Crops and Cropping Systems in India

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Crops and Cropping Systems in India

• Peter R. Hobbs
• 609 Bradfield 254-7295
• ph14_at_cornell.edu

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Huge number of crops

• Cereals rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, millets
• Pulses dals, beans, legumes, chickpea
• Oilseeds and oil crops brassica, groundnut,
  soybean, oil palm, cotton, coconut
• Sugar crops sugarcane, palms, sugar beet
• Fiber crops cotton, sisal, coconut, kenaf
• Fruits many herbaceous, trees, bushes
• Vegetables -- many
• Fodders alfalfa, oats, cereals and pulses grown
  fodder
• Spices cloves, garlic, ginger, cardamon
• Narcotics tobacco, betel nut
• Medicinals gingseng, goldenrod

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Grown in numerous patterns

• A cropping pattern is a sequence of crops grown
  in any one calendar year
• Mono cropping -- sorghum, oats etc
• Double cropping rice-wheat, rice-rice
• Intercropping 2 or more crops in rows maize
  and beans
• Mixed cropping random planting maize-beans
  and pumpkins
• Relay cropping pigeonpea millets
• Rotation sequence of crops over a period of
  more than one year. Cereal - fodder- legume
  cereal
• Forestry and agroforestry patterns

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Intercropping
Pigeonpea and maize
Maize and beans
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CRIDA
Salient Achievements
Efficient intercropping systems for different
Agro-Ecological Regions
Groundnut Pigeonpea / Castor
Finger Millet Pigeonpea
Sorghum Pigeonpea
Maize Pigeonpea
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CRIDA
Salient Achievements

• Agri-silviculture, Agri-horticulture,
  Horti-pasture and Silvi-pasture for different
  land capabilities

Neemgreengram
Faidherbia AlbidaSorghum
Guavastylo
Mangocowpea
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Sole cropping and intercropping
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Cropping System

• Definition
• Communities of plants which are managed to obtain
  food, profit, satisfaction or a combination of
  these goals increased social value.
• Not only determined by atmospheric environment
  and soil, but modifications made by the farmer
  management, crop choice, inputs, social and
  economic issues etc.
• Add animals and it becomes a farming system

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Mixed Farming Systems in South Asia
Labor
HOUSEHOLD
Fossil fuel
Credit
cash
inputs
FOOD INCOME ENERGY
CROPS
Cash
Subsistence
Firewood
manure
fuel
tillage
TREES
Fodder Residues
ANIMALS
Fruit Firewood
MARKETS
Milk, meat, skins
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Major cropping systems

• Shifting cultivation 10 cropping rainfed
  rest periods for nutrient rejuvenation. Slash and
  burn
• Semi-intensive rainfed systems fallows,
  rotations, use draft animals cereal systems and
  non-cereal wet systems as more rain we get
  millets-sorghum-maize-root crops- bananas
• Intensive rainfed systems less fallow, more
  structured cropping systems
• Irrigated and flooded systems
• Upland (not flooded) and lowland (flooded)
• Mixed annual/perennial systems
• Annuals with herbaceous perennials
• Mixed garden systems
• Annuals and perennial tree crops.
• Forestry systems
• Slash and burn
• Agroforestry alley cropping, multi-story
  cropping, kitchen gardens

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Slash Burn
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Definitions

• Agro-climatic zone. A land area with a specific
  climate usually based on rainfall and
  temperature that determines land use
• Agro-ecological zone. A land resource mapping
  unit, defined in terms of climate, landform and
  soils, and/or land cover, and having a specific
  range of potentials and constraints for land use.
  

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CRIDA
Salient Achievements

• Identification of Effective
• Crop Growing Seasons
• in different agro-eco regions

• Long range weather forecasts
• for applicability at micro level

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CRIDA
Salient Achievements

• Delineation of drought prone areas
• and prediction on nature and extent
• of their spread

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Agro-ecological zones

• Humid high and constant temperatures. Dry
  season less 90 days. Tropical rainforest and
  semi-deciduous forests. All year cropping.
• Semi-arid protracted dry season 6-9 months.
  Drier savanna vegetation. 75-120 LGP dry
  120-180 moist
• Arid less than 75 LGPs -- FAO definitions Arid
• Acid Savannas strong dry season 3-6 months,
  acid soils, savanna vegetation
• Tropical steeplands dominated by slopes gt30 --
  mountain regions erosion problems
• Tropical wetlands wet lowland areas
• Sub-humid -- distinct cool season, monsoon wet
  season
• Temperate cooler and cold winter with frost

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Water flows
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Rainfed Systems
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Trend of Rainfall During SW Monsoon(as percent
of average)
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Importance of soils

• Water holding capacity
• Management of rainfall to increase water capacity
• Soil fertility and nutrients
• Two major types in Central India
• Red Soils (65) Alfisols and Entisols lighter
  textured soils deficient N and P
• Black cotton soils (25) Vertisols --heavy clay
  soils, cracking soils (montmorillonite clays),
  calcareous. Deficient N and P.

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Crops grown in S. India

• Rainfed
• Cereal crops also used for fodder
• In order of drought tolerance millets sorghum
  maize
• Legumes dal/pulses
• pigeonpea, chickpea, mungbean
• Oil seeds
• Cotton, Groundnut (peanut), sesame, mustard,
  sunflower, safflower
• Use of Fallows
• Often mixed, relayed and intercropped
• Spreads risk, meets subsistence needs etc.

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Millets
Pearl Millet
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Sorghum/Millets
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Legumes
Pigeonpea
Groundnut
Dahl -- pigeonpea
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Oilseeds
Groundnut
Mustard
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Issues dryland areas

• Make optimal use rainfall
• Manage soils to improve percolation water into
  the soil profile
• Use rotations and fallows
• Reduce erosion losses importance ground cover,
  terracing
• Drought tolerant crops
• Areas with more poor people improve livelihoods
  without undue risk
• Issues nutrition human and animal
• Animals in the system

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Animal component of dryland farming systems
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CRIDA
Location specific conservation measures for
controlling soil loss
Inter-terrace land treatments recommended for
Alfisols and Vertisols in semi-arid zones
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CRIDA
Salient Achievements
In-situ moisture conservation and water harvesting
Conservation furrows
Vegetative barrier
Farm pond
Percolation tank
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Irrigation

• A way to manipulate water shortages
• Various ways to irrigate
• Canal, rivers
• Tubewell -- groundwater
• Ponds
• Sprinklers, drip lines
• Bed systems

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Irrigated systems in Southern India

• Any Crop can be grown when water not an issue and
  no frost issue
• Potential to increase stability of cropping and
  number crops grown
• Diversity of crops that can be grown
• Marketing issues including domestic and export
• Cropping patterns
• More one crop per year
• Plantation and commercial crops

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Water issues
Tanks and watersheds

• Competition for water
• Domestic, cities
• Industry
• Up-stream and down-stream
• Depth of water table and over pumping
• Global warming issues loss glacial water
• Need for more efficient water productivity in
  agriculture

Contour ploughing systems
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Soil Fertility issues

• Need to balance nutrient needs and prevent mining
  fertility
• Inorganic and organic amendments
• Livestock interactions
• Alternate use FYM
• Use solar stoves
• Need improve efficiency

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Cereal crops where irrigation

• Rice is the major crop
• More than one crop per year
• Puddled rice system
• Puddle soil
• Transplant seedlings
• Preferred staple food
• Many types grown
• Maize preferred to sorghum

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Other crops
Cotton oil, fiber
Cassava
Sugarcane
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Typical plant morphology of Bt and non Bt cotton
plants
Damage by top shoot Borer
Plant protected due to Bt protein
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Total Bollworm Spending Bollgard Vs non
Bollgard 2003 season
Rs./acre

• Saving of Rs. 1294 per acre, reduction of 60 in
  cost of chemical

Source ACNielson ORGMARG
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Yield Performance Bollgard Vs Non Bollgard
(2003)
1/4th of yield below is anticipated yield
Qtl/acre

• Average savings in yield loss of 1.7 Quintals
  per acre (29) increase
• An average increase of Rs. 73 per quintal
  obtained

Source ACNielson ORGMARG
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Gross Returns Vs Net Returns for BG (2003)
Rs./acre
Gross Returns Increase in income saving in BW
pesticide
Net Returns Net profit to farmer after taking
out all costs

• Increase in Gross return of Rs. 5799 per acre
• Increase in net returns by Rs. 3126 / acre

Source ACNielson ORGMARG
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What do these benefits mean?

• Bollgard crop of 2003 helped farmers to earn Rs.
  970 million additional income
• Overall cotton production increased by 370K
  quintals of seed cotton (76000 bales of lint)
• Industry will have 240K quintals of extra cotton
  seed for oilseed purpose from which 3.8 M liter
  of oil can be extracted
• Farm workers have earned an additional Rs. 75
  lacs in harvesting of this additional crop
• Bollgard reduced pesticide application by 304.7
  KL (formulated)

Source ACNielson ORGMARG
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Spices
Chillies
Black pepper
Pepper, garlic, cloves, chillies, turmeric,
cinnamon etc.
Cardamon
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Cardamon
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Fruits and Vegetables
Any fruit and vegetable Domestic
markets International markets Central markets
Cashew
Mango
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CRIDA
Salient Achievements

• Suitable fruit species for drylands

Gooseberry (Amla)
Guava
Mango
Custard Apple
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Plantation crops
Cocoa
Coconut oil, fiber, drink
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Plantation Crops
Areca Nut Betel
Tea
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Coffee
Shade
Flower
Berries
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http//dryland.ap.nic.in
A Profile on
CRIDA
Central Research Institute for Dryland
Agriculture Hyderabad
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International centers

• CGIAR also called Future Harvest Centers
• Consultative Group for International Agricultural
  Research
• http//www.cgiar.org/publications/pub_directory.ht
  ml
• ICRISAT International Center for Research in
  the Semi-Arid Tropics mandate crops sorghum,
  millets, groundnut, chickpea, pigeonpea
• http//www.icrisat.org/web/index.asp
• IRRI International Rice Research Institute
• http//www.irri.org

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Linkages - National
CRIDA
CRIDA collaborates with Government and NGOs for
research and technology transfer
Govt. of India
CRIDA
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CRIDA
Linkages - International
CRIDA collaborates with

• ICRISAT / IRRI
• World Bank
• USDA
• ACIAR
• USAID
• DFID
• AP-NETHERLANDS Programme
• UNCCD
• FAO

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402 topics

• Water issues competition, scarcity, efficiency,
  increasing water productivity etc.
• Soil or fertility management organic versus
  inorganic, efficiency, sustainability etc.
• Crops and crop issues conservation germplasm,
  markets, subsistence, traditional crops etc.
• Climate issues global warming, rainfed vs
  irrigated systems
• Cropping systems subsistence vs commercial
  diversity vs monocropping intercropping
• Animal component of farming systems, multiple
  uses
• Agroforestry slash and burn biodiversity