Effect of Sodic Soil and Water Logged Condition on Forage Crop and Their Application in Breeding

Abstract

Soil salinity is a growing issue in many parts of U.P. The use of improved salt-tolerant forage grasses assists farmers in increasing production and reclaiming saline soil. Salinity stress reduces crop yield by affecting plant growth and limiting land use. Forage Crops are intrinsically bio diverse. The monitoring, evaluation and research on Forage cultivation must be tailored to this special Sodic Soil farming system. Forage are beneficial for water saving and sometimes it is drought tolerant crops. Therefore they must be viewed as climate change compliant crops. Forages have never been given importance in agriculture by farmers as the area devoted to fodder crops is either neglected or almost constant since many decades and it is about 3% of the total cropped area in the state. About 0.94 m ha area is under forage production and there is no scope of its further expansion because of small land holdings and existing pressure for food and cash crops on agricultural land. However, possibility exists for improvement of productivity through appropriate management practices suited to different ecosystems. Due to industrialisation and habitat use, agricultural land is becoming increasingly scarce as the global population is growing at an alarming rate. In order to meet the need for food, it is necessary to use land that has been impacted by salt. Although traditional breeding has had considerable success, its use is restricted because of obstacles to reproduction and a lack of genetic diversity among the main crops. However, more work is needed to ensure the successful release of salt-tolerant cultivars in the field.