Sustainable intensification of climate-resilient maize–chickpea system in semi-arid tropics through assessing factor productivity

Abstract

Global trends show that the rapid increase in maize production is associated more with the expansion of maize growing areas than with rapid increases in yield. This is possible through achieving possible higher productivity through maize production practices intensification to meet the sustainable production. Therefore, a field experiment on “Ecological intensification of climate-resilient maize–chickpea cropping system” was conducted during consecutive three years from 2017–2018 to 2019–2020 at Main Agricultural Research Station, Dharwad, Karnataka, India. Results of three years pooled data revealed that ecological intensification (EI) treatment which comprises of all best management practices resulted in higher grain yield (7560 kg/ha) and stover yield compared to farmers’ practice (FP) and all other treatments which were deficit in one or other crop management practices. Similarly, in the succeeding winter season, significantly higher chickpea yield (797 kg/ha) was recorded in EI. Further EI practice recorded significant amount of soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and iron after completion of third cycle of experimentation (0.60%, 235.3 kg/ha,21.0 kg/ha,363.2 kg/ha,0.52 ppm and 5.2 ppm respectively). Soil enzymatic activity was also improved in EI practice over the years and improvement in each year was significant. Lower input energy use was in FP (17,855.2 MJ/ha). Whereas total output energy produced was the highest in EI practice (220,590 MJ ha−1) and lower output energy was recorded in EI–integrated nutrient management (INM) (149,255 MJ/ha). Lower energy productivity was noticed in EI-INM. Lower specific energy was recorded in FP and was followed by EI practice. Whereas higher specific energy was noticed is EI–INM. Each individual year and pooled data showed that EI practice recorded higher net return and benefit–cost ratio. The lower net returns were obtained in EI-integrated weed management (Rs. 51354.7/ha), EI-recommended irrigation management (Rs. 56,015.3/ha), integrated pest management (Rs. 59,569.7/ha) and farmers’ practice (Rs. 67,357.7/ha) which were on par with others.

Impact of sowing date and level of phosphorus application on economic returns in cotton

“…Soil degradation emerges as another pressing issue linked to excessive P and N application in cotton farming ( Honfoga, 2018 ; Awadelkareem et al., 2023 ). Prolonged imbalanced nutrient application can precipitate soil acidification, nutrient imbalances, and diminished soil fertility, imperilling the long-term viability and sustainability of cotton farming systems ( Uwiragiye et al., 2023 ; Salakinkop et al., 2024 ).…”

Endophytic Fungi from the Four Staple Crops and Their Secondary Metabolites

“…Compound 1 showed antifungal activity against the human pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 16 µg/mL, while compounds 8 and 10 showed antimicrobial activity against gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli with the same minimum inhibitory concentration of 16 µg/mL [93]. Eighteen chromones (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) were isolated from the potato endophytic fungus Bipolaris eleusines, of which 16, 18 and 23 contained chlorine in their structures (Figure 1…”

“…Maize ( Zea mays L.) is known as the “Queen of Cereals” and is one of the most extensively planted cereal crops in the world, ranking first in terms of production [ 26 ]. Beginning in 5000 B.C., maize was cultivated in Mesoamerica [ 27 ].…”