|
Organisation
|
Department
of Agronomy, Agromet and Forestry, PAU,
Ludhiana |
|
Project
name
|
Crop
Residue Management and Sustainability
of Productivity |
|
Grant
operationalised
|
June
2008 |
|
Duration
|
3
years |
|
Grant
amount sanctioned
|
Rs2.64
million |
Activities within
the grant and impact:
In Punjab, more than 65 per cent
of cultivated area is under rice-wheat rotation,
resulting in a copious quantity of straw
from these two crops. Whilst wheat straw
is used as a livestock feed, rice straw,
with high selenium content, cannot be used
as feed for animals. Consequently, the farmers
tend to burn rice residue, thereby leading
to the release of carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide
and suspended matter in the atmosphere.
The oxides of nitrogen and sulphur are potent
reasons for acid rain, and the extent of
environmental damage caused due to the indiscriminate
burning cannot be undermined.
Hence, there is an urgent need to manage
residue for productive purpose in situ cultivation.
The ongoing project consequently focuses
on:
|
|
Spreading
low cost technology like happy seeder
and rotavator for residue management
of paddy |
|
|
Accelerating wheat
cultivation under no-till conditions
on a large scale by conducting field
demonstrations, trainings, and field
days |
The operational plan for the project includes
the exploration of zero-tillage technology
in the case of wheat after paddy sown areas,
which is being done by conducting on-farm
trials by using happy seeder and rotavator
technology, which will be disseminated through
frontline demonstrations, trainings and
field days, etc.
Forty demonstrations will be conducted
with 40 farmers, covering an area of one
acre each, in the districts of Fatehgarh,
Patiala, Kapurthala and Jalandhar during
the first year. Consequently, 120 demonstrations
will be carried out over three years in
12 different districts covering 120 farmers.
The adoption of low cost technologies like
happy seeder, zero-till drill and rotavator
will facilitate the management of rice residue.
Further, past experiments at PAU have
indicated that farmers save Rs1,500 per
acre by skipping the tillage operation for
sowing of wheat with the above technologies.
This also results in saving of 25 per cent
irrigation water in first irrigation. Consequently,
120 farmers as direct beneficiaries, with
average holding of 5 acres, will be able
to save more than Rs900,000 over the three-year
period.
The project, post completion, will be scaled
up in Fatehgarh, Patiala, Kapurthala and
Jalandhar districts through the department
of agriculture.
|
