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Appraisal of soil fertility status of different agro-ecological regions of India
The advent of agro-technological revolution i.e., Green Revolution in mid-1960s undoubtedly brought miracles in agricultural production in the country, and provided food, employment and livelihood to millions of producers, traders and consumers. The post-Green Revolution era is, however, characterized with deterioration in soil fertility, emergence of multiple nutrient deficiencies in the soils, salinisation, depletion of groundwater table etc. The undesirable developments, often termed as second generation problems of Green Revolution, collectively led to the sustainability concerns of important production systems. Unbalanced and indiscriminate use of inputs like fertilizers and irrigation water over past three-and-a-half decades is reported to be one of the major reasons for over-exploitation of natural resources and for un-sustainability of agricultural production.
Recent diagnostic surveys indicate that in many intensively cultivated areas farmers have resorted to use greater than recommended doses of fertilizers, especially N fertilizers, to maintain the crop productivity at levels attained previously with relatively small fertilization rates. This is an indication of decline in factor productivity. As the prevailing fertilizer use is already unbalanced i.e., biased in favour of N, in majority of states, a further increase in N application by farmers as revealed by the surveys is likely to worsen the situation by (i) increasing nutrient imbalance in soil-plant system, (ii) encouraging multiple nutrient deficiencies in soils, (iii) endangering environmental health, and (iv) raising the cost of production. The prevalent nutrient management practices need to be refined under most, if not all, farming situations in order to prevent the ever-increasing problems of soil fertility deterioration. Prior to this, a basic requirement will be to monitor and document the extent of changes in soil fertility under different cropping systems and agro-ecologies, owing to farmers’ nutrient management approach. At present, a knowledge gap exists on the subject. Whatever information is available is based on researcher-managed on-station experiments, which do not necessarily represent actual farming situations prevailing on cultivators' fields.
It is, therefore, pertinent to determine soil fertility status under different agro-ecological regions and cropping systems, and monitor periodical changes, so as to evaluate the impact of farmers’ nutrient management practices. The results of the study can be extrapolated to similar soil and cropping environments, and may offer guidelines for need-based refinements in nutrient management packages. The present research project, proposed in collaboration with PDCSR, Modipuram and PPIC-India Programme, Gurgaon, envisages monitoring changes in fertility status of soils of different agro-ecological sub-regions representing prominent cropping systems.
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