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Background: Pigeonpea grown as sole crop is not economically viable because of its slow initial growth rate, low productivity and longer duration. The initial slow growth rate, widely spaced, deep root system and longer duration of pigeonpea offers a good scope for intercropping with fast growing and early maturing compatible crops. Proper row arrangement of main as well as intercrops in appropriate proportion is the promising way to exploit the natural resources such as space, nutrient, sunlight, soil moisture to greater extent and boost up the system productivity. Methods: The study was carried out for four consecutive years during kharif 2013-14 to 2016-17 at Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi, RPCAU, Pusa, Bihar. The treatment comprised 3 intercropping systems with two method of planting viz, pigeonpea (60 cm)+ urdbean (1:1), pigeonpea (60 cm) + sesame (1:1), pigeonpea (60 cm) + sorghum (1:1), pigeonpea paired (45 cm) + urdbean (2:2), pigeonpea paired (45 cm) + sesame (2:2), pigeonpea paired (45 cm) + sorghum (2:2) and 3 fertilizer levels of intercrop viz, 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), 100% RDF and 125% RDF along with sole crop of pigeonpea, urdbean, sesame and sorghum. Result: Intercropping of urd bean [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper], sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] paired row planting of pigeonpea (45 cm) in 2:2 row ratio recorded significantly higher pigeonpea-equivalent yield, LER, water-use efficiency, production efficiency and net return than their intercropping with pigeonpea in normal planting pattern (60 cm) in 1:1 row ratio and sole pigeonpea. However, only pigeonpea + urdbean and pigeonpea + sesame in paired row planting recorded significantly higher B:C ratio than sole pigeonpea. Pigeonpea + urdbean in paired row planting recorded significantly higher pigeonpea equivalent yield (3.57 t/ha), LER (1.81), water-use efficiency (4.96 kg ha/mm), production efficiency (12.01 kg/ha/day), NPK-uptake by pigeonpea, net return (148.63 × 10³/ha) and B:C ratio (4.84) than their intercropping in normal planting pattern, pigeonpea + sesame and pigeonpea + sorghum in both planting pattern. Pigeonpea + urdbean and pigeonpea + sesame in paired row recorded significantly higher number and dry weight of nodules/plant than sole pigeonpea. Pigeonpea equivalent yield in pigeonpea + urdbean intercropping system did not increased significantly with increasing levels of fertilizer. However, it increased significantly upto RDF and 125% RDF of sesame and sorghum in pigeonpea + sesame and pigeonpea + sorghum intercropping systems respectively in both the planting pattern. Pigeonpea + urdbean in both the planting pattern reduced bulk density of the soil and increased organic carbon, available N, P, K content of the soil than other intercropping systems and initial soil value but magnitude of improvement in physicochemical properties of soil was higher in paired row planting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted at ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal research farm to study the effect of no-till planters such as inclined plate planter and broad bed shaper-cum-planter on yield, energetics and economics of maize crop production and compared with conventional practices of maize sowing using seed-cum-fertilizer drill. The maize hybrid variety of DMRH-1303 was sown in kharif season of 2019 using inclined plate planter and broad bed shaper-cum-planter under wheat residue load 8 t/ha (HI-1544). The wheat was harvested by combine harvester and its residue was chaffed using shredder. The actual field capacity and field efficiency of inclined plate planter, broad bed shaper-cum-planter and seed-cum-fertilizer drill were observed as 0.31, 0.32 and 0.39 ha/h and 51.67, 58.18 and 76.47%, respectively. The energy consumption for shredding of wheat straw was 399.31 MJ/ha. The energy consumption was maximum in case of sowing with convention seed drill (1965.30 MJ/ha) including single pass of each cultivator and rotavator, which was followed by broad bed shaper-cum-planter under permanent bed condition (792.39 MJ/ha) and inclined plate planter under permanent bed condition (468.77 MJ/ha). The broad bed shaper-cum-planter and inclined plate planter saved energy consumption by 59.7% and 76.14%, respectively as compared to conventional seed-cum-fertilizer drill. The use of inclined plate planter (Rs. 652/ha) or broad bed former-cum-planter (Rs. 664/ha) could save 67% in cost of operation compared to tillage followed by seed-cum-fertilizer drill (Rs. 2017/ ha). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maintain crop productivity in arid western plain of India, there is a need for understanding the nutrient supplying capacity of soil, which poses many challenges for crop production. We studied four different levels of crop intensification, namely barren land, low, medium and high crop intensity and assessed their impact on soil properties and available nutrients. High intensity showed higher accumulation of available-nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the 0–15 cm depth and then decreased with increasing depths. Higher depletion of available potassium (K) in the surface layer was observed in medium and high cropping intensities. Data indicated that the crop intensification led to an increase in availability of micronutrients. Changes in soil pH and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) had strong influence on the distribution of micronutrients. A highly significant correlation coefficient between available nutrients and organic carbon showed that soil organic matter is the main governing factor for sustainable crop production in arid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DSSAT CANEGRO model was calibrated and validated using field experimental data (1997- 2013) from four locations of north Indian region.The genetic coefficients for 10 cultivars of sugarcane were estimated.R2 obtained between measured and simulated stalk yield was 0.69 with the nRMSE (7.50%) and D-index (0.91) and R2 between measured and simulated sucrose mass was 0.57 with the nRMSE(11.75%) and D-index (0.85). The model underestimated both the stalk fresh mass as well as sucrose mass by 2 and 6 per cent only, respectively.Hence,the CANEGRO model can be used to simulate the phenology and yield attributes of sugarcane cultivars of north India particularly of Uttar Pradesh region. The model can also be used to evaluate and improve the present practices of sugarcane crop management to obtain increased cane production and sugar recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT v4.6.1) was used to study the impact of climate change and variability on productivity of different monsoon (pigeonpea and groundnut) and winter season crops (chickpea, mustard, tomato and potato) at Varanasi. Keeping in view the observed trends in climate variability, productivity of different cash crops were simulated under plausible synthetic climatic scenarios of changes in temperature and carbon dioxide. Productivity of pigeonpea and groundnut in monsoon season and mustard, tomato and potato in winter season decreased with an increase in temperature. Productivity of different pulse, oilseed and vegetable crops increased under expected enhanced CO2 concentrations. Highest productivity decreased in pigeonpea crop (96.0%) in monsoon season and minimum in tomato crop (4.0%) in winter season with an increase of 3.0 °C in temperature above normal. Highest productivity increase in mustard crop (164.0%) in winter season and lowest in pigeonpea crop (33.0%) in monsoon season were simulated under projected enhanced CO2 concentration of 760 ppm. Highest counter-balance in productivity of mustard crop (150%) followed by tomato crop (81%) during winter season and lowest in pigeonpea crop (99%) during monsoon season were simulated when an increase in temperature by 3.0 °C above normal under projected enhanced CO2 concentration of 760 ppm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to estimation of maize yield using agro-meteorological variables in Uttar Pradesh, India. It mentions that maize is susceptible to excess water and moisture stress and its productivity depends on weather behaviour. It also mentions that factors like maximum temperature, minimum temperature, morning relative humidity and afternoon relative humidity impacts the crop yields.

The articles presented in this special section emanated from the researches of consortium members of the National Agricultural Innovative Project (NAIP, Component 4) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. These researches have helped develop a soil information system (SIS). In view of the changing scenario all over the world, the need of the hour is to get assistance from a host of researchers specialized in soils, crops, geology, geography and information technology to make proper use of the datasets. Equipped with the essential knowledge of data storage and retrieval for management recommendations, these experts should be able to address the issues of land degradation, biodiversity, food security, climate change and ultimately arrive at an appropriate agricultural land-use planning. Moreover, as the natural resource information is an essential prerequisite for monitoring and predicting global environmental change with special reference to climate and land use options, the SIS needs to be a dynamic exercise to accommodate temporal datasets, so that subsequently it should result in the evolution of the soil information technology. The database developed through this NAIP would serve as an example of the usefulness of the Consortium and the research initiative of ICAR involving experts from different fields to find out the potentials of the soils of humid and semi-arid bioclimatic systems of the country [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current status of land/soil resources of the Indo- Gangetic Plains (IGP) is analysed to highlight the issues that need to be tackled in near future for sustained agricultural productivity. There are intraregional variations in soil properties, cropping systems; status of land usage, groundwater utilization and irrigation development which vary across the subregions besides demographies. Framework for land use policy is suggested that includes acquisition of farm-level data, detailing capability of each unit to support a chosen land use, assess infrastructural support required to meet the projected challenges and finally develop skilled manpower to effectively monitor the dynamics of land use changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustenance of food and nutritional security are the major challenges of the 21st century. The domestic food production needs to increase per annum at the rate of 2% for cereals and 0.6% for oilseeds and pulses to meet the demand by 2030. The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and the black soil regions (BSR) are the two major food production zones of the country. Since irrigation potential is limited and expansion of irrigated area is tardy, rainfed agriculture holds promise to satisfy future food needs. Frontline demonstrations of these two regions have shown that there is a large gap at the farmers' and achievable levels of yields. This gap can be filled by adopting scientific approach of managing the natural resources. There is tremendous pressure of biotic and abiotic stresses hindering the crop production and that warrants for a systematic appraisal of natural resources. The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP) under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) divided the country into 60 agro-ecological sub-regions (AESRs) in 1994 by superimposing maps on natural resources like soils, climate and length of growing period (LGP) for crops and other associated parameters. With the passage of nearly two decades and the advent of modern facilities of database management and improved knowledge base on natural resources, a need was felt to revise the existing AESR map to reach near the ground reality of crop performance. The new database stored in soil and terrain digital database (SOTER) has helped in modifying the AESR delineations of the BSR (76.4 m ha) and the IGP (52.01 m ha). The estimated available water content, saturated hydraulic conductivity and use of pedo-transfer functions in assessing the drainage conditions and soil quality have helped in computing with improved precision the LGP, and revise the earlier AESRs in BSR and IGP areas. This innovative exercise will be useful for the future AESR-based agricultural land use planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]