Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges & Opportunities
during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
T4a-25P-1014
Effect of Tillage Practices and Mulching Operations on Productivity of Maize
Under Dryland Conditions
Pramod Kumar, Mintu Job, N. Kumari, Abhishek Patel and D.N. Singh
Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Jharkhand (India)
Dryland agriculture is mainly dependent on rainfall, especially in India, there are different kinds
of tillage operations such as conventional tillage, no-tillage, reduced tillage etc. Conventional
tillage practices and crop residue removal will lead to a decrease in soil organic matter due to
accelerated decomposition and loss of topsoil, thereby adversely affecting soil properties.
Recently, reduced tillage practices have been gaining popularity.
Conservation tillage
techniques, which are soil-surface crop residue management systems with minimum or notillage,
are crucial in efficiently saving more precipitation for crop production. Among the
management practices for increasing water use efficiency (WUE) one of them is mulching. Any
material spread on the surface of soil to protect it from rain drop, solar radiation or evaporation is
called mulch.
Maize in India contributes nearly 9 % in the national food basket. In addition to staple food for
human beings and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material as an ingredient
to many industrial products that include starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food
sweeteners, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, film, textile, gum, package and paper industries etc.The
crop is cultivated throughout the year in all states of the country for various purposes including
grain, fodder, green cobs, sweet corn, baby corn, pop corn in peri-urban areas.
Methodology
A field experiment was conducted at the research farm of Zonal Research Station, Chianki
situated at 23 0 N and 84.2 0 E under jurisdiction of Birsa Agricultural University (Ranchi),
Jharkhand, India during 2017 and 2020. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in
texture with pH 6.7. The soil of the experimental site was medium in organic carbon (0.53 %),
available nitrogen (128 kg ha -1 ), phosphorus (70 kg ha -1 ) and low in available potassium (45 kg
ha -1 ). There was total of twelve treatments comprisingConventional Tillage + Without Mulch,
Conventional Tillage + Farm waste Mulch, Conventional Tillage + Polythene Mulch,
Conventional Tillage + Soil Mulch, Minimum Tillage + Without Mulch, Minimum Tillage+
Farm waste Mulch, Minimum Tillage+ Polythene Mulch, Minimum Tillage+ Soil Mulch, Raised
Bed Sowing + Without Mulch, Raised Bed Sowing + Farm waste Mulch, Raised Bed Sowing +
Polythene Mulch and Raised Bed Sowing + Soil Mulch. The experiment was laid out in a
617 | Page Resource conservation and rainfed agriculture