- Maize + groundnut paired row (residual retention) recorded maximum maize equivalent yield (6480 kg/ha) and water use efficiency (42.9 kg/ha-mm) followed by Maize + groundnut paired row (residue removal) (6463 kg/ha).
- Development and popularization of Micro rain water harvesting structure- “Jalkund” (5 x 4 x 1.5 m dimension, a lining with 250 gsm silpaulin, 30,000 L capacity) in hill tops/high land for its efficient utilization during lean period for diversified farm activities. About 145 jalkunds were demonstrated in farmers’ fields. Farmers cultivated high value crops like strawberry, broccoli, chillies, reared pigs, poultry etc with harvested water. A farmer in Umroi cultivated strawberry with harvested water and generated about Rs. 50000 as net income in one year.
- Drip irrigation with harvested rain water in jalkund (30,000 L capacity) under gravity flow were evaluated in strawberry under straw and black polythene (50µ) mulch for enhancing crop productivity, quality and WUE. Soil moisture status was higher black polythene mulch and 1.2 PET compared to other treatments. Drip irrigation at 1.0 PET along with either black polythene mulch or rice straw mulch @ 10 t/ha was effective for higher productivity and better produce quality.
- Water samples collected from different sources of Meghalaya were acidic in nature (pH ranged from 5.51 to 6.91). All the chemical parameters except Fe in few pre-rain water samples were within the permissible limit for drinking. Water samples collected from Tripura were also safe for drinking purpose, except very few samples having high Mn and Fe content. Analytical results showed that water from all the sources from North East India were suitable for irrigation purpose. A new approach of Fe: Ca ratio is suggested as irrigation water quality indicator in place of Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) for the acid soils of North East India, since Na and Ca content in water samples are very low to negligible. However, microbial analysis showed that most of the water samples from Meghalaya contained higher most probable number (MPN) which made them unsafe for drinking, and should be decontaminated or chlorinated for irrigation. With regards to pesticide content only very few water samples were not safe for drinking and agricultural practices.
- Under the project on Scaling-up of water productivity in agriculture for livelihood (SWAPL), a total of 77 farmers training programme (7 days each) and 14 trainer’s training (14 days each) programme were conducted in different states of NEH Region for developing capacity in efficient water management and farming systems. A total of 3850 nos. of farmers and 350 nos. trainer’s from different NEH region benefitted.
Natural Resource Management - Water Management
- The results of five years study (2005-11) revealed that zero tillage along with residue retention @ 5 t/ha resulted 11% higher rice productivity compared to conventional tillage and residue removal. Significant improvement in soil health in terms of higher organic carbon (2.23%), soil microbial mass carbon (128.5 microgram/g soil), dehydrogenase activity (DHA) under zero tillage along with residue retention was observed compared to conventional tillage and residue removal.
- The grain yield of maize was appreciably high with in-situ retention of maize stalk cover (MSC) + Ambrosia 5 t/ha compared to residual removal. The productivity of succeeding toria crop was also found significantly higher under zero tillage with MSC + Ambrosia 10 t/ha followed by MSC+ Ambrosia 5 t/ha. The water use efficiency of toria was also higher under zero tillage with MSC + Ambrosia 10 t/ha (61 kg/ha-cm) followed by MSC + Ambrosia 5 t/ha (69 kg/ha-cm). The technology of demonstrated in 50 farmers field which resulted in about 30% yield enhancement of toria.