Cropping System - hillagric.ac.in

1 Cropping System SS Rana & MC Rana "If a better System is thine, impart it; if not, make use of mine." - Horace Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176062 (India) Cropping System S S Rana Sr Scientist MC Rana Associate Professor Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management, COA, CSK HPKV, Palampur-176062 Copyright 2011 SS Rana, Sr Scientist, Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur- 1 7 6 0 6 2.

2 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval System , or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the authors. Citation Rana S S and M C Rana. 2011. Cropping System . Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, 80 pages. Preface Prosperity of any country depends upon the prosperity of its people. Economy of most countries, is directly or indirectly dependant on their agriculture.

3 All over the world, farmers work hard but do not make money, especially small farmers because there is very little left after they pay for all inputs. Agriculture being dependant of monsoon, the crop productivity is variable every year. To increase productivity continuous efforts need to be made in conduct of research on different aspects of crop production, post harvest and marketing of the value added products. The emergence of System approach has enabled us to increase production without deteriorating the resource base.

4 T h e r e i s e v e r y p o s s i b i l i t y o f s av i n g r e s o u r c e s f o l l o w i n g s y s t e m a p p r o a c h i n c r o p p i n g . Cropping System is a commonly and broadly used word to explain a more integrated approach to Cropping as compared to monoculture approaches. The text book constitutes of Cropping systems: definition, indices and its importance; physical resources, soil and water management in Cropping systems; assessment of land use; Concept of sustainability in Cropping systems and farming systems, scope and objectives; production potential under monoculture Cropping , multiple Cropping , alley Cropping , sequential Cropping and intercropping, mechanism of yield advantage in intercropping systems.

5 Above and below ground interactions and allelopathic effects; competition relations; multi- storeyed Cropping and yield stability in intercropping, role of non-monetary inputs and low cost technologies; research need on sustainable agriculture; crop diversification for sustainability; role of organic matter in maintenance of soil fertility; crop residue management; fertilizer use efficiency and concept of fertilizer use in intensive Cropping System ; plant ideotypes for drylands; and plant growth regulators and their role in sustainability.

6 This book is intended as a professional b a s i c textbook for post-graduate level students of Cropping System . At the undergraduate level also it will be very useful for students of agriculture and economics in particular and forestry, animal sciences, fisheries, horticulture and social sciences in general. In addition the text book will be a valuable reference o n Cropping System for the candidates appearing in competitive examinations including agricultural research services.

7 Professional training institutes like KVKs, polytechnics, rural i n s t i t u t e s etc d eali n g i n farmers would a l s o find this text book of immense value. The book is written i n a very simple form with up to d a t e data and statistics. It is a comprehensive basic text book on Cropping systems and will specifically meet out the requirement of the students of Agron 511. We hope that our friends, well wishers and students will provide motivation and support for constructive criticism to make this book more meaningful.

8 The authors would a l s o welcome suggestions from the o th er readers to improve the text book. Palampur S S Rana MC Rana AGRON 511 Cropping SYSTEMS 2+0 Objective To acquaint the students about prevailing Cropping systems in the country and practices to improve their productivity Theory UNIT I Cropping systems: definition, indices and its importance; physical resources, soil and water management in Cropping systems; assessment of land use. UNIT II Concept of sustainability in Cropping systems and farming systems, scope and objectives; production potential under monoculture Cropping , multiple Cropping , alley Cropping , sequential Cropping and intercropping, mechanism of yield advantage in intercropping systems.

9 UNIT III Above and below ground interactions and allelopathic effects; competition relations; multi- storeyed Cropping and yield stability in intercropping, role of non-monetary inputs and low cost technologies; research need on sustainable agriculture. UNIT IV Crop diversification for sustainability; role of organic matter in maintenance of soil fertility; crop residue management; fertilizer use efficiency and concept of fertilizer use in intensive Cropping System . UNIT V Plant ideotypes for drylands; plant growth regulators and their role in sustainability.

10 Suggested Readings Palaniappan SP & Sivaraman K. 1996. Cropping Systems in the Tropics; Principles and Management. New Age. Panda SC. 2003. Cropping and Farming Systems. Agrobios. Reddy SR. 2000. Principles of Crop Production. Kalyani. Sankaran S & Mudaliar TVS. 1997. Principles of Agronomy. The Bangalore Printing & Publ. Co. Singh SS. 2006. Principles and Practices of Agronomy. Kalyani. Tisdale SL, Nelson WL, Beaton JD & Havlin JL. 1997. Soil Fertility and Fertilizers. Prentice Hall. Schedule of lectures SN Topic(s) Number of lectures Pages 1 UNIT I Cropping systems: definition, indices and its importance; physical resources, soil and water management in Cropping systems; assessment of land use.