S6.2. Precision-Conservation Agriculture Practices for Small Holder Maize farming Systems of South Asia

Precision-Conservation AgriculturePractices for Small Holder Maize farming Systems of South Asia ML Jat Y.S. Saharawat, K. Majumdar Raj Gupta Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP)International Maize & Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) www.cimmyt.org

Challenges of South Asian Agriculture• Growing nos of smallholders• Water, labor and energy shortages• Large management yield gaps• Resource fatigues• Climate change• Weak public-private partnerships CIMMYT-GCAP Action Corridors in SA• Policy mismatches

Growing Numbers of Small Holders: Example from India 70 Marginal Small Semi-Medium Medium LargePercent Farmers 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1970-71 1981-82 1995-96 2000-01Source: Agriculture Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI

Availability of irrigation water Estimated water loss from aquifers Blue- tendency to increase : (13.2 – 17.7±4.5 km3/yr) Red- tendency to decrease Source: Mathew Rodell et al (2009)Source: Scholze et al. (2006)

Fertilizer Nutrient Scenario in Asia, 2008-2012Nutrient Balance (million tonnes) Figure shows balance in demand and supply of major nutrients in Asia Source: FAO, 2008

Changes in output and input costs for selected commodities and fertilizer inputs Change in output prices (%) Meat Dairy Cereals Oils Sugar Food price Index2007-08 9 49 80 94 23 52 ( 40)2006-07 5 35 32 29 -39 12 Change in input costs (%) Ammonia Urea NPK DAP Crude Input price oil Index2007-08 82 31 213 163 70 99 ( 80)2006-07 4 29 41 33 -3 19Source: FAO, 2008

Yield Gaps in Maize in Different Ecologies of South Asia

Trends in maize productivity and annual growth rate (%) in South Asia BANGLADESH 50 12 10 40Production (mt) 8 Area (m ha) Yield (t/ha) 30 6 4 Annual Growth Rate (%) 20 2 10 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 INDIA 50 140 40Production (mt) 120 30 Area(m ha) Yield (t/ha) 100 20 80 10 60 0 40 -10 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 NEPAL 3.0 4.5 4.0 2.5Production (mt) Area (m ha) Yield (t/ha) 3.5 3.0 2.0 2.5 1.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 PAKISTAN Source: FAOSTAT (2007), http://faostat.fao.org 9 3.5 8 3.0Production (mt) 7 Area(m ha) Yield (t/ha) 6 2.5 5 2.0 4 Production Area Yield 3 1.5 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Principal indicators of non-sustainability of agricultural production systems• Intensive tillage • Soil Organic matter decline • Soil structural degradation • Water and wind erosion • Reduced water infiltration rates • Surface sealing and crusting • Soil compaction• Insufficient return of organic material• Mono cropping• Imbalance and inappropriate use of external inputs

We need to stop doing the unsustainable parts of conventional agriculture Conventional Agriculture Precision-Conservation Agriculture Ploughing/tilling the soil No-till, strip/minimum tillage Removing all organic material Recycle organics-surface retention/cover crops Monoculture Diversified cropping Imbalance and inappropriate use Balanced application of right of external inputs inputs at right time and place they are needed

Precision-Conservation Agriculture ? Precision Agriculture Conservation Agriculturea management strategy(considering variability) to increase a concept for optimizing cropproductivity and economic returns yields, and economic andwith a reduced impact on the environmental benefitsenvironment • Right input 1.Minimum mechanical • Right source soil disturbance • Right amount 2.Permanent organic • Right place soil cover 3.Diversified crop • Right time rotations Long-term ecological & economical sustainable farming

Precision-Conservation Agriculture for Resource-Poor Smallholders• Appropriate management and correct inputs, sources, amounts, placement, time to increase productivity and profitability sustainably while reducing risk• Focus on between-field vs. within-field variability; temporal variability (between years)• Basket of options depending on circumstance – Precision planting, input application... – How? Tools and machinery, pocket sensor, leaf color charts…

CA systems have worked in all kind of environments/ecologies• From the Equator, e.g. Kenya, Uganda to 50ºS, e.g. Argentina, to 65º N, e.g. Finland• From sea level to 3000 m, e.g. Bolivia,• Soils from 90% Sand, e.g. Australia, Brazil, to 85% clay, e.g. Brazil (Oxisols, Alfisols)• From 250 mm of rain, e.g. Western Australia to 2000 mm, e.g. Brazil, or 3000 mm Chile• Farmers having parcel of acres (South Asia, Africa) to several thousand acres (Australia, Brazil, USA) Source: Derpsch & Friedrich, (2008)

50 100 Mill. ha US Soil Conservation Service 1930 conservation tillage Dustbowl First no-till in the US Faulkner (US) – Fukuoka (Japan) 1950 dustbowl Siberia/USSRSource: Friedrich et al (2011) commercial no-till/US 1970 first no-till demonstration in Brazil IITA no-till research 1980 Oldrieve/Zimbabwe adoption Brazil plantio direto na palha CIMMYT, Mexico 1990 Argentina, Paraguay; experiments in China, Indogangetic Plains New boost: Canada, Australia, 2000 Global Overview Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Finland...; Africa 2010 History and Adoption of CA of the Spread of Conservation Agriculture

Small v/s large farm Precision Agriculture Small Farm PA Large Farm (Farm, Watershed,… Focus) Wind Erosion PA (Individual Field Focus) Chemicals Soil Erosion Runoff Terrain Leaching Leaching Leaching Soils Yield Potassium 3-dimensional CIR Image 2-dimensional Interconnected Perspective Isolated Perspective (From Berry, 2008)

What do we need for Precision- Conservation Agriculture?• System information/characterization- • Crop varieties, inputs • Field features (biophysical and biological)• Technologies and machinery • Environmentally, economically, locally adapted • Apply working solutions across regions• Partnerships, linkages, backstopping • Build bidirectional capacity (technicians and farmers) • Outreach (ICTs, demos, other dissemination tools) • Improve affordability of tools through linkages?• Infrastructure • Accessibility, Markets, input providers...

Precision land leveling system for 2 WTs: Reality for small holdersDeveloped under CSISA, India

Technologies and machinery: do we need sophisticated machines ? • Indigenous precision plantersPlanter cost: USD 15K Planters cost: <USD 2K

Technologies and machineryFarmer Innovation for Precision Planting

Small-Scale CA-based Seeders with Precision Seed Metering

Crop & System productivity and CSI of different maize systems under contrasting TCETillage Rice-maize system Maize-wheat system (Av of 03 yr) (Av of 02 yr) Rice Maize RMCS Maize Wheat MWCS Productivity (t ha-1)NT 4.6a 7.1b 11.7b 4.4a 4.4a 8.8aPB 4.7a 7.7a 12.4a 4.2a 3.9b 8.1bCT 4.7a 5.3c 10.0c 3.7b 3.9b 7.6c Carbon Sustainability Index (CSI)NT 4.9 27.3 16.1 22.2 10.3 16.2PB 5.2 31.5 18.4 22.2 9.7 16.0CT 2.5 20.4 11.4 13.4 10.0 11.7 Source: Jat et al (2011)

Growth in Yield under No-Tillkg/ha 8 t/ha # ! # ! Maize # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! # ! 30% less fert. # ! 4 t/ha # ! # ! 3,6 t/ha # ! # ! $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " # ! $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " 2,2 t/ha $ " $ " $ " Soya 50% less fert. $ " $ " $ " $ " $ " Year (Dijkstra, 1997)

Outreach through partnerships: Precision nutrient management• Small tools for PNM

Nutrient Experts for Maize: Decision Support Tools for SSNM based Precision ApplicationSource: IPNI

NE based DSS : Precision nutrient management in maize for small holders of EGP By locations Across locationsSource: IPNI-CIMMYT Collaborative researchunder CSISA (Unpublished data, 2011)

Low-cost high clearance sprayer for smallholdersRelative precision in chemical molecule application

Small holder precision water application

CA and Livestock: Is there conflict for straw? Both can have their share-an example 16.0 Conventional CA Aditional 14.0 12.0 Straw yield (t/ha) 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011CIMMYT Long-term trial, Bihar India

CA and Pest Dynamics??

Seed production with innovation systems &small holder groups: Success Story of QPM 250 No of Particpating Farmers Area(ha) Seed Produced(MT) 236 Income (lakh) 190 200 150 125 108 110 100 68.75 85 60.5 48 43 75 50 18 13.5 23.65 1.1 6.7 25 2 0.55 10 0 Pre Kharif 2006 Rabi 2006- 2007 Rabi 2007 - 2008 Rabi 2008 - 2009 Rabi 2009 - 2010 DMR (ICAR)-Govt of WB- CIMMYT Collaborative work

Innovation Systems, small holder Cooperatives & Single Window Services: Product & Knowledge together for Last Mile DeliveryInnovative Pathways for Technology Adaptation and Dissemination Local CSISA ICAR Hub KVKs (CIMMYT/ Institutes IRRI) CA CA CA modules adopters modules farmers farmers Cooperative Society State (Participatory adaption of CA technologies, Young Deptt Service windows, Farmers Farmer meets, Forum of Agri travelling seminars, field days) CA modules CA farmers adopters CA adopters Private CCSHAU Sector Media Source: CSISA

Precision in access to information/real time access using ICTs: CIMMYT Agriplex• CIMMYT India has developed a centralized database management system for decentralized operations (KVKs, CSISA Hubs, PACS and NGOs) for sharing information through mobile phone no-cost SMS service.• The service has as of now a database of more than 30000 farmers.• It is an interactive service for the farmers with experts through helpline. Mobile cellular Mobile cellular Country subscriptions subscriptions per (number) 100 inhabitants India 81,15,90,000 67.98 Pakistan 10,88,97,387 65.40 Bangladesh 6,86,50,000 46.17 Nepal 91,95,562 30.69

“There are a lot of changes necessary toadopt conservation agriculture, but thebiggest change is in the mind” Franke Dijkstra Pioneer Brazilian zero tillage farmer. Started 30 years ago

PCA, the Agriculture ofthe Future – the Future of Agriculture

S6.2. Precision-Conservation Agriculture Practices for Small Holder Maize farming Systems of South Asia

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S6.2. Precision-Conservation Agriculture Practices for Small Holder Maize farming Systems of South Asia Presentation Transcript