Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
period is 90-120 days. Drought is common and occurs once in five years. The soils are
shallow to deep loamy and clayey, mixed red and black soils. The dominant rainfed crops
during kharif are pigeonpea and green gram, rabi crops are sorghum and chickpea. The
NICRA sites are located at the Kavalagi and Honnutagi villages of Vijayapura district. The
interventions on various dryland technologies have been implemented in the NICRA village
from 2011-12. Since the project's inception at the AICRPDA-Vijayapura center, different
weather aberrations like the delayed onset of monsoon, mid-season drought, terminal drought
and extreme events like untimely excess rainfall events were experienced in NICRA villages.
To overcome these situations and reduce crop losses, various RTCPs and preparedness were
implemented, including crops and varieties change, soil, rainwater conservation and
utilization, and different agronomic practices were demonstrated in a contiguous area in the
village. In selecting the beneficiaries, the farmers most vulnerable to climatic variability, and
the smallholders were given priority. It was also ensured that each demonstration had a
control plot for all the implemented interventions to assess the impact of interventions in a
short period. The details of RTCP implemented during various weather aberrations are
presented in Table.
RTCP for various weather aberrations implemented in NICRA villages
Weather aberrations
Delayed onset of
monsoon
Early season drought
Mid-season drought
Terminal drought
Interventions
Change of crop/variety depends on the farming situation, soil, rainfall and
cropping pattern
Resowing, thinning, removal of alternate row, weeding, inter cultivation
and opening of conservation furrow
Repeated inter cultivation, KNO 3 @ 0.5% spray, supplemental irrigation
Harvest pearl millet for fodder, protective irrigation, prepare for rabi crops
Results
The real-time contingency measures were implemented in the selected villages to cope with
various weather aberrations and enhance yield at the field level. NICRA villages have
experienced the delayed onset of monsoon some years since its inception. Under this
situation, we implemented the RTCPs, like changing crops and varieties. In 2021-22, the
onset of the monsoon was normal. The improved varieties of green gram (BGS-9 and
DGGV-7) and pigeonpea variety (TS-3R) were introduced in farmers' fields, replacing local
varieties. The improved pigeonpea variety TS-3R recorded 24.99% increase, and green gram
varieties DGGV-7 and BGS-9 noticed an increase of 31.73 and 24.19%, respectively, higher
yield than the local variety and also recorded maximum RWUE, net returns, and B:C ratio. In
an early-season drought situation, interventions like thinning, weeding, inter cultivation, and
opening of conservation furrows were implemented in the various crops. There was an
average yield increase of 16.20% in pigeonpea, 19.97% in green gram, 15.31% in chickpea,
Climate resilient agriculture for risk mitigation
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