Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health
To make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and welfare of the farming communities contributing around 40 percent of the total food production in India, it is vital to implement best management practices to keep soils healthy, conserve agronomic inputs,...
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Chemistry Proceedings |
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| author | Pushpanjali Konda Srinivas Reddy Josily Samuel Prabhat Kumar Pankaj Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy Jagriti Rohit Kotha Sammi Reddy |
| author_facet | Pushpanjali Konda Srinivas Reddy Josily Samuel Prabhat Kumar Pankaj Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy Jagriti Rohit Kotha Sammi Reddy |
| author_sort | Pushpanjali |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and welfare of the farming communities contributing around 40 percent of the total food production in India, it is vital to implement best management practices to keep soils healthy, conserve agronomic inputs, minimize environmental impacts, and produce adequate yields. Increases in the sudden downpour of rain invites a high amount of soil loss from agricultural fields, eroding the uppermost soil layer. Permanent fodder grass strips effectively trap sediments and check nutrient removal from soil on one hand and on other meet the green fodder demands of small ruminants. However, nutrients removed by erosion create a limitation on land productivity. It has been observed that grass systems are useful for the improvement of other soil properties (soil physical and biological properties, for example) related to soil erosion control, slope stabilization, and food production. Hence, this study brought out the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on the sustainability of rainfed farming. Fields with grass strips improved their soil quality from 0.39 to 0.52 over a four-year period. This concept of growing grasses on both sides of a field (in a one-meter strip) in areas of loamy fine sand to sandy loam textured soils improves soil health and significantly reduces runoff from cropped fields. A permanent belt of <i>Brachiaria ruziziensis</i> and <i>Stylosanthes hamata</i> in two meter widths was established at every fifteen meters across the direction of the slope and reduced soil loss by 65–70 percent. This mechanization of friendly technology provides sufficient green fodder for small ruminants. A castor–redgram rotation with fodder grass strips (especially <i>Brachiaria ruziziensis</i>) on the upper and lower sides of the slopes fetched better crop productivity, and thus the total returns increased from 137,022 rupees/ha to 178,689 rupees/ha. The use of grass strips is a low-cost measure for soil conservation, especially for slowing down the run-off from sudden downpours of high intensity. This study may aid researchers and managers in helping farmers with this low-cost and viable technology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:46:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3fd34b176bb543c3ab707686fcb3dd34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4583 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:46:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
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| series | Chemistry Proceedings |
| spelling | doaj.art-3fd34b176bb543c3ab707686fcb3dd342023-11-17T10:17:27ZengMDPI AGChemistry Proceedings2673-45832022-02-011015810.3390/IOCAG2022-12189Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil HealthPushpanjali0Konda Srinivas Reddy1Josily Samuel2Prabhat Kumar Pankaj3Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy4Jagriti Rohit5Kotha Sammi Reddy6ICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaICAR—Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, IndiaTo make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and welfare of the farming communities contributing around 40 percent of the total food production in India, it is vital to implement best management practices to keep soils healthy, conserve agronomic inputs, minimize environmental impacts, and produce adequate yields. Increases in the sudden downpour of rain invites a high amount of soil loss from agricultural fields, eroding the uppermost soil layer. Permanent fodder grass strips effectively trap sediments and check nutrient removal from soil on one hand and on other meet the green fodder demands of small ruminants. However, nutrients removed by erosion create a limitation on land productivity. It has been observed that grass systems are useful for the improvement of other soil properties (soil physical and biological properties, for example) related to soil erosion control, slope stabilization, and food production. Hence, this study brought out the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on the sustainability of rainfed farming. Fields with grass strips improved their soil quality from 0.39 to 0.52 over a four-year period. This concept of growing grasses on both sides of a field (in a one-meter strip) in areas of loamy fine sand to sandy loam textured soils improves soil health and significantly reduces runoff from cropped fields. A permanent belt of <i>Brachiaria ruziziensis</i> and <i>Stylosanthes hamata</i> in two meter widths was established at every fifteen meters across the direction of the slope and reduced soil loss by 65–70 percent. This mechanization of friendly technology provides sufficient green fodder for small ruminants. A castor–redgram rotation with fodder grass strips (especially <i>Brachiaria ruziziensis</i>) on the upper and lower sides of the slopes fetched better crop productivity, and thus the total returns increased from 137,022 rupees/ha to 178,689 rupees/ha. The use of grass strips is a low-cost measure for soil conservation, especially for slowing down the run-off from sudden downpours of high intensity. This study may aid researchers and managers in helping farmers with this low-cost and viable technology.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4583/10/1/58grass stripsoil qualitysurface runoff |
| spellingShingle | Pushpanjali Konda Srinivas Reddy Josily Samuel Prabhat Kumar Pankaj Ardha Gopala Krishna Reddy Jagriti Rohit Kotha Sammi Reddy Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health Chemistry Proceedings grass strip soil quality surface runoff |
| title | Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health |
| title_full | Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health |
| title_fullStr | Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health |
| title_short | Fodder Grass Strips for Soil Conservation and Soil Health |
| title_sort | fodder grass strips for soil conservation and soil health |
| topic | grass strip soil quality surface runoff |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4583/10/1/58 |
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