The widespread adoption of sustainable intercropping technology promotes resilient food production and livelihood to resource-poor people

Indo-Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (ISCB)

þ  How do "hydraulic lift" and a common microbial network operate between pigeon pea and finger millet under laboratory conditions and in the field ?

þ  Which biofertilizer strains are best suited to which climatic and soil conditions ?

þ  Which pigeon pea lines are best suited for the proposed mixed-cropping scheme ?

þ  What are the consequences of the new mixed-cropping scheme for soil fertility and the soil microbial community?

þ  How can the planned mixed-cropping system be implemented through the concept of eco-enterprises, and

þ  What is its climate impact as assessed in a life cycle analysis ?

Acknowledgements: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation(SDC), Government of Switzerland; Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India

Mathimaran N1,2, Mäder P2, Kahmen A1, Singh D1, Muthukumar T3, Sakthivel N4, Varshney RK5, Prabavathy VR6, Sekar J6, Ashok EG7, Schader C2, Meier M2, Blättler D8, Rengalakshmi R6 and Boller T1

1Uni. Basel, CH; 2FiBL, CH; 3Bharathiar Uni.; IN;4Pondicherry Uni., IN;5ICRISAT,IN; 6MSSRF, IN;7GKVK, IN;8HAFL, CH

Biofertilization and "bioirrigation" for sustainable mixed cropping of pigeon pea and finger millet (The BIOFI project)

Location and setup Design

þ  Biofertilizers (AMF +PGPR) increased grain yield of finger millet and

pigeon pea at both the sites, probably facilitated by “bioirrigation”. þ  Grain yields in the treatment 50% RDF was on par with 100% RDF

without biofertilizer addition, indicating that bio-fertilizers have a high potential to replace chemical fertilizers without jeopardising yields.

þ  Yield response due to biofertilizer was greater at a low fertility site (Kolli Hills) than at a high fertility site (Bangalore), indicating that bio-fertilizers can increase yields particularly in marginal lands of poor farmers of remote areas.

Finger millet Pigeon pea (a) Bangalore

(b) Kolli Hills

Inputs Finger millet (FM) variety: (a) Bangalore: GPU-28; (b) Kolli Hills : Surutai Kelvaragu; Pigeon pea (PP) variety : (a) Bangalore: BRG-2; (b) Kolli Hills : SA3; Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF): Glomus leptoticum for PP , G. fasciculatum for FM; All FM received G. fasciculatum except in treatments 16 and 17; Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacter ia (PGPR): Pseudomonas sp. MSSRFD41; Farm Yard Manure (FYM) : @ 7.5 t/ha applied as blanket for all plots; Recommended Dose Fertilizer (RDF): FM: 50–40–25 Kg NPK/ha, PP:25–50–25 Kg NPK/ha. All treatments were replicated four times.

Vision

Major Research Questions Research Hypothesis

Field Trial

Major Results

Grain yield at 50% recommended mineral fertilizer dose

Treatment RDF (%) Crop Biofertilizer T1 100 FM No T2 50 FM No T3 50 FM AMF T4 50 FM PGPR T5 50 FM AMF+PGPR T6 100 PP No T7 50 PP No T8 50 PP AMF T9 50 PP PGPR

T10 50 PP AMF+PGPR T11 100 FM+PP No T12 50 FM+PP No T13 50 FM+PP AMF T14 50 FM+PP PGPR T15 50 FM+PP AMF+PGPR T16 50 FM+PP AMF T17 50 FM+PP AMF+PGPR T18 0 FM+PP No T19 0 FM+PP AMF T20 0 FM+PP AMF+PGPR

Analysis carried out excluding treatments 16 and 17. Error bars represents ± 1 standard error of mean

Finger millet (4 rows)

Finger millet (4 rows)

Pigeon pea (2 rows)

Finger millet (8 rows)

1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2

Plot size : 6.6 m × 3.9 m

INDIA

Kolli Hills

Bangalore

Pigeon pea (2 rows)