Conservation Agriculture-An Ideal Resource Management Strategy for Sustainable Oilseed Production in India

Suresh G

doi:10.31031/mcda.2021.08.000678

Abstract

Low productivity of oilseed crops in India is due to their majority cultivation under rainfed condition in low soil fertility and prone to erosion. Conservation agricultural practices viz., reduced tillage, crop residue cover, crop rotation play an important role in initiating changes in physical, chemical and biological properties which in turn enrich carbon pools and improve the crop yields sustainably. Resource Conservation Technologies in Rice-wheat based cropping systems in Indo-Gangetic plains are huge success and gaining popularity. Conservation agriculture can be seen as a new way forward for conserving resources and enhancing oilseed productivity to achieve goals of sustainable agriculture and nutritional security in India. However, it demands development of location specific CA technologies and combination of institutional and policy support.

Highlights

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been established as a resource-saving agricultural production system to achieve production intensification and high yields along with enhancing the natural resource base through the positive interplay of related principles of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue cover and crop associations and cover crop [1,2].In India, vegetable oils are critical for nutrition, energy and economy of the country and in global commodity supplies
Conservation agricultural practices viz., reduced tillage, crop residue cover, crop rotation play an important role in initiating changes in physical, chemical and biological properties which in turn enrich carbon pools and improve the crop yields sustainably
Among the nine oilseed crops grown in the country, seven are of edible oils and two are of non-edible industrial oils.Low and unstable yields of most oilseed crops, and uncertainty in returns to investment, is due to their majority cultivation under rainfed conditions in poor soils with low organic carbon, high climate risk production environments leading to the situation of unsustainability and wide demand-supply gap

Summary

Introduction

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been established as a resource-saving agricultural production system to achieve production intensification and high yields along with enhancing the natural resource base through the positive interplay of related principles of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue cover and crop associations and cover crop [1,2]. Among the nine oilseed crops grown in the country, seven are of edible oils (soybean, groundnut, rapeseed-mustard, sunflower, sesame, safflower and niger) and two are of non-edible industrial oils (castor and linseed).Low and unstable yields of most oilseed crops, and uncertainty in returns to investment, is due to their majority cultivation under rainfed conditions in poor soils with low organic carbon, high climate risk production environments leading to the situation of unsustainability and wide demand-supply gap. The present review focusses on global status of CA, its benefits and the need for adopting CA practices for enhancing the oilseed productivity on a sustainable basis in the changing climatic scenario. This technology has been widely adopted globally on more than 157M ha in over 50 countries, largely in rainfed areas. Through CA crop residues are retained on soil surface and in combination with reduced tillage, it initiates processes that enrich carbon pools and lead to improved soil quality and resource enhancement [6,7]

Discussion

Conclusion