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Tillage
and Crop Establishment
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| Resource
Conservation Technologies |
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.(Adobe
PDF Version)>>
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Current Trials and Results :
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| DFID
Supported Project | Trials in India | Trials
in Pakistan | Trials in Nepal | FAQ
on ZeroTillage |
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Bullock
Drawn Zero Tillage Machine
Click
for Picture
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Conventional
tillage operations in north-west Indo-Gangetic Plains including
India and Pakistan generally require 6 to 8 harrowing followed
by 2-3 planking before the wheat crop is sown after harvesting
the rice crop. This entails high costs, results in delayed sowing,
and affects the wheat yield adversely. Agricultural engineers
at the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
India have developed a Zero Till Ferti-Seed Drill based on the
design of an original New Zealand drill.
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drill is an inverted T-type furrow opener that opens a
narrow slit in rice fields and plants 9 rows of wheat
at 20-cm distance in one pass. The equipment costs $300
and works well in non-combine harvested areas where loose
straw is not left on the surface. More research and equipment
development is needed where loose crop residues are present. |
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the past 2 to 3 years the drill has been extensively tested in
the farmers’ fields who are greatly enthused by significant reduction
in production costs and enhanced yields. This year more than 100
such drills will be tested on farmers’ fields throughout the region
to promote the new technology. Although very promising, multidisciplinary
teams of scientists are examining the long-term consequences to
develop a sound and sustainable system of operation. |
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different version of the above Pantnagar drill called a ‘Strip-Till
Drill’ is being used on a four-wheel tractor in the Indian Punjab.
In this system the rotovator tills only a narrow strip of soil
where the seed is placed and the remaining area remains untilled.
In Pakistan engineers are developing other zero-till drills. |
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The
Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting
a 3-year Project on “Harnessing Tillage by Nutrient Management
Interactions using Participatory Approaches to Improve Rice-Wheat
Systems Productivity and Sustainability”, which started in April,
1999. This Project is carried out in several sites in Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Summary of some of the experiments
(below) shows that Zero Tillage is here to stay and it has vast
potential to conserve natural resources.
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Trials in India |
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Based
on the tremendous expansion of zero-till in Haryana (India)
last year, 20,000 acres from 1,000 acres the year before, the
State Department has agreed to include this practice in their
package of practices recommendations for this year. This is
the first State in the region to do so and will go a long way
to help expand area even more. Farmers are purchasing their
own drills and local manufacturers are flat out keeping up with
demand. The farmers plant their own fields with this equipment
and then make it available to other farmers on a rental basis
enabling all farmers to experiment.
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Five
sets of farmer fields are being monitored with one acre
field using zero till and one acre with conventional practice.
Farmers have agreed to continue with the same practice
for 3 years although they really want to shift the entire
farm to zero till. |
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Average
wheat yields for the 5 monitored sites were 5.56 tons/ha. for
zero till and 5.20 tons/ha for conventional. In one site out
of 4, however, the yield of zero tilled filed was less than
conventional. The highest yield on zero till plot was 6.82 tons/ha.
while that for conventional tillage was 6.0 tons/ha. The extra
yield in zero till was the result of timelier planting and fewer
weeds. The lead investigator (Dr RK Malik of Haryana Agricultural
University) at this site says:
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“The
wheat yield in the resistance (herbicide resistant Phalaris
minor) affected area in Haryana has gone up to 4.35 tons/ha.
in 1999-2000 compare to 3.45 tons/ha. in 1994-95 and 1995-96
(based on 300+ fields being monitored in addition to the DFID
fields). On the contrary, the yield in the unaffected area has
gone up from 3.7 to 3.9 tons/ha. Even if the gain of 2 quintals
is accounted for by favorable weather condition, the weed resistance
management (effect of zero till combined with new herbicide
use) has accounted for major gains in wheat productivity.”
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further adds: |
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studies on long-term trials on zero till at Uchana and Teek have
shown that the population of Phalaris minor decreased over the
3 year period. In all these plots alternate herbicides including
clodinafop, fenoxaprop or sulfosulfuron were used during 3 years.
The reduction in population is because of the combined effect
of herbicides and zero tillage. The yield of wheat in both permanent
trials increased over 3 years period under zero till.” |
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Environmental Benefits |
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Trials in Pakistan |
In
Pakistan two institutions are involved with the Project, the
Punjab On-Farm Water Management (OFWM), Lahore and the scientists
from the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad.
The latter provide the technical input and the former the field
and farmer activities. An excellent annual progress report for
one of the villages for 1999-2000 entitled “Pilot testing of
Resource Conserving technologies under the DFID project” has
been printed by OFWM and is
available if required. NARC has also provided a technical
report on soils and biotic factors. OFWM has also contracted
a local consultant to produce a video of the various resource
conserving technologies being promoted. This will be available
during December 2000.
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Wheat yields were not significantly different in the farmer
fields between the zero till or conventional tillage paired
plots and averaged over all fields 5.20 and 5.08 tons/ha., respectively,
for zero till and conventional in the Muridke village. The main
reason for this was that the two treated paired fields were
planted on the same day, except at one site. In that site zero
till did significantly better due to timelier planting. Next
year all fields will get this advantage. However, there was
savings in water for the first irrigation, less weeds and savings
in cost (US$25-40/ha). Farmers are excited about these benefits
and acreage will increase next year from the 153 acres planted
this year by farmers in the village.
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In
the Mona project villages/sites wheat yields were 4.62 tons/ha.
(zero till) versus 4.31 tons/ha. (conventional) for the 6 monitored
fields. They also did a survey of other fields and yields were
4.33 tons/ha. for zero till and 3.70 tons/ha.for normal. Water
use efficiency increased from 1.10 to 1.43 kg/m3
in favor of zero till. Fertilizer efficiency also increased
from 21.6 to 27.6 kg grain/kg fertilizer. Economically, costs
were reduced by US$38/ha through zero till. The report prepared
made the statement “with the use of less irrigation water
and less fertilizer application we can get more crop production
by adopting resource conserving technologies.
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zero till drill (Pantnagar Drill) was also used in Bhairahawa
this last wheat season in several fields owned by a single farmer.
The results shown in Haryana were evident in Bhairahawa. Although,
there were some weed problems and failure to apply fertilizer
properly, the farmer at Gargati still reported good harvest (2600
kg/ha) as compared his land prepared by local methods of plowing.
While the work is extremely limited, it has showed the same promising
results as it has in India and elsewhere. Through custom hiring
this technology might be able to benefit small farmers as well.
In rice wheat long-term monitoring in Rupandehi the use of tractor
for plowing is increasing. For the tractor owners/farmers it would
be a simple task to replace the nine-tine cultivator with a zero-till
drill. |
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