Thesis submitted to the Department of Agronomy -

107 Pages·2011·5.83 MB·English

EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT CROPPING
SYSTEMS ON SHALLOW BLACK SOILS
IN SEMI-ARID INDIA
Thesis submitted to the
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of the
Degree of Master of Science
By
Abdulkadir Mohamed Abikar
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
Raiendranagar 500 030
Hydera~ad
l
Andhra Pradesh India
l
December 1985
EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT CROPPING
SYSTEMS ON SHALLOW BLACK SOILS
IN SEMI-ARID INDIA
Thesis submitted to the
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of the
Degree of Master of Science
By
Abdulkadir Mohamed Abikar
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
Raiendranagar Hyderabad 500 030
l
Andhra Pradesh India
l
December 1985
CERTIFICATE
Mr Abdulkadir Mohamed Abikar has prosecuted the
~atisfactorily
course of research and the thesis entitled "Evaluation of
different cropping systems on shallow black soils in semi-arid
India" submitted is the result of original research work and is
of high standard to its presentation to the
~ufficient
examination.
I also certify that the thesis or part thereof has not been
previously submitted by him for a deqtee of any University.
Major Advisor
t"l tJ)('-fJ .. --~
Dr. M.R. Rao
Agronomist
ICRISAT
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the thesis entitled "Evaluation of
Clifferent cropping systems on shallow black soils in
semi-~lrid
lndia" submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements [or
the degree of Master of Science in Agriculture of Andhra Pradesh
Agricultural University, Hyderabad, is a record as the bonafide
research work carried by Mr Abulkadir Mohamed Abikar under my
guidance and The subject of the thesis has been
~,JDervisi()n.
approved by the Student's Advisory Committee.
No part of the thesis has been submitted for any other
degree or diploma or has been published. All the assistance anu
help received during the course of the investigations have been
duly acknowledged by him.
H \2.Q.e;J .
Chairman of the Advisory Committee
Dr. M.R. Rao
Agronomist
ICRISAT
Thesis approved by the Student Advisory Committee.
Hg~
Chairman: Dr. M. R. Rao
Agronomist
ICRISAT,Patancheru
. "
( --;--f .. " \.. ,\.JI.\_,..... . iI' ~. ' I • • • • I\ tI L ,~
Co-chairman Dr. G. Venkateswara Reddy ) ..' \1.; I ;."
Professor & Head
Department of Agronomy
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
~
Member Dr. S.M. Kondap
Associate Professor
Department of Agronomy
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
7'f &1.. \. i. 1,- t'r/ _-
"~
Member Dr. A. Shiv raj . ,
Associate Professor & Head of
Department of Plant Physiology
Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
TABLE OF CONTENTS
£A9.e
1 Introduction 1
2 Literature review 4
3 Material and methods 19
4 Results 35
5 Discussion 79
6 Conclusions 79
7 Summary 80
8 Literature cited 83
9 Appendix 90
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Lis. Title ~
1 ICRISAT tlcteorological data June 1984 22 - 23
to February 1985
2 Field layout plan of the experiment and 27
details of harvest
3 Row arrangement of crops on broaJbcd-and- 29
furrow system in different cropping systems
4 Light interception in sale crops of sorghum 43
and pigeonpea, and their intercropping system
5 Light interception in sale crops of pigeonpca 43
and groundnut and their intercropping system
6 Gross and net monetary returns [rom 67
different cropping systems.
LIS'l' OF TABLES
.T9.ble Title
.E..a.s.e
1 Physical and chemical properties of the 19 - 20
soil under experimentation
2 Crops and crop varieties, and their 25
approximate time to maturity
3 Crop stand in different cropping 36
systems as observed at harvest
4 Plant height measured at final harvest 39
of crops in different cropping systems
5 Days from emergence to 50% flowering of 40
crops in different cropping systems
6 Weed dry matter in different cropping 45
systems measured at three different stages
7 Visual assessment of the occurence of 48
weed flora in some sole crops and
intercrops on shallow black soils
8 Head length of sorghum and pearl millet
~9
in different cropping systems
9 Some measurements on yield components 50
of medium and short-season pigeonpea
10 Test weight of crops in different 51
cropping systems
11 Grain yield or pod yield of medium 53
duration pigeonpea and groundnut in different
cropping systems as affected by weeds
12 Grain or pod yield of crops in 55
different cropping systems
13 Stover or haulm yield of crops in 58
different cropping systems
14 Harvest Index of crops in different 61
cropping systems
15 Land Equivalent Ratio(LER) of 63
different intercropping systems
calculated on the basis of grain yield
16 Variable costs, gross returns, and net 65
profits of different cropping systems.
APPENDIX TABLE
Table Title
I Meteorological data collected at ICRISAT 90
Center from June 1984 to February 1985
II Input and output costs considered 91
for different crops in working out the
monetary returns of cropping systems
III Variable costs estimated for different 92
cropping systems
IV Mean sums of squares from analysis of 93
variance of different parameters of
crops in different cropping systems
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. M.R. Rao, Cropping
Systems Agronomist, ICRISAT, Chairman of my Advisory Committee
for his guidance throughout the investigation. I am also thankful
to Dr. M. Natarajan and Dr. R.W.Willey for their help in
planning the study which is relevant to my country's present
agronomic needs. I am grateful to Dr. G. Venkateswara Reddy,
Professor and Head of Agronomy Department at APAU for his useful
help and suggestions throughout my studies and this research
work. My thanks are also due to Dr. S.M. Kondap, Associate
Professor in Agronomy and to Dr. A. Shivraj, Associate Professor
in Plant Physiology at APAU, who are members of my Advisory
Committee for their suggestions in preparation of the thesis.
I am grateful to Dr. D.L. Oswalt, Principal Training
Officer ICRISAT, for organizing my stay in India and for his
encouragement and providing critical comments throughout this
investigation. I must mention that all the staff of the training
program have extended to me excellent cooperation and helped me
at some stage or the other.
I extend my thanks and gratitude to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for providing
funds for my study, the government of Somalia for granting me two
year study 'leave, and the government of India for giving
admission at APAU.