Abstract
Abstract. The present study aims to assess the effect of agricultural developments on inter-annual variations in the agricultural Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of selected districts of the semi-arid region of India by using GloPEM model. Advancements in farming practices have been contributing to the increase of net primary productivity, which ultimately leads to increase in the agricultural production. The study shows that increase in the gross irrigated area, fertilizer consumption, use of high yielding crop varieties and adoption of agricultural mechanization in terms of tractors and irrigation pumps have contributed significantly in the increase in agricultural NPP in the semi-arid region of India. The agricultural NPP of the semi-arid region of India has shown a very good correlation with the gross irrigated area (R2 = 0.668) and fertilizer use (R2 = 0.701). The anthropogenic factors influencing the agricultural NPP were grouped in 3 major Factor Components (FC) (eigenvalues > 1) as: FC1-nutrients application, FC2-irrigation potential and agricultural mechanization (irrigation pumps and tractors) and irrigated area while FC3-cultivated area and area under high yielding crop varieties. The study showed that most of the semi-arid region of India has a good agricultural production potential which needs to harness by increasing the supply of irrigation water, promoting agricultural mechanization and adoption of integrated nutrient management approach.
Highlights
1.1 BackgroundAgriculture has changed significantly with the advances in science and technology
The canopy absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and the environmental factors controlling the utilization of APAR and autotrophic respiration rates of plants were used by the Global Production Efficiency Model (GloPEM) model to compute the Net Primary Productivity (NPP) (Prince and Goward, 1995; Goetz et al, 2000)
Since 1981 to 2000, the total agricultural NPP of the study area was increased by 33.40%
Summary
1.1 BackgroundAgriculture has changed significantly with the advances in science and technology. It is necessary to entrap the vast agricultural potential of the country to improve and enhance the country’s agricultural sector (DIA, 1997). The reckoning events of climate change and their notable impacts on the global environment emphasizes that some of the regions will experience the adverse changes such as augmented drought and/or flooding events, while others may experience the climatic conditions more favorable to the agricultural production (IPCC, 2007). In general, Indian agriculture is likely to be affected by climate change, in the water stressed semi-arid region, unless mitigation practices are not implemented properly. Though today India has become self sufficient in agricultural production, the enormous population growth of the country demands higher food production in near future. It is necessary to explore the country’s terrestrial productivity to analyze the regional agricultural status, its susceptibility to the climate change and potential mitigation measures to overcome the forthcoming possibilities of harsh climatic conditions
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