Zero tillage — low-cost technology for wheat production
By S.S. Brar and Sanjeev Kumar
IN Punjab wheat is grown in about 33.8 lakh hectares, of which on about 70 per cent area it follows rice and on the remaining area it comes after other crops like cotton, maize, soyabean, potato, etc. The rice-wheat sequence is quite popular amongst the farmers due to the minimum support price policy and marketing infrastructure. 

Faulty assessment of pesticide requirement
By V.P. Parbhakar
FAULTY assessment of requirement of pesticides on the one hand and sale of banned pesticides to farmers on the other have come to light in the working of the Punjab Agriculture Department.

Asia’s useful trees, shrubs and herbs
By N.L. Noatay
CHIR is a beautiful Himalayan pine tree. Its scientific name is pinus longifolia. Some scientists call it pinus roxburghii also. It grows naturally in the hills comprising lower Shivaliks to parts of the outer as well as inner Himalayas. Its natural habitat begins from eastern Bhutan and extends up to Afghanistan and beyond. The altitude ranges from 500 m to 1500 m above mean sea level.

Making wasteland cultivable
By Vibha Sharma
The Aganpur-Bhagwasi watersheds, 9 km along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway bear testimony that concerted efforts could convert wastelands cultivable to usher in an era of plenty and prosperity — a fact which has been made possible by levelling waste and rocky lands and harnessing rain water through economical system of storage.

• Agroforestry and fish farming
  
  

Zero tillage — low-cost technology for wheat production
By S.S. Brar and Sanjeev Kumar

IN Punjab wheat is grown in about 33.8 lakh hectares, of which on about 70 per cent area it follows rice and on the remaining area it comes after other crops like cotton, maize, soyabean, potato, etc. The rice-wheat sequence is quite popular amongst the farmers due to the minimum support price policy and marketing infrastructure. In spite of the emphasis to diversify some area from rice and wheat to other crops like maize, soyabean, sunflower, pulses, oilseed, etc., farmers are still continuing the rice-wheat cycle despite diminishing returns. Besides, at the national level, the wheat crop from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is likely to offer a stiff competition to the wheat from Punjab and Haryana. At the international level in the wake of implementation of the WTO next year, the Indian wheat is likely to become a poor competitor due to its high cost of production as compared to wheat from America, Canada and Australia. It is now essential that efforts be made to reduce the cost of production of wheat to meet the challenges of globalisation.

In India after fertiliser, tillage is the second costliest monetary input for wheat production where substantial savings are possible. Realising this fact and foreseeing the hefty dependence on imports and frequent escalation in prices of fossil fuel (diesel), long-term experiments were conducted in the Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, to study the performance of wheat under zero tillage system. The results of the research farm experiments revealed that wheat can be sown without any preparatory tillage, provided weeds are controlled effectively. To confirm these findings and to win farmers’ confidence, experiments were conducted at farmers’ fields at 49 locations after rice and maize throughout Punjab. At all the locations the grain yield of zero till-sown wheat was almost similar to that after conventional tillage. On the basis of these findings, PAU was the first agricultural university in the country to recommend zero tillage technology for sowing wheat in 1980-81. To promote the adoption of this technology farmers’ field demonstrations on the minimum one-acre plot during following years were conducted. To-date not even a single farmer has reported any adverse effect on the crop yield sown with zero tillage technology. In spite of such promising results, zero tillage technique could not be adopted by Punjab farmers due to non-availability of suitable drills for planting wheat in unprepared fields.

To address the above mentioned problem, two drills — one at PAU (Strip till drill) and the other at the GBPUA & T, Pantnagar (zero till seed-cum-fertiliser drill) have been developed. The strip till drill has two main components i.e. an ordinary conventional drill and a rotary blade attachment fitted in front of it. It is powered through the power take-off (PTO shaft) fitted at the rear of the tractor. Rotary is fitted in front of the drill in such a way that a 3-inch wide strip ahead of each seed delivery tube is finely prepared and a width of 5 inches between the two adjoining furrows in left untilled. This results in saving of 60 to 70 per cent of fuel and time. The Pantnagar zero-till fertiliser-cum-seed drill is a simple version of the original Aitchison drill developed in New Zealand. It is a conventional drill fitted with sharp-edged inverted-T-type furrow openers made of tampered high speed steel. The machine opens a narrow slit for placement of seed slightly above the fertiliser placed at a depth of 7.5 to 10 cm into the soil. The advantage of Strip till drill is that field sown with this drill gives a look that resembles the conventional system during initial stages of crop growth, whereas fields planted with Pantnagar zero till drill give ragged appearance. The has a direct bearing on the psyche of the farmer. However, strip till drill is costlier (Rs 32,000 to Rs 35,000 and requires a high horse-power tractor (at least 35 HP) for its operation. Besides, breakdown problems are more, particularly when the operator is a novice. In comparison, the Pantnagar zero till is cheaper (Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000) and easy to operate with minimum breakdowns.

The last two-three years have witnessed a paradigm shift in tillage practices for wheat, especially in Haryana and to some extent in Punjab also. Reliability of success of this technique can be judged from the fact that during the last rabi season (1999-2000) in Haryana 20,000 acres area under wheat was sown with zero tillage technology. In Punjab villages, like Hathan, Kup Kalan, Kaleran (Sangrur), Panjoli Kalan and Panjola (Fatehgarh Sahib) and Gurupura Rode (Moga), zero tillage technology has gained great favour. The farmers of these villages, who have been practising this technology for the past three-four years on farm scale, have observed the following major benefits of this technique:

— It is a cost effective technology. By adopting this technique a saving of Rs 600 to Rs 800 per acre is possible.

— It permits early sowing of wheat by 7 to 10 days than the conventional system, and facilitates timely sowing of wheat on larger areas leading to increased average wheat yield.

— It saves 30 to 50 per cent of water during first irrigation due to a reduced infiltration rate in zero till sown fields.

— In a conventional tilled sown crop, yellowing of wheat after the first irrigation in common due to temporary waterlogging and oxygen starvation. This problem is eliminated in zero till sown wheat.

— It saves 60 to 70 per cent time, which can be devoted to attending to subsidiary occupations like dairy farming, poultry farming, bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation, etc.

— Earlier sowing with zero till technique helps to considerably reduce the incidence of phalaris minor (gulli danda/danda/dumbi sitti/lalloo) leading to reduced dependence on herbicides use.

— It reduces wear and tear of costly farm machinery.

The importance of zero tillage for wheat has been acknowledged at the national level and now this has become a thrust area of research and adoption by the farmers, under the World Bank-funded National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP). To promote this technology it is quite imperative that large-scale demonstrations on zero till wheat crop establishment be conducted to change the mindset of the farmers.

Faulty assessment of pesticide requirement
By V.P. Parbhakar

FAULTY assessment of requirement of pesticides on the one hand and sale of banned pesticides to farmers on the other have come to light in the working of the Punjab Agriculture Department.

As per financial rules, articles likely to depreciate during storage or having a limited shelf life are not bought in advance of requirement. However, faulty assessment of the requirement led to the expiry of pesticides valued at Rs 14.77 lakh.

Test check of the records of the Deputy Director (Locust Control and Plant Protection) for 1993-98 revealed that pesticides worth Rs 5.61 lakh had expired in seven districts. Similarly, the Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Bathinda, received pesticides “Alfagard” and “Sromp” (Pedicumtherine) measuring 3,000 litres and 6,988 litres in September, 1993, and March, 1994, respectively, for Rs 23.61 lakh with a shelf life of two years. Of the total quantity of 9,988 litres, 6,175 litres of the pesticides had been sold and the life of the remaining 3,813 litres of pesticides (Alfagard 1,293 litres and Sromp 2,521 litres) expired in July, 1995, and May, 1996, respectively. This resulted in a loss of Rs 9.16 lakh.

The use of Benzene Hexa Chloride (BHC) on vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, crops and preservation of foodgrains was banned in October, 1990, by the Government of India. Notwithstanding this 1,549.50 quintals of the BHC costing Rs 4.41 lakh purchased during September, 1992 and January, 1994, was sold to the farmers by six Chief Agriculture Officers.

Similarly, the use of aluminium phosphide was restricted in April, 1992, by the Government of India. This pesticide was to be sold to government undertakings and organisations, etc, to be used under strict supervision of government experts or pest control operators. In contravention of these instructions, 8,481 tins of aluminium phosphide costing Rs 15.91 lakh purchased between November, 1992, and January, 1998, were sold to the farmers between January, 1993 and February, 1998, by six Chief Agriculture Officers. The department stated that the pesticides were sold to the farmers for use under the supervision of the technical experts of the department but they were not approved by the Glant Protection Authority to the Government of India.

The Agriculture Department purchased machinery and equipment worth Rs 22.60 lakh for the establishment of laboratories in its field offices without first ensuring the availability of land, building, accessories, etc, for setting up laboratories. Thus, the ill-planned purchase and lack of technical knowhow resulted in blocking of government funds worth Rs 22.60 lakh.

Machinery and equipment valued at Rs 8.10 lakh for the establishment of a bio-fertilisers laboratory at Ludhiana were purchased (February, 1995). Although the material was received in March, 1995, the Analytical Chemist, Ludhiana, failed to set up the laboratory. The material was lying with the CAO.

To strengthen the seed-testing laboratory at Ludhiana, an incomplete electrophoresis system was purchased (March, 1996) at a cost of Rs 3.09 lakh. The system could not, however, be made operational (May, 1998) as the subsidiary machine to run the system was not purchased due to inadequate provision of funds during 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Machinery and equipment worth Rs 7.59 lakh purchased (March, 1993) for setting up the seed-testing laboratory at Sangrur were lying packed (April, 1998) for over 56 months for want of building to house the laboratory. The warranty period of the machinery had already expired (March, 1997). Similarly, incomplete equipment worth Rs 3.82 lakh were purchased (March, 1997) to establish a functional bio-control laboratory at Mansa but the material was lying packed in stores (May, 1998) as the complete plant worth Rs 20 lakh was not purchased for want of funds.

Surplus or unserviceable store articles valued at Rs 96.59 lakh were awaiting disposal at various districts. The details are like this:

Scrutiny of stores and stock registers of four districts of Amritsar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana revealed that machinery, equipment, spareparts and articles valued at Rs 19.89 lakh had been lying idle since April, 1984, and June, 1996.

Test check of the stores and stock accounts of three CAOs of Amritsar, Bathinda and Hoshiarpur revealed that articles — colour TV set, VCR, slides projections, vehicles, etc worth Rs 19.25 lakh purchased under the town and village scheme had been lying surplus since 1994 as of May, 1998, due to discontinuance of the scheme.

In six CAOs of Amritsar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ropar and Sangrur, unserviceable and condemned material valued at Rs 38.67 lakh purchased during January, 1961, to November, 1995, were lying undisposed of as of May, 1998, in the absence of sanction by the Director for their condemnation.

Five mobile soil testing vans valued at Rs 18.78 lakh purchased between March, 1978 and March, 1995, for use in analysis of soil samples from farmers’ fields for ascertaining nutrient contents had been lying idle with five CAOs since March, 1995, and November, 1997, for want of heavy repairs, non-posting of drivers and non-equipping of vehicles with laboratories. One of the unequipped vans purchased in March, 1978, used for other purposes was off the road in November, 1997, due to frequent breakdowns.

Asia’s useful trees, shrubs and herbs
By N.L. Noatay

CHIR is a beautiful Himalayan pine tree. Its scientific name is pinus longifolia. Some scientists call it pinus roxburghii also. It grows naturally in the hills comprising lower Shivaliks to parts of the outer as well as inner Himalayas. Its natural habitat begins from eastern Bhutan and extends up to Afghanistan and beyond. The altitude ranges from 500 m to 1500 m above mean sea level.

An important member of the plant family coniferae, chir is a sun loving evergreen tree. It reaches maturity in nearly 100 years, when it attains a stately, straight and clear bole of a height nearly 15 to 25 m. It’s crown is semi-spherical with a diameter of about 10 to 15m. The total height of a chir tree is thus approximately 30 m or so. In suitable habitat the tree can attain up to 2 m girth and 35 m feet height in about 80-100 years. The leaves of this pine are like needles and 25-30 cm long. These are found in bundles of threes.

The chir tree flowers during February-March. The flower-catkins open up during April-May. The yellow pollen grains get dispersed freely and widely all over the place, painting entire landscape in golden yellow (dusting) hue.

The fruit of chir is a woody cone. The young cones appear during May-June. These mature in nearly eight to 10 months by January-February next year. It has several scales, which contain small 8 to 10 mm long, 4 to 5 mm wide and 2 to 3 mm thick elliptic oblong seeds. The seed, called chilakhru, has a 3-4 x 1 cm wing which helps it in drifting in breeze to far off places. The chilakhru contains a tasty oil, because of which the village folk, especially children, eat these. The bark of the chir tree is a layered, light and corky stuff. Reddish brown in colour, it is 3 to 5 cm thick and peals in beautiful slate-like flakes.

The heartwood of chir is fairly heavy (approximately 20 kg per cubic foot). It is strong in texture and yellowish in colour. The sapwood, however, is light in density, proportionately light and whitish in colour. This wood is not so good for building purposes, because of its tendency to warp in sun. It perishes fast in humid locales. It is also difficult to plane, but once finished it can take reasonably good polish. It is, therefore, used as cheap house construction wood, especially in villages. In olden days the Railways used to creosote the chir wood for use as sleepers under the rail tracks.

The sapwood of chir is rich in resin, which exudes naturally wherever the cambium is hurt. The trees are accordingly tapped for resin which is very useful, also a valuable raw material for manufacture of paints, varnishes, quality soaps, etc. The oil extracted from the resin by distillation is the turpentine oil, which serves as a thinner in paints. It is also used in medicines.

Charcoal of chir is highly prized by blacksmiths for heating iron for making and repairing agricultural implements. Other smiths also value this charcoal equally.

The breeze passing through chir forests makes the environment so salubrious. The chir zone is, therefore, very good for health resorts. Such areas are specially recommended by physicians for TB patients.

The chir pine tends to grow gregariously in beautiful even-sized stands in uniform aged crops.

Generally chir regenerates abundantly in its natural habitat. Therefore, while making trees in chir forests for felling, the foresters leave a few mature trees evenly spaced on the slope to act as mother (seed) trees. The area is closed to grazing and other biotic influences, whereupon a good new crop of the new seedlings, sapling and poles comes up naturally. For marginally refractory areas, however, the seedlings are grown in polythene bags in departmental nurseries and transplanted to the vacant forest lands after one year.

Whereas the chir tree and its forests are very useful for humanity, people tend to over exploit these for fuel and or firewood, timber, resin, etc. They also burn them through carelessness and or incendiarism with the perverse intention of getting good grass on the forest or for eliminating the wild denizen because of the apprehension of the animals affecting the agricultural crops in the adjourning fields. At times the forest crops are also removed for raising authorised or unauthorised new colonies. Thus a very few people are genuinely helping the nature to cover even the suitable forest lands with a new regeneration of the species.

Making wasteland cultivable
By Vibha Sharma

The Aganpur-Bhagwasi watersheds, 9 km along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway bear testimony that concerted efforts could convert wastelands cultivable to usher in an era of plenty and prosperity — a fact which has been made possible by levelling waste and rocky lands and harnessing rain water through economical system of storage.

Today, the wasteland which never grew a blade of grass or was infested with wild growths, is blooming with kharif crops like paddy, maize, bajra, urd, moong and lobhia pulses.Poplar apart, the villagers have planted fruit trees like guava, amla and kinnow.

The Central Soil and Water Conservation Research Centre, Chandigarh, had selected the Aganpur-Bhagwasi watershed measuring 550 hectares for development through people’s participation in 1997-98 under the Integrated Watershed Development Project. The project is funded by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. This watershed forms part of the Banur assembly constituency in Patiala district.

A 14-member watershed committee of villagers and the research centre scientists, has transformed barren wasteland into cultivable within three years.

Mr Shub Karan Mehta, President, and Mr Shakti Kumar, Secretary of the committee, say that an average earning from developed wasteland has gone up to Rs 12,000 per annum against just Rs 400 to Rs 500 earlier.

Chandigarh centre scientists, Dr V.S. Katiyar, Dr R.K. Aggarwal, and Dr J.S.Samra, explain that development of wasteland through watershed management is a sustainable resource conservation endeavour. According to them, suitable mixes of structural measures and low -cost vegetative technologies, deploying local skills, materials, manpower and indigenous practices have borne encouraging results. The results, they say are in tune with appropriate poverty alleviation programme for Indian conditions.

During the first three years of this five-year project, 183 hectares were treated at a cost of Rs 6.6 lakh. Vegetation barriers were planted in 43 hectares whereas poplar trees in 32-hectare areas. Land levelling and bunding of undulating arable land had been carried out in 22 hectares, while 18 hectares have since been terraced into steeply sloping areas.

Besides, gully plugs of brick stone masonry have been constructed in 20 hectares. In all, the concept of social forestry has enhanced biomass production, besides providing a good source of income.

Mr Shub Karan Mehta and Mr Shakti Kumar add that farmers have pitched in equally, at times even more, in the form of labour.

Moreover, self-help groups , too, have been formed in the village to provide training to the landless artisans, girls and women in mushroom cultivation and bee keeping. Carpet weaving, tailoring and embroidery classes are held for girls as part of the women empowerment programme.

Villagers, however, are unhappy over the “the apathy of the Punjab Government as the village still lacks basic development activities”. The link road to the village has large broken patches and deep potholes which makes driving hazardous. Power supply too is erratic.

According to Dr Katiyar, a watershed development fund has been created for maintenance of assets and execution of works even after expiry of the project.

The scientists say that over-exploitation and mismanagement have degraded and depleted the natural resource base, particularly the land for cultivation. Moreover, the changing values, new institutional arrangements and increasing priorities for development and communication have added to ecological problems. The scientists assert that loss of natural resources have hit the poor harder than others in the Shivalik region all along.

Agroforestry and fish farming

Agroforestry

— Progressive Farming, PAU