Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
finger millet by using locally available varieties and save their seeds for next season too. Due
to uninterrupted cultivation of the same and local varieties, farmers suffer from the reduction
in yield. Actually, the crop is always grown in marginal land and in rainfed ecosystem of the
state. In Southern Odisha, harsh and adverse climatic conditions coupled with marginal soils
make agricultural production system unfavourable due to high risk of unpredictability during
kharif season. One possible solution is to identify and increase the yield of finger millet that
is highly adaptive to local climate, have high nutrient value and can efficiently withstand
biotic and/or abiotic stresses. However, the new high yielding varieties should not be directly
dissipated to the farming communities for large scale production before they are assessed for
their performance. Standardisation of suitable varieties for a particular area is of prime
importance to perceive the yield potential of finger millet. Their potential for enhanced
nutritive value and climate resilient agriculture are also understudied.
Ganjam district in the state of Odisha in India is delineated by a year-round equable
temperature and high humidity, coastal area in particular. Normally, annual rainfall of the
district is 1302 mm. About 80% of annual rainfall is received during S-W monsoon. On an
average; there are 65 rainy days a year in district. The prevailing soil texture in the area is
mostly sandy loam. Agricultural activity is primarily rainfed, and kharif (June–September) is
the primary cropping season. The poor and marginal famers usually grow local landraces of
finger millet, viz. budha mandia, nali mandia, and tholi mandia, using traditional agronomic
practices. Finger millet is mostly cultivated in kharif on marginal lands in the upland with
few or no external inputs, either as a pure crop or with a range of pulses, legumes and
oilseeds under mixed cropping systems. Further, due to traditional cultivation practices, the
grain yield is as low as 5-7 q/ha under broadcasting method, and even with traditional
transplanting methods yield, it is only 7-9 q/ha. So there is an immediate requirement for
enhancing the productivity of finger millet as well as to reach the potential of high yielding
varieties. Keeping this point in view, an on-farm testing of high yielding finger millet
varieties was taken up by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ganjam-I to assess the production potential
of HYVs of finger millet in NICRA villages through NICRA project.
Methodology
The study was carried out through on farm testing in kharif-2019 at NICRA villages i.e. Nada
(19.9202˚ N, 84.7517˚ E), Chikili (19.5564˚ N, 85.0052˚ E), and Chopara (19.9522˚ N,
84.7592˚ E) of Ganjam district under of Odisha with an objective to evaluate suitable ragi
varieties in Ganjam. The site of experiment was sandy loam in texture, slightly acidic in
reaction (pH 6.12), Low in organic carbon (0.48 %), low in available nitrogen (202.6 kg/ha),
medium in available phosphorus (18.6 kg/ha) and high in available potassium (289.2 kg/ha).
The soil has good drainage capacity. The experiment was laid out in kharif season (June to
October) of 2021 in a randomized block design (RBD) with four treatments (T1: Farmers’
254 | Page
Climate resilient agriculture for risk mitigation