount of vermicompost ranges from 5 to 10 kg per tree depending on the age of the plant. For efficient application, a ring (15–18 cm deep) is made around the plant. A thin layer of dry cow dung and bone meal is spread along with 2–5 kg of vermicompost and water is sprayed on the surface after covering with soil.

• For vegetables: For raising seedlings to be transplanted, vermicompost at 1 t ha-1 is applied in the nursery bed. This results in healthy and vigorous seedlings. But for transplants, vermicompost at the rate of 400-500 of per plant is applied initially at the time of planting and 45 DAP (Days after planting) which follows irrigation.

• For flowers vermicompost is applied at: 750–1000 kg ha-1.

• For vegetables and flower crops vermicompost is applied around the base of the plant. It is then covered with soil and watered regularly.

Vermicomposting as a micro-enterprise for Livelihood of Rural Women The training programmes conducted at NAIP clusters (Adilabad, Nalgonda, Kadapa, Anantapur), group of women and other women self-help groups (SHGs) covered technical aspects of breeding earthworms, managing and collection of organic wastes, application of vermicompost for various crops, accounting and marketing. At the same time a noxious weed, Parthenium hysterophorus (locally referred as vayyari bhama or congress weed), was found abundantly in the fields as well as on field bunds, which inhibited crop growth and caused environmental pollution. Hence, the women have come forward to utilize this weed as raw material for vermicomposting, which is a safe weed disposal mechanism and an opportunity to convert into valuable compost. In Anantapur, women farmers are making vermicompost from banana crop residues.

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Case Studies Community biogas cum vermicompost unit at Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda To see smile on the faces of Indian villagers and make every village self sustainable through effective recycling valuable waste in to a potential source of alternative energy. Backyard vermi compost units promoted for individual households have been suffering with poor scalability due to its labour intensive nature. Therefore, there is a high rate of discontinuity by households. In order to address the scalability issues, the project encouraged large scale vermi composting by farmer groups and women self help groups in Dupahad cluster (Nalgonda), large sheds were erected for encouraging community vermi composting. Groups of youth were trained to prepare vermi compost by using decomposable biomass and dung. The farming community was encouraged to cart semi/undecomposed material from their backyards to the community vermi compost units.

These farmers would get fully decomposed vermi compost in return to the raw material supplied by them. Thus, vermi composting was elevated to a specialized service providing enterprise from being a mere backyard activity. In addition to this, a community biogas unit was installed at the community vermi composting unit. This biogas unit uses dung slurry for biogas production and passes on the same for vermi compost unit. The biogas unit has been connected to a generator (15 kva) which can produce and supply electricity to about 100 houses. These add-on features will ensure the viability of vermi compost unit besides contributing to clean manure and energy production. This innovation has a high degree of scalability besides having implication in the climate change scenario.

The biogas plant was constructed as per the approved designs for 85 cum. Capacity (Flouting drum type/KVIC Model) according to standards and designs approved by ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), Govt. of India.

Manure management is an integral part of a biogas power generation system for arriving at an economically feasible operation level.

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Biogas for empowerment of rural women This programme aims at providing cooking fuel and organic manure especially to rural households through family type biogas plants. The family type biogas plant can be constructed using locally available materials such as bricks, sand and cement. Biogas is generated using dung. The dung requirement is met form the cattle mostly available in rural areas.

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a) Encouraging people in villages to use dung for generation of gas and slurry from bio-gas plant as manure b) Reduction in the consumption of conventional energy sources such as kerosene, firewood, cow-dung cakes and LPG c) Reduction in pollution. d) Reducing the deforestation.

Removing the drudgery of women from smoke generated from cooking on pollutant, inefďŹ cient, unhygienic cooking methods through use of the ďŹ rewood, dung cakes.

Community vermicomposting cum calf rearing centre, Pampanur (Anantapur) A community vermicomposting initiative was taken up at Kadapa cluster under NAIP, by the anchoring agency Aakruthi involving SHG women. This initiative was much welcomed and there was suggestion from the CPI, CRIDA to take up a similar activity in Anantapur under NAIP. Accordingly the anchoring NGO of Anantapur, BIRD-AP organized an awareness meeting on group activity in August 2008. This was followed by an exposure visit to Kadapa cluster in August 2008 for 11 landless women. The exposure visit helped in boosting the confidence of the women to take up a collective enterprise of vermicomposting.

After identifying an old abandoned building & group formation (9 women) they sought the permission for use of building from DRDA with the help of CRIDA & BIRD-AP project staff. With project support the building was repaired and after setting up 9 units of Vermicompost under one roof there was Inauguration in November 2008. The Ist batch of compost produced in February (21 q).

The unique way of sustainability of this unit is by introducing calf rearing as an additional activity. A manger for rearing calves within the building was constructed. Initially nine cross bred calves procured on through RF loan from the project (Fund from ARS) Later on 8 more calves were procured. The dung from calves is used for composting. It is planned for including biogas unit. Some Azolla units have been established and managed by the women for fodder supplement. The initial method was composting sunken pits. Later waste Cudapa Slab available in the building were reused to construct tanks and the production capacity was increased. The marketing of compost initially is being done within the cluster.

Procurement of Vermi-compost by is by vegetable & fruit farmers of the cluster. So far three rounds of composting has produced 3 tonnes of compost that was sold by these women @ Rs.5/kg.

92

Community Vermicomposting in Pampanur cluster (Anantapur)

93

Commercially viable group enterprise – Vermi Hatchery cum Compost Unit There are few findings, (Needs) which led to designing and implementation of the interventions.

Findings are….

•

Poor fertility status of soils

•

Low organic matter of the soils

•

Less wage employment opportunities

The need of the hour is creation of wage employment in addition to supplement the accessibility to organic matter, this lead to this intervention. The project team felt, only commercially viable unit will survive in long term with sustainability due to profit making nature of enterprise. So, it is proposed to develop large unit instead of household units.

Initially awareness was created among SHGs about the possibility of establishing commercially viable vermi hatchery unit and asked to come out with proposal regarding infrastructure and working capital. The interested women form in to activity based CIG and came out with unique plan. They suggested to utilize the existing infrastructure (barren poultry shed) either on lease basis or partnership basis. The shed owner accepted the lease basis. The women group has gone under training about vermi compost making and started operating the unit successfully.

The economics of the UnitTotal production done

- 70000 kgs

Total income on sale

- Rs.230000/-

Created an employment of approximately 800 man days Each member got profit

: Rs. 9800 (Rs.7000 as wage +Rs.2800 as profit)

The uniqueness of this intervention lies in •

Utilisation of existing infrastructure (Public & Private)

•

Wholly managed by Women group with handholding support of PIA

•

Commercially viable unit

The production of degradable organic waste and its safe disposal becomes the current global problem. Meanwhile the rejuvenation of degraded soils by protecting topsoil and sustainability of productive soils is a major concern at the international level. Provision of a sustainable environment in the soil by amending with good quality organic soil additives 94

Community Vermicomposting in B.Yerragudi cluster (Kadapa)

enhances the water holding capacity and nutrient supplying capacity of soil and also the development of resistance in plants to pests and diseases. By reducing the time of humification process and by evolving the methods to minimize the loss of nutrients during the course of decomposition, the fantasy becomes fact. Earthworms can serve as tools to facilitate these functions. They serve as ‘nature’s plowman’ and form nature’s gift to produce good humus, which is the most precious material to fulfill the nutritional needs of crops. The utilization of vermicompost results in several benefits to farmers, industries, environment and overall national economy.

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Community based vermicompost units at Dupahad (Nalgonda) and Pampanur (Anantapur)

Farm based vermicompsting units in Anantapur and Warangal districts

Community based vermicompost unit in B.Yerragudi cluster (Kadapa)

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Various steps in vermicomposting (Crop residue with dung, introduction of warms, separation of vermicompost, addition of vermicompost to horticulture crops)

97

Vermicomposting at Dupahad cluster

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Vermicompost application to different vegetable crops (Tomato, brinjal, chillies etc.) in Dupahad cluster

Tank silt application: Improves soil health Tank silt possesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; high water retention capacity and acts as good source of nutrients.

Analysis conducted in several tanks in Warangal, Anantapur and Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh showed the potential of tank silt in supplying organic carbon and several nutrients. Tank is particularly beneficial in light textured soils (Table 26).

Table 26. Amount of Sediment, Organic Carbon, N and P Contents in Different Tanks in Warangal, Anantapur and Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh Total number of Tanks

42

Amount of sediment

97524 tons

Amount of Carbon

1009 tons

Amount of Nitrogen

68.5 tons

Amount of Phosphorus

28.9 tons

N Fertilizer Equivalent

Rs 756480

P Fertilizer Equivalent

Rs 570348

B:C Ratio of Desilting of Tanks

1.23

Community tank systems are integral part of rural livelihoods for centuries. True to wetland ecosystem, the interactions between human, land and water are highest in tanks and provides highest productivity both in agriculture and ecosystem uses. Tanks have multiple functions and several outputs like food (fish), fodder (tank bed) and fuel (bushes), ecosystem services like biodiversity (flora, fauna, avian), groundwater recharge and supporting services like washing, bathing, retting, etc. Tanks serve as a common pool resource and have various stakeholders ranging from government agencies, local

99

panchayat, farmers, rural rich and poor. The breakdown of traditional system has resulted in encroachment, siltation, weed growth and poor inflows. Over exploitation of groundwater through bore wells have made these water bodies as a neglected entity, truly as â&#x20AC;&#x153;tragedy of commonsâ&#x20AC;?. Poor management practices of catchment have resulted in silting of most of these water bodies and significant reduction of storage capacity.

Silt deposit has not only reduced the storage capacity but also groundwater recharge, eutrophication of tanks and most importantly higher release of carbon to atmosphere through silt mediated anaerobic decomposition of organic carbon.

Though tanks are in existence across the country but have not figured in any national programs. It is conspicuous that there are no countrywide programs as that of the Command Area Development Program and Integrated Watershed Development Programs. Tanks having more than 40 ha of command area are entrusted to Panchayats, which are struggling for mobilization of funds and are loaded with too many activities.

Most of the budget outlay goes to major and medium irrigation projects at National and State level while minor receives step-motherly treatment, which involves less investment and yields higher returns. Tanks and ponds provide water where people need it and support biodiversity. One of the advantages of tank restoration is equity as they are evenly distributed over the landscape unlike canals, which follow the gradient and irrigate mostly the richly endowed areas.

Table 27. Organic carbon and nutrient contents in tank silt collected from some tanks of eight districts of Andhra Pradesh Parameter/ Nutrient Organic carbon (%)

Content (Range) 0.4-2.0

Mineral nitrogen (mg kg-1)

200-1400

Available P (mg kg-1)

8.0-35.2

Available K (mg kg )

400-600

-1

Available S (mg kg )

12-50

Available Zn (mg kg-1)

0.7-2.2

Available B (mg kg-1)

0.3-1.0

-1

*Based on analysis of several tank silt samples in eight NAIP clusters

The past experiences of de-silting in Warangal indicate presence of all the valuable nutrients required for plant growth in adequate quantities. Recycling of tank silt will overcome the deficiency of nutrients observed in many soils particularly that of zinc, boron and sulphur and will also improve organic carbon content of soil resulting in improved soil

100

physical properties. The following interventions should be planned and implemented in view of economic viability, social acceptability and eco-friendliness of tank de-silting. â&#x20AC;˘ Tank silt to be considered as a substitute to the fertilizer and a part of subsidy given to fertilizers need to be diverted for tank de-silting and recycling of nutrients to farm lands.

Fertilizers provide one or two nutrients while silt all the nutrients in adequate quantities and also improve soil health and water holding capacity essential for drought proofing in rainfed areas. â&#x20AC;˘ Desilting operations for existing tanks could be included in the National Food for Work Programme which created employment as well as restores the asset for harvesting rainwater. â&#x20AC;˘ Provide soft credit line to farmer to apply tank silt to the fields and credit support to various Government programs/panchayats for undertaking desilting operation.

Tank silt for application in the red soil

Application of tank silt in the field

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Performance of maize without and with tank silt application in low fertile red soils of Rangareddy district

Performance of Castor with (right) and without application of tank silt in Mahabubnagar

Enhancing nutrient use efficiency through supplemental irrigation As rainfed soils are degraded with low water retention particularly in light textured soils tapping synergistic effect of balanced nutrition with improved water availability through various water conservation measures like conservation furrow, paired row, ridge and furrow, contour cultivation, mulching with residue and use of tank silt as soil amendments etc is crucial for achieving higher crop productivity of rainfed crops as well as improving water and nutrient productivity. Farm pond technology implemented in all these eight clusters resulted in the provision of life saving or critical irrigation during intermittent dry spells and also rabi crops like chickpea in Adilabad. High value crops like tomato, bhendi, palak and cucurbits showed higher economic benefits with farm pond technology and correcting limiting nutrients in the soil.

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Vegetables for higher profits through harvested water and balanced nutrition (Adilabad, Nalgonda clusters)

Ridge and Rid d ffurrow method th d off cultivation lti ti and d placement l t off nutrients t i t improved i d yields of groundnut in Anantapur and Kadapa districts.

Soil health improvements through soil health cards Soil health cards were prepared based on soil analysis data along with nutrient recommendations to different predominant crops in each cluster. More than thousand farmers were given soil health cards in local language â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Teluguâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by indicating district, mandal, village, farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name, survey number of the field, nutrient deficiencies, crop wise fertilizer doses and details of manure and fertilizers with nutrient contents etc. Soil health cards 103

distribution was expanded to other adjoining regions of the cluster in Nalgonda, Anantapur and Kadapa districts. Similarly in other districts of Andhra Pradesh like Chittor, Nellore, Khammam, Rangareddy, Medak etc soil health cards were prepared for some farmers.

Based on soil health cards, SSNM, balanced nutrition and INM options were implemented in the Anantapur, Kadapa, Warangal, Nalgonda and other districts. Soil health improvement options were implemented by promoting various organic manures available in these clusters to improve soil organic carbon status and correcting multiple nutrient deficiencies in soil.

Promoting soil health cards for soil health and sustainable agriculture in rainfed regions

Model format of detailed soil health card provided in Dupahad cluster in Nalgonda districts in Telugu

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Promoting participatory soil sampling Participatory soil sampling and testing was promoted through training to rural youth in Adilabad and Nalgonda districts. Capacity building to technical staffs of soil testing laboratories in two KVKs in Seethagondi (Adilabad) and Dupahad cluster (Nalgonda) and provided technical help in functioning of various soil testing equipments including atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS).

Similarly water quality analysis was promoted by providing training to operate EC meter and critical salinity limits. Tank silt was also tested in several clusters to recommend its application to various field crops.

Soil testing laboratory at KVK, Gaddipally, Nalgonda district

Tribal educated youth trained in soil sampling, processing, analysis and awareness on soil health management at Krishi Vignan Kendra (Adilabad district)

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Awareness building on soil health improvement Awareness of soil health through balanced nutrition and INM was promoted by field days, group meetings, organizing kishan mela, TV programme, radio talks, training to lead farmers and project staff, providing telugu literature, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and by interaction meeting with policy makers.

Soil health awareness building activities through balanced nutrition and INM in Anantapur, Adilabad and Warangal districts

Field days organized in Jaffergudem cluster

Farmers day: Large scale awareness on soil health and crop productivity in Anantapur

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Awareness through Information Communication Technology (ICT) Under the project, cluster information resource centres were established in all the eight districts. ICT-kiosk and internet facilities were provided in these resource centres. Various management practices including nutrient management options, type of fertilizers, method of application and organic manure additions are displayed for various important crops grown in the clusters both in English and Telugu. A technician helps in interfacing these ICT-kiosk and farmers in touch screen system. Farmer wise soil health cards of that particular cluster can also be seen. Besides some agriculture related magazines like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Annadataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are being kept at these resource centres to encourage reading of crop management practices.

Farmers being helped to identify nutrient deficiencies in crop plants using ICT interface in tribal villages of Nalgonda district

Nutrient recommendations for various crops in 60 villages in 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh through ICT-Kiosk

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Nutrient recommendations for various crops in 60 villages in 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh through ICT-Kiosk

Information centre with email facility and touch screen information on nutrient recommendations to different crops

Warangal (Jaffergudem): Information Resource Centre

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Workshop at CRIDA, Hyderabad on balanced nutrition and towards integrated nutrient management

Training to lead farmers and technical staff of the project

Chairman, CAC, Dr. I.V. Subba Rao being explained on participatory soil sampling and soil health cards

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Joint Collector, Kadapa and CRIDA scientists participate in training programme at Kadapa on nutrient management and water conservation in watershed programme

Collector, Warangal district, Ms. Damayanti addressing farmers in Jaffergudem cluster (Left). Explaining importance of soil health to World Bank officials

Awareness through bulletins, flyers and folders (English and Telugu)

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Awareness on soil health, balanced nutrition and INM through newspapers

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Conclusions Experiences from various nutrient management, soil health and INM interventions undertaken in the villages of project clusters and adjoining mandals covering eight backward and tribal districts established that • Most of the farmers’ fields are low in soil organic carbon and multi nutrient deficient.

• Farmers’ practice consists no or meager additions of nutrients either through organic manures or chemical fertilizers.

• SSNM based on individual farmers’ field soil analysis and soil health cards improved yields of cotton, maize, pigeonpea, greengram, groundnut, sunflower, sorghum, chickpea, cowpea, castor and vegetables like tomato, clusterbean, okra, palak in the range of 15 to 112

60 percent and reduced input cost (omitted based on soil testing) resulted in the higher nutrient use efficiency and higher B:C ratio.

• Impact of INM practices consisting FYM, vermicompost, crop residue, gliricidia green leaf manuring, groundnut shells and tank silt application further improved crop yields over chemical fertilizer alone.

• Economic benefits were much higher in the case of vegetable crops compared to field crops.

• Farm income was much higher in case of cotton with balanced nutrition and INM practices over other crops like groundnut, greengram, sunflower etc.

• FYM treated cotton fields showed better resistance to intermittent droughts, particularly during severe drought year-2009 due to improved moisture retention in soil and recorded higher income levels.

• Soil health cards improved the awareness about health of the soil in sustaining higher yields and income.

• The impacts of soil health based interventions resulted in the practice of using limiting secondary and micro nutrients by most of the farmers in several clusters.

Future Needs • Promotion of community based vermicompost units, gliricidia plantations on the farm bunds and water harvesting tanks, use of FYM and crop residue, tank silt application should be further promoted vigorously.

• Large scale campaign is essential in promoting soil health based interventions.

• Soil health cards should be provided for every farmer’s field.

• Cluster or mandal based SSNM and INM practices should be promoted.

• Nutrient management practices should be tailored with soil moisture availability or rainfall for improving nutrient and water use efficiency, higher profits, reducing input costs.

• Policy needs are essential towards promotion of regional based INM practices depending upon locally available organic resources in order to maintain better soil health, environment and agriculture sustainability.

• Better coordination between EGS and alternate nutrient application strategies for encouraging farming communities to use locally available resources.

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Acknowledgments AAKRUTHI: (late) Dr. Kalyan Chakravorty, Dr. G. Subba Rao, R. Kishore BIRD: Dr. B. Shivaruddrappa CWS: R.V. Ram Mohan MARI: R. Murali, K. Vishwanatha Raju SAIRD: Dr. R. Veeraiah, S. Rammohan WASSAN: G. Surendranath, A. Ravindra I-Kissan: Vijay Jesudassan, S. Dastagiri ICRISAT: Dr. S.P. Wani, K.L. Sahrawat, G. Pardhasaradhi ANGRAU: Dr. M. Subba Rao KVK (Adilabad): Dr. G. Samuel, Dr. P. Ramesh

Supporting Staff CRIDA Headquarters: Nanjunda Reddy, A. Vijaya Kumar, I. Bhaskara Rao, S. Vijay Kumar, B. Anuradha, M. Uday Kumar, D.G.M. Saroja, S. Raghava Sarma AAKRUTHI: P. Sekhar, Obulesh, S. Ravindra Goud, Narsimha Reddy BIRD: C.K. Priya, P. Dasarath, C.N. Murthy CWS: K. Venumadhav, A. Sanjeev, S. Prithiviraj MARI: Yugandhar, Ch. Srinivas SAIRD: S. Suresh, D. Nagender WASSAN: P.V.L. Bharathi, Murali ICRISAT: C. Rajesh, Narshimha Naidu KVK (Adilabad): R. Suman Kumar, V. Sunil, G. Malesh

Authors are thankful to all the parcipating farmers, partners of the project, PI, CPI, Co-PI, consortium partner staff, technical staff, field workers, social mobilizers, line departments, various governmental organizations for their sincere help in implementing these interventions. The cooperation of the thousands of participating farmers in successful demonstration of these livelihood interventions is gratefully acknowledged.

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Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Tel:+91-40-2453 0161/157, Telefax:+91-40-2453 5336 www.naip.icar.org.in

SOIL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD AND TRIBAL DISTRICTS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture

Livelihood Impacts of

Soil Health Improvement in Backward and Tribal Districts of Andhra Pradesh

Ch. Srinivasa Rao B.Venkateswarlu, Sreenath Dixit Sumanta Kundu and K. Gayatri Devi

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.