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Fodder Grass Strips: An Affordable Technology for Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture in India

Author

Listed:
  • Pushpanjali

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Josily Samuel

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Prabhat Kumar Pankaj

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Konda Srinivas Reddy

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Karunakaran Karthikeyan

    (ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey Land Use Planning, Nagpur 440 033, India)

  • Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Jagriti Rohit

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Kotha Sammi Reddy

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

  • Vinod Kumar Singh

    (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India)

Abstract

Rainfed agriculture, though resource-poor, contributes to around 40 percent of total food production in India. Fodder grass-strip-based systems improve soil’s physical and biological properties, control soil erosion, and help in slope stabilization without compromising productivity. Permanent fodder grass strips can effectively check the depletion of soil nutrients and can also act as sediment traps vis-à-vis meeting the green fodder requirement for small ruminants. This study was carried out with the major objective to quantify the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on soil quality. Further fodder quality assessment was carried out using the grass quality index for small ruminant feed and the profitability of different treatments was analyzed. Random block design (RBD) with three treatments which included two types of fodder grass ( Brachiaria ruziziensis and Stylosanthes hamata) on both sides of the cropped field was used for the study. The results showed that the soil quality increased from 0.39 to 0.52 and the runoff reduced significantly with soil loss reduction by 65-70 percent. The fodder quality assessment showed that the palatability of Stylosanthes hamata and Brachiaria ruziziensis was about 65 percent and 40 percent, respectively. The fodder grass strip increased the net returns by 30 percent. This easily adaptable natural resource management technology reduces soil nutrient loss and will help resource-poor rainfed farmers to maintain soil health and productivity under variable rainfall conditions with fair support to small ruminants.

Suggested Citation

  • Pushpanjali & Josily Samuel & Prabhat Kumar Pankaj & Konda Srinivas Reddy & Karunakaran Karthikeyan & Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy & Jagriti Rohit & Kotha Sammi Reddy & Vinod Kumar Singh, 2023. "Fodder Grass Strips: An Affordable Technology for Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture in India," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:318-:d:1049472
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duncan Cheruiyot & Charles A.O. Midega & Jimmy O. Pittchar & John A. Pickett & Zeyaur R. Khan, 2020. "Farmers’ Perception and Evaluation of Brachiaria Grass ( Brachiaria spp.) Genotypes for Smallholder Cereal-Livestock Production in East Africa," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Atanu Mukherjee & Rattan Lal, 2014. "Comparison of Soil Quality Index Using Three Methods," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
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