Introducing pulses in rice fallows

of India

- constraints, opportunities and

action plan

Masood Ali

Former Director

ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research

Kanpur

• Introduction

• Characteristics of rice fallows

• Bio-physical , production and socio-economic

constraints

• Research & developmental efforts

• Opportunities

• Action plan

Outline

• Low-land, mono-cropped rice under rainfed eco-system

• Remain fallow during winter due to inadequate moisture /excessive moisture in surface soil at planting time of winter crops

Assam

Jharkhand

Rice fallows in India (11.65 million ha)

Eastern Region : 4.27 m ha Eastern U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal

North-east Hill Region: 0.54 m ha Assam

Central Region : 5.01 m ha Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra

Coastal region: 1.52 m ha Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu

Characteristics of Rice fallows

1. Eastern region (Eastern U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand and W.B.)

Hot dry, sub-humid, 1200-1700 mm rainfall

Excessive moisture, poor drainage, cool winter

Deep alluvial , loamy to silt clay, neutral to

slightly acidic

Deficient in O.C., P and Zn

Blue bull/Stray cattle

(Chickpea, Lentil, Lathyrus)

Stray animals and un-controlled grazing-a social problem

Blue Bull menace

Bihar & Jharkhand

(37%)

Districts covering major area under rice fallow :Kisangang,

Sahibganj, Gaya, Aurangabad, Katihar, Dumka, Dhanbaad, Ranchi,

Purba Singbhum, Paschim Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Gumla

Uttar Pradesh

(6%)

West Bengal

(37%)

Districts covering major area under rice fallow :Purulia, Bankura,

Birbhum, Bardhaman, Medinipur, Murshidabad, South 24-Parganas,

Maldah, West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Kochbihar

Humid tropical, 2000-2250 mm rainfall

Excessive moisture, water stagnation

Mild Winter

Clay rich, neutral to acidic soils

Soils deficient in O.C., P and micronutrients

(Urdbean , lentil, peas)

2. North-east region : Assam

District having large area under rice fallows

ASSAM

(24%)

Districts covering major area under rice fallow : Lakhimpur, Jorhat,

Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Maringnon

3. Central region (M.P, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra)

Hot/moist dry sub-humid, rainfall 1200-1400

mm

Early withdrawal of monssonal rains, lack of

soil moisture at planting time of rabi crops

Vertisols-montmorillonitic clay : mixed red and

black soils,, pH neutral to alkaline soils develop

cracks,

Winter mild to severe

Stray cattle

Districts covering major area under rice fallow : Surguja, Jashpur,

Raigarh, Raipur, Durg: Jabalpur, Seoni, Bolaghat,Damoh, Rania, Rewa,

Sidhi

MP & Chhattisgarh (78%)

4. Coastal Peninsula (A.P., T.N,. Karnataka and Odisha)

Sub-humid tropical, mild winter

Adequate moisture

DeepVertisols, rich in clay, mod.

alkaline (A.P.) to slightly acidic (Odisha)

Bimodal rains, 1000-1200 mm

Soils deficient in O.C., P and

micronutrients

(Urdbean and mungbean)

Districts covering major area under rice fallow : Krishna, East

Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur

Andhra Pradesh

Rice Fallows

Odisha

(31%)

Districts covering major area under rice fallow :Koraput, Kalabhandi,

Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Cuttock, Puri,

Dkenkanal, Kendrapada

Constraints in Rice fallows

A. Bio-physical

•Rainfed ecology

•High run-off and low moisture storage

•Water stagnation/excessive moisture in coastal

region and low residual moisture in central region

•Poor physical condition of top soil layer due to

puddling of rice field, develops deep cracks

•Low SOC content and poor microbial activity

B. Production constraints

•Narrow window for planting

•Lack of short duration and high yielding varieties

•Poor plant stand (poor soil-seed contact in relay sowing)

•No use of fertilizers/chemicals

•Severe weed infestation including parasitic weeds

•High incidence of diseases: PM & MYMV- urdbean and

mungbean, rust- lentil, wilt complex - chickpea

•Moisture stress and terminal drought

C. Socio-economic constraints

•Resource-poor farmers

•Lack of credit and market infrastructure

•Non-availability of critical inputs

•Scarcity of human labours after rice harvest

(migration to urban areas)

•Lack of mechanization/ draft power

•Stray cattle

• All India Coordinated Pulse Improvement Project, 1967

• AICRP on Mungbean, Urdbean, Lentil, Lathyrus, Rajmash

(French bean) and Peas, 1995

• Mitigating abiotic stresses and enhancing resource-use

efficiency in pulses in rice fallows , 2010

• National Food Security Mission, 2007

• Brainstorming meeting on rice fallows, 2013

NAAS- Policy Paper 64

Research & Developmental Efforts

NFSM funded projects-CG institutes

>ICRISAT: Enhancing chickpea production in rainfed rice

fallow land of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, 2008

• ICARDA: Expanding lentil production in Eastern and North-

eastern states under rice based production system in

India, 2010

• ICARDA: Enhancing grasspea production in Eastern and

North-eastern states under rice based production system

in India, 2010

Technologies in shelf

• Choice of crops/varieties

• Crop management practices

• Soil and water management practices

• Farm mechanization

Improved Varieties

Lentil:

HUL 57, moitree, NDL 1, Pant L 8, Pant L 6, IPL 81, KLS 218

Urdbean:

LBG 17, LBG 402, LBG 623, LBG 752, KU 301, TU 94-2

Chickpea: BG 372, PG 186, JG 315, JG 16, JG 14

Mungbean:

LGG 460, Pusa 9072, Pairymung, TM 96-2. TARM 1

Grasspea: Ratan, Prateek, Mahateora

Desirable traits in pulse varieties

• Early seedling vigor

• Short duration

• Small seed size

• Resistant/tolerant to key diseases

• Drought and heat tolerance

• Amenable to mechanical harvesting

Soaking seeds in water for 6-8 hrs and sowing of primed seed at 8-10 days before harvest of rice

Improves germination, growth, plant stand and yield

Seed Priming- a simple and effective practice in relay cropping

Further refinement •Soaking seeds in KH2PO4 solution •Sowing methods for primed seed under minimum tillage •Optimum seed rate

Further refinement

• Formulation with micronutrients, growth hormones and PGPR •Seed pellets with nutrients

Foliar Nutrition- a low cost effective intervention

Effective in both under relay cropping or zero tillage system

• Spray of 2% urea/ DAP @ pre-flowering stage

Quizalofop @ 100g/ha for rice stubble management

Use of herbicides- an important intervention

Imazethapyr @ 50g/ha at 2-4 leaf stage for seasonal weeds

Mulching

Significant yield gain due to life saving irrigation with minimal amount of water (2.0 cm) under

severe moisture stress in rice fallow pulses

Water harvesting and life saving irrigation

Life saving irrigation through sprinkler system

Mechanization

(A)Opening furrow, placing fertilizer, seeds and covering of seeds

(B) Manual furrow opener (C) Manually operated IIPR No- Till Drill

(D) Tractor Operated Happy Seeder

Action Plan

• Disaggregated mapping of rice fallows

• Consolidation of R & D activities

• Pilot projects

• System approach

• Development of short duration, high yielding and

disease resistant varieties having tolerance to

terminal drought and heat stress

• Scaling-up crop management practices

• Rural credit and market

I. R & D Issues

Public awareness

Creation of community water reservoirs

Solar energy operated shallow tube wells

Creation of seed hubs

Mechanization of field operation

Rural credit

Road and marketing infrastructure

Legislation for containing menace of blue bulls

II. Policy issues

Blooming Rice fallows - br ings prosperity

Drainage channel 30 x 30 cm around the field

Avoid water stagnation in Rice fallows ( provision

for Proper drainage)

Blooming Rice fallows brings prosperity

Poor plant population in relay sowing

Assessing optimum soil moisture for relay sowing

Potential pulse crops identified for rice-fallows in different states of India

Pulse crops States

Lentil Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand

Grass pea Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal

Chickpea Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand

Mungbean Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu

Urdbean Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha

Planting system in rice fallows

Relay After rice harvest

Contd….

Spray post- emergence herbicides

Seed coating with micronutrients

Foliar spray of 2% urea/DAP

Adoption of suitable IPM module

Water harvesting (farm ponds, community

reservoirs) and recycling (sprinkler)

Pulses in Rice fallows……. ……..brings Prosperity &

Sustainability

20 cm rice stubble Residue removal Mulching

Planting lentil after harvest of rice crop

0-5 cm 5-10 cm 10-15 cm

Moisture extraction pattern under stubble

management in lentil

Rice-lentil

Rice-Grasspea

Rice-Urdbean/Mungbean

Rice-pulse relay cropping

Reasons for fallows

Rainfed/ Lack of irrigation

Highly variable and inadequate monsoonal rains; very

low probability of winter rains

Low soil moisture in surface layer after harvest of rice

Water stagnation/excessive moisture in

November/December

Spray Quizolofop- N- ethyl (post-emergence) herbicide

Interventions to avoid regeneration

Low ratooning rice line (IET 4786)

Soil compaction and cracks in Vertisols

Cultivation of long duration rice varieties

Lack of appropriate varieties of winter

crops for late planting

Lack of public awareness, R & D efforts

and policy support

Stray cattle

Cont.….

Rice fallows in India

State Kharif-rice area ('000 ha)

Rabi-fallow ('000 ha)

Rice-fallow area as % of kharif rice area

% of total rabi-fallow area

Andhra Pradesh 2657 305 11.5 2.6

Assam 2234 539 24.1 4.6

Bihar 5974 2196 36.8 18.9

Karnataka 984 182 18.5 1.6

Madhya Pradesh 5596 4382 78.3 37.6

Maharashtra 1762 629 35.7 5.4

Orissa 3879 1219 31.4 10.5

Uttar Pradesh 6255 353 5.6 3.0

West Bengal 4617 1719 37.2 14.8

Others 2378 128 5.4 0.4

Total 40,184 11,652 29.0 100.0

Selection of appropriate variety of rice and pulses

Timely sowing under relay cropping

Glimpses of capacity development

No. of capacity development Male Female Total

211 7105 1699 8804

Technologies in shelf

Short duration and disease resistant varieties identified

Green manuring and application of FYM in rice crop

Zero-till drill

Enhanced seed rate under relay cropping

Seed priming

Seed treatment with Rhizobium culture and fungicides

Management of rice stubbles

CONVENER Masood Ali

Co- CONVENERS

Sajeev Gupta A Sarker

Rice ratoon extracts 20-25 % of soil moisture over non-ratoon

Ratoon rice

Yield advantage in lentil over farmers’ practice across project sites (2013-14 and 2014-15)

1354

1032.5

1123 1161.6

996

1135.165 1109

678 706.5

746 753.3 729 713.5 769

60.86 47.39 52.13 54.05 35.37 59.96 44.2

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Moitree KLS-218 IPL-406 HUL-57 PL-6 PL-8 PL-7

Demonstration yield (Kg/ha) Farmers’ practice (Kg/ha) % increase

Lentil grown in Rice-fallow

Kamrup Manipur

Improved v/s local varieties of grasspea across project

sites (2013-14 and 2014-15)

955.134

1356.25

1193.5

437.5

707.8

1033

835.5

201

44.61 32.85

92.5 118.25

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Nirmal Ratan Prateek Mahateora

Demonstration yield (Kg/ha) Farmers’ practice (Kg/ha) % increase

Blooming Rice fallows - br ings prosperity

Selection of appropriate variety of rice and pulses