Is wheat production in jeopardy?
By V.K. Garg
PUNJAB, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are the best wheat growing areas in India. These states contribute more than 90 per cent wheat to the central pool. Wheat production was increased in this area by about 250 per cent between 1975 and 1990 due to adoption of new, high-yielding, dwarf wheat varieties, increased use of fertilisers and irrigation facilities.

Bid to overcome fodder shortage
About 70 per cent of the population of Punjab reside in villages and their main source of income is agriculture. In the recent past, the farmers have diversified to dairy as supplementary profession. A milch cattle require minimum 40 to 50 kg of green fodder per day against which 20 kg is available. This shortage increases in the Kandi and water scarcity areas which form part of Ropar and Hoshiarpur districts.

Advantages of farming collectively
By Khushwant Ahluwalia

IN India a large part of the population practices agriculture but without much success. The reason being that bulk of these people are with small land holdings. Secondly, the government’s lack of will and its hindsight arrest all possible signs of initiative from the farming community. Thirdly, the concept of traditional farming has been done away with and the modern farming costs much.

Lack of team work between government institutions and the farmer has isolated the latter from knowledge and technology.

In their attempt to counter all odds, agriculturists and horticulturists of Hoshiarpur have formed the New Age Fruit Growers Association. It is their endeavour to make agronomy more progressive and dynamic in nature and have thus resolved to farm collectively.

The association attracts proclamation because of its unique features and its modern approach. It is a totally non-political and a non-profit making body. Its aims and objectives spell prosperity and offer collective farming.

The association has its office at Chhauni Kalan village, Hoshiarpur, and it enrols members within the vicinity of 20 km to ensure efficiency. The members meet once in every month at a farmer’s farm to promote good farming modes.

The host farmer arranges for a field visit on his holding and puts forward to the farmers his package of practices, problems, achievements or any important matter which he may deem fit. New problems, trends and fresh solutions emerge out of discussions and field visits.

The association invites experts from various universities from India and abroad. For example, the association’s thrust area was “effective control of weeds and its benefits”. For this the association conducted a seminar which was followed by a practical demonstration. Qualified persons were invited to speak on the subject to educate the farmers on how they could benefit if weed aggression was controlled.

Dr Megh Singh, an expert on weed eradication from Florida University, USA, enlightened the farmers on the menace of weeds. Chemicals used for weed eradication were displayed and farmers were informed on methods of its application.

The association purchased a spray pump at a highly subsidised rate with the help of the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation which will be used to spray orchards, crops and poplar plantations of the member farmers. It would be impossible to purchase such a spray pump at an individual level.

The alliance now plans to buy a tractor to use this spray pump as this will greatly benefit the members. The member will just be required to call the association’s office and inform it of what spray he wants in his fields. The trained staff will take the mechanical sprayer to the respective site and do the needful at a minimal labour cost.

The association also proposes to study the possibility of marketing the horticulture produce of all the members collectively under one brand. For that all horticulturists will have to produce good quality fruit. This will increase profits and bring down the cost of marketing by disallowing exploitation of small farmers.

Another benefit the association seeks is through cutting the middleman when it comes to buying insecticides, pesticides and fertilisers. Since the association offers a forum to around 60 farmers, companies approach directly offering lower rates.

The forum has also become a medium to air farmers’ grievances, problems and hardships in their day-to-day functioning.

The association also tries to rope in farmers from all over the region as guests to advocate new ideas as well as enrich itself of any new developments in other areas. The association field days have seen heavy turnout with farmers coming from as far as Ganganagar in Rajasthan.

The association is aware that a lot of capital is required to do farming so it occasionally calls in the public sector bank executives. They update the members on the various schemes and options available to take loan.

Other advantages include social interaction amongst farmers, besides they become more open to suggestions and such a platform reduces disparity between the big and the small. It breeds healthy competition and familiarises the farmers to good agriculture and horticulture.

Challenges in dairying
By Raman Narang and Deepti

WITH ever burgeoning population putting tremendous on our limited resources, diversification of tremendous pressure on our limited resources, diversification of Indian agriculture has been strongly advocated because of smaller land holdings of the ruralites. Of all the existing technologies, livestock offers a good scope for diversification as it assures regular income. Such a diversification in today’s scenario is deemed essential not only for uplifting rural masses but also meeting the rising demand for milk products.

Today India is a global leader in milk production. About 70 million farmers maintain a milch herd of 100 million cattle. The share of the livestock sector output value in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is about 9 per cent, which is 25 per cent of the total output value from the agriculture sector. The dairy sector alone contributes 60 per cent of 9 per cent GDP. The current milk production is growing at the rate of 4.51 per cent annually. The projected output in 2000 AD would be 86 million tonnes, while the World Bank forecast is still higher at 94 million tonnes.

Indian dairy, therefore, becomes a unique case where its marginal farmers contribute their share of milk resources through cooperative unions, notwithstanding a recipe of several handicaps. Nearly seven million rural milk producers are direct beneficiaries of the biggest economic development programme anywhere in the world.

During the post-Independence period, the milk production registered a persistent increase from 17.4 million tonnes in 1948-52 to an estimated 74 million tonnes in 1998 with per capita consumption of milk of 204 gm per day. This level of milk production is characterised by the presence of poor breeds of milch animals maintained on inadequate feeding, management and health care.

About 85 per cent of Indian cows give less milk than 1 kg per day and cows giving more than 2 kg of milk per day are only about 5 per cent. An average Indian cow milk yield ranges from 200 to 500 kg per lactation of 300 days compared to 4,154 kg in the USA, 3,950 kg in the UK and 3,902 kg in Denmark. A major proportion of indigenous stock is also plagued with longer ages of first calving i.e 36 to 50 months and an inter-calving period of 14 to 22 months.

The situation with buffaloes is little brighter as 10 per cent of the buffalo population yields little less than 1 kg milk per day and about 25 per cent yield more than 2 kg of milk per day. On an average an Indian buffalo gives about 650 kg milk per lactation. In nutshell poor yields are direct reflections of poor breed, feed and management. Upgrading and selective breeding indigenous breeds would not be effective in bridging the gap between requirement and availability in a reasonable period of time.

Cross-breeding option: During the past two decades, cross-breeding has been prevalent countrywide. To boost productivity cross with European breeds have provided a good combination of heat tolerance and disease resistance, besides improving milk production. Cross-breeding experiences have clearly shown that 50 per cent exotic inheritance is most ideal for growth, production and reproduction performances. Exotic genes should be stabilised at this level through cross-breeding first generation cross-breds, utilising proven 50 per cent cross-bred bulls. In our country Friesian and Jersey are the two breeds used by and large for cross-breeding. In areas where green fodder is available in plenty and cool climate prevails Holsteins are recommended. Jerseys have been recommended for plains and other areas.

Buffalo breeding: Buffaloes are considered to be the base of Indian dairy industry. More than 50 per cent of milk production of our country is produced by buffaloes. The Indian subcontinent is endowed with varieties of genetically potential breeds like murrah, nili, jaffrabadi, surti, nagpuri and bhadawari. Nili and murrah are heavy and they are the best milk producers giving 1650-2160 kg of milk per lactation. They are very much resistant to deadly diseases and drought conditions. Apart from this, they are efficient in utilising course fodder and converting it into milk.

Improving of non-descript buffaloes, grading up may be done with murrah or surti according to agroclimatic regions. Surti is preferred in coastal areas because of its compact size and better heat tolerance. Murrah may be used for grading up of non-descript animals in dry plains, all over India for improving milch production.

Conclusion: Diversification with dairying requires an appraisal by the farmer of his own resources. Choice of breed has to be made depending on available feed resources. An exotic cross requires more available feed, while the indigenous could subsist even in deficit. It is the small farmers who can entirely change the picture of milk production in the 21st century since 85 per cent of Indian cows yield less than 1 kg milk per day. Even a marginal increase by such low yielders can bring about a big revolution. Therefore, dairy of these times has vast scope and technology dissemination aimed at small farmers is needed.

Is wheat production in jeopardy?
By V.K. Garg

PUNJAB, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are the best wheat growing areas in India. These states contribute more than 90 per cent wheat to the central pool. Wheat production was increased in this area by about 250 per cent between 1975 and 1990 due to adoption of new, high-yielding, dwarf wheat varieties, increased use of fertilisers and irrigation facilities. But wheat production is now moving beyond the stage where the productivity depends on these factors. Now, it is the turn of weed management which can play pivotal role to sustain the productivity of wheat. The use of herbicides has allowed the breeders to develop less competitive varieties of wheat with higher harvest index. The adoption of herbicides now extends to more than 50 per cent wheat farmers in North-West India. The use of herbicides is also important due to non-availability of labour during the season for weeding, etc.

Littleseed canary grass (phalaris minor L.) is the most troublesome weed of wheat in the rice-wheat cropping system in North-West India. It is commonly known as kanki, mandusi, gullidanda, chirrya bazara, chirrya ghas, etc. In the early seventies, average wheat yield reductions of 25 to 30 per cent were quite common because of this weed. In that situation farmers focused on herbicides to control this weed. Phenyurea class herbicides were recommended in 1978 for the control of this weed. Farmers opted for Isoproturon because of its greater efficacy than other herbicides of this class. Isoproturon provided up to 96 per cent control of littlessed canary grass at farmers’ field and the wheat yields from the fields where Isoproturon was sprayed were approximately 33 per cent greater than the yields from fields where the herbicide was not used. However, total dependence on Isoproturon did not prove useful in the long run as there are reports of poor efficacy of Isoproturon against littleseed canary grass since 1992 as this weed has developed resistance against Isoproturon at many farms. The evolution of resistance in this weed seems to be a real threat to wheat production. There is an urgent need to devise strategies for preventing resistance development in new areas and controlling the existing resistant populations.

The poor control of littleseed canary grass was first observed in Karnal and Kurukshetra districts. To find the failure of Isoproturon in these areas a diagnostic survey was conducted by scientists of the CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, in 1993-94. This survey revealed that 99 per cent farmers had single weed problem — littleseed canary grass. Out of 100 surveyed farmers, 45 had poor control of littleseed canary grass even by using two to three sequential sprays of Isoproturon each at a recommended dose. About 16 per cent farmers ploughed down their wheat crop in the mid-season due to the total failure of the crop and planted sunflower in February. The number of farmers with poor control of this weed with Isoproturon is increasing every year. In 1994, the seeds of the littleseed canary grass collected from Punjab has also been found resistant to Isoproturon. At some locations the situation was so bad that even 10 times higher than the recommended dose of the Isoproturon proved ineffective.

This increase in the number of crop failure cases because of herbicide resistance development in this weed is posing a great challenge to the farm scientists. If the problem is left unchecked now, the evolution of this herbicide-resistant weed could reduce the wheat grains production in India. There are chances that the rice-wheat cropping systems become unsustainable. It has been estimated that if such weeds become widespread, yields may decrease by 30 per cent or more, and such a big reduction may put a question mark on the India’s self-sufficiency in foodgrain production.

Any single approach would not be working to control this problem in the long run. So if an integrated approach is used to control this weed, only then it will be possible to maintain the wheat production in India.

Strategies

— Farmers should opt for alternate crops in at least 20 per cent area on each farm which will help to generate recovery in yield losses due to littleseed canary grass by reducing the seed bank of resistant populations. Clearly, the situation demands to diversify the monoculture cropping system. But into what? Sunflower, sugarcane, winter maize, berseem and vegetables can be the best reply to the problem. Alternate crops will help in breaking the life cycle of littleseed canary grass.

— Farmers should opt for such a cropping system which includes non-crop phase from December to January. During the non-crop phase littleseed canary grass should be encouraged to emerge and grow. This will also help in reducing the existing seed bank in the field.

— Broadcasting or drilling wheat on a relatively wet seed bed allows a greater proportion of littleseed canary grass seedlings to emerge and compete with wheat. Competition under such situation invariably favours the weeds. After final seed bed preparation for wheat, the fields may be allowed to dry in the upper surface. After seven to eight days, farmers may be encouraged to drill wheat. The broadcasting of wheat seed may be discouraged. The already emerged population of littleseed canary grass will be controlled by drilling and new flushes will emerge only by first irrigation and by that time wheat is so strong that it does allow the weed to dominate.

— Farmers should avoid the exchange of seeds from the areas where the resistance problem is already prevailing. Seed certification standards should also be enforced strictly. The policy makers should ensure that the wheat seed provided to the farmers by the government as well private agencies is having “Zero level” of weed seeds.

— Farmers should avoid using the same herbicide year after year.

— Competitive varieties with improved cover in the early stages, more height and tillers should be encouraged to avoid yield losses.

There appears no easy solutions to the problem of herbicide resistant weeds. If such weeds are evolving in India, they would likely evolve in several other developing countries. Thus, if any effective alternative technology is developed by India, it should also be opted in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China or where wheat production practices are similar to India.

Bid to overcome fodder shortage

About 70 per cent of the population of Punjab reside in villages and their main source of income is agriculture. In the recent past, the farmers have diversified to dairy as supplementary profession. A milch cattle require minimum 40 to 50 kg of green fodder per day against which 20 kg is available. This shortage increases in the Kandi and water scarcity areas which form part of Ropar and Hoshiarpur districts.

Since long a need for specific programme for fodder production for these water scarcity areas has been felt. With the guidance of experts from the CFGRI, Jhansi, CAJRI, Jodhpur, and Milkfed , a nursery of plants and grasses for water scarcity and Kandi areas has been developed at SAS Nagar. Along with these fodder, tree nurseries have also been established at the Milkfed seed processing plant, Bassi Pathana, and the Agriculture farm, Ropar.

Trees like subabul, natas, mopen, anjan and jangali arhar and grasses and leguminous fodder varieties of napier bajra, cenchrus setigurus, cenchrus celerus, stylo hammata, field bean and velvet bean are being grown. The nursery plans to supply 40,000 tree saplings and 4,00,000 of grass rooted slips.

One farmer will be supplied with 120 tree saplings and about 1 kg of grass seed which has been procured from other states. These plants will be distributed among farmers by the end of August. The nursery has a plan to supply paragrass rooted slips and seeds of sesbenia for waterlogged areas to combat shortage of fodder. Milkfed supplies good quality African tall maize 1006 var, teosente, multicut Jowar, Barseem and oat seeds to farmers at cheaper rates.

The Managing Director, Milkfed, Punjab, Mr Amrik Singh, inspected the nursery and inaugurated the supply of plants to water scarcity and Kandi areas. — TNS

PADDY: Irrigation to the rice crop may be applied two days after the ponded water has infiltrated into the soil but rice fields should not be allowed to develop cracks. Last dose of nitrogen through 35 kg of urea may be applied, if already not given.

— Deficiency of zinc can be expected on kallar reclaimed soils or on those fields where zinc has not been applied to the previous crop. The same can be corrected by applying 25 kg of zinc sulphate per acre mixed with equal quantity of dry soil.

— Iron deficiency can be expected in sandy soils. The deficient plants show yellowing on younger leaves which ultimately turn white. To correct this malady, 1.0 per cent ferrous sulphate solution (one kg ferrous sulphate in 100 litres of water) per acre may be sprayed 3 to 4 times at weekly intervals. Do not apply ferrous sulphate to soil.

— Apply 55 kg of urea per acre in two equal splits to Basmati 370 and Basmati 386. The first and second doses should be applied in three and six weeks after sowing, respectively. Apply urea fertiliser when water is not standing in the field and irrigate the field on the third day of the application of urea.

— In the early transplanted crop, drying of leaves due to bacterial leaf blight disease may be noticed. Spray with any chemical will not be helpful to control this disease. Do not pond water in the field.

— Sheath blight may be noticed by the last week of August. The disease can be checked by spraying Bavistin 50 WP @ 200 g in 200 litre of water at boot stage. Keep the bunds clean by removing grass.

— Leaf hoper and plant hoppers can be controlled by spraying the crop with 250 ml of Lebaycid 1000 EC (Fenthion) or 800 ml of Ekalux/Quinguard 25 EC or one litre of Coroban/Dursban 20 EC (Chlorpyriphos) or 560 ml of Thiodan/Endocel 35 EC/ Monocrotophos 36 SL in 100 litres of water.

Rice stem borer: The larvae of stem borer bore into the stems of young plants and produce dead hearts. When the borer attacks old plant of paddy, then empty and erect white ears make their appearance. The fields showing more than 5 per cent dead hearts should be sprayed with 250 ml of Dimecron/Cildon/Phamidon/Phosdon / Bicron/Kinadon 85 SL or 560 ml of Dimecron/ Cildon / Phamidon /Phosdon/ Bilkorn/ Kinadon 85 SL or 560 ml of Nuvacron/Monocil 36 SL or one litre of Coroban/Dursban/Lethal/Durmet/Classic 20 EC in 100 litres of water per acre. These insecticides may be repeated as and when damage reaches economic threshold level. The pest can also be controlled by using 7.5 kg Sevidol 4:4 G (carbaryl-gamma BHC) per acre thrice in standing water.

Leaf folder: The larvae of this insect-pest fold the leaves, eat out the green tissues and produce white streaks. Control this pest by spraying 250 ml of Folithion/Sumithion/ Accothion 50 EC or 150 ml of Lebayid 1000 EC or one litre of Coroban/Durmet 20 EC or 560 ml of Nuvacron/Monocil 36 SL in 100 litres of water per acre. Application of Padan 4 G or Caldan 4 G @ 10 kg/acre recommended for control of stem borer also control leaf folder.
— Progressive Farming, PAU