no-tillage revolution india

8/3/2019 No-Tillage Revolution India

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The zero tillage revolution in theIndo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia:

How did it happen?

Report on a work in progress . . .

with apologies for mixed metaphors

Larry Harrington, with Peter Hobbs


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Rice-wheat systems

About 20m ha in Bangladesh, China, India,Nepal, Pakistan

About 12.5m ha in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

Source of food security for hundreds of millionsof poor rural and urban consumers

Threats to the sustained productivity of thesesystems taken very seriously

Not just rice-wheat: systems also feature

pulses, oilseeds, potatoes, berseem clover,many others

Photo: LWH


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Variability of rice-wheat systems in different transects of the

Indo-Gangetic Plains

Source: Rice-Wheat Consortium


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The tillage revolution

From nearly nothing in the late 1990s, zero

tillage of wheat after rice now covers nearly 2m

ha

Area expected to at least double over the fewyears

Adoption to date mostly in Haryana, western

UP, India Punjab, Pakistan Punjab

(transects 1-2)

Areas of new adoption include eastern UP,Bihar, Sindh in Pakistan (transects 3-4)

Photo: LWH


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Estimated diffusion of zero/reduced tillage in the Indo-

Gangetic Plains (India only)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Area('000ha,

IGP)

Source: Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta, 2005


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Number of ZT drills sold per year [columns] and number of ZT

manufacturers () in Haryana & Punjab, 1994-2003

Haryana & Punjab, India

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

NumberofnewZ

Tdrill

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Totalnumberofmanufacturers

Source: Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta, 2005


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Some impacts to date (2004-05 wheat crop season)

About USD 100m

/season

Aggregate cost saving in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

attributable to zero and reduced tillage

About 2500 Indian

rupees /ha /season

Farm-level cost saving attributable to zero and reduced

tillage

Approximately 150m m3

/season

More than 500,000

Nearly 100

About 16,000

About 1.9m ha

Estimate

Aggregate reduction in water used for rice-wheatproduction (less pumping per irrigation, sometimes

fewer irrigations)

Number of farm households adopting

Number of companies manufacturing zero till drills

Cumulative number of zero till drills sold

Area covered by zero and reduced tillage

Item

Sources: RWC (2005); Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta (2005); Malik et al (2004)


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How did this happen? Some keys to success

Emphasis on development and adaptation of suitable implements,

based on prototypes from elsewhere.

Participation of the private sector in implement development,

adaptation, manufacture and marketing.

Technical mentoring over an extended period of time.

Strong local champions.

A crisis mentality that fostered a willingness to consider radical

departures from conventional practices.

The emergence of a dynamic innovations system.

A practice highly profitable at the farm level from the very beginning.


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Conventional tillage practices for wheat after puddled rice

(except for Nepal terai and Bangladesh)

Cement-like soils left after puddled rice

6-10 plowings and plankings to break up thecement-like soil and reduce the size ofremaining clods

Sowing delayed

Soil moisture lost

Typical source of power a locally-manufacturedfour-wheel tractor, typically 30-35hp

Main cultivating attachment a 9-11 spring-tinecultivator

Photo: LWH


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The 1970s on-station research in India

Research on wheat zero tillage in India by SSBrar, SS Dhillon and others at PunjabAgricultural University

On-station only

Did not include implement development(experimental work conducted by hand)

Little or no support from University or extensionauthorities

No participation by farmers

Essentially no adoption

Photo: Peter Hobbs


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1982-84 the Atchison drill in Pakistan: the game begins

CIMMYT office established in Pakistan.

Peter Hobbs imports an Aitchison inverted T

cross-slot seed drill from New Zealand. Why?

Hobbs needed a drill of some kind to establish

wheat experiments after late-harvested basmati

rice. He was not thinking in terms of zero tillage

Peter Aitchison happened to visit Pakistan and

happened to visit Hobbs and they happened to

discuss the drill that Aitchison was marketing in

New Zealand

Prototype drill imported using USAID project

funds

Photo: Peter Hobbs


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1984-85 wheat season in Pakistan: strike one

Hobbs tries Aitchison drill with farmers in

collaboration with Pakistani scientists

Conventional practice better than zero tillage.

Why?

Researchers still learning to calibrate and

operate the Aitchison drill

Conventional tillage and zero tillage wheat

sown at the same time

Diagnostic surveys find that extended

turnaround time between rice harvest andwheat sowing leads to late planting of wheat

and major reductions in wheat yields

Photo: LWH


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1985-86 wheat season in Pakistan: strike two

Aitchison zero till drill tried again in farmers

fields. No difference between zero till and

conventional till yields

Why?

Again, same timing of sowing for zero and

conventional till wheat

New rice variety Basmati 385 released

Earlier maturity

Higher yield

Good qualityPhoto: LWH


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1986-87 wheat season in Pakistan - importance of timely

sowing finally realized: a hit

Further surveys and experiments confirm late-

sown wheat yield loss at 1% /ha /day for

Pakistan Punjab, lower Sindh, upper Sindh

The most frequent turnaround time the

elapsed time between the rice harvest and

wheat planting was just over four weeks . . .

The shortest turnaround period was three

weeks and the longest eight weeks. (Flinn

and Khokhar, 1989)

Aitchison drill tried once more in farmersfields. Zero till sown earlier than conventional

till zero till yields 24% higher

Photo: LWH


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But what about stemborer an error (?)

A potential constraint on adopting zero tillage

for is the stemborer (Scirpophaga incertulas),

currently an important pest of rice.(Byerlee et

al, 1986)

Build-up of stem borer in rice-wheat systems

when zero till used and rice stubble not

destroyed?

A rice entomologist assigned to assess the

risk


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1987-88 wheat season in Pakistan higher yields and lower

costs with zero till: another hit

Zero till yielded much better than conventional

till, largely because sowing was on average

24 days before sowing with conventional till

Zero till also led to a major reduction in

production costs

Very rapid adoption of early-maturing Basmati

385, also helped deal with problem of long

turnaround time between rice harvest and

wheat sowingPhoto: Peter Hobbs


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1988 Pakistan strikes out

Research team in Pakistan has Aitchisondesign copied (with permission) by localmanufacturer, Descon. Well made, but verycostly and too heavy for use with local tractors

On-farm trials continue in Pakistan withDescon drills

Pakistan Punjab extension strongly advisesagainst zero tillage, citing stemborer threat

Activity in Pakistan stalls

CIMMYT office moved to Nepal to work with amore regional focus, including India

Photo: LWH


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1989-90 wheat season: out in left field (?)

Research published in Pakistan concludes

that stem borer not a problem in zero till rice-

wheat systems (Inayatullah et al, 1989)

Pakistan Punjab extension maintains its anti-

zero till stance: The more you till the higher

your yield . . .

Publications by lead Indian scientists show

little awareness of zero tillage as a possible

technology of interest

Photo: LWH


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1989-90 wheat season: the game moves to India

Hobbs imports Aitchison drills to India

Punjab unable to collaborate because of

political violence

Haryana drill sent to Directorate of Wheat

Research, used only on-station

Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh drill not used

Pantnagar (GB Pant University of Agriculture

and Technology, Uttar Pradesh) drill actively

tested by scientists

Local initiative at Pantnagar

Bachan Singh creates the Pantnagar drill Atchison-type openers attached to traditional

rabi drill


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1990-91 wheat season: Pantnagar strikes out

Keen interest in Pantnagar in zero till implements,

including the VC and many senior scientists . . .

But:

No funds to get enough drills for farmer testing

Drill managed by researchers with friendly farmers,

not left in villages for farmer testing

Not enough exposure of farmers to the implement to

create an innovation dynamic

Bachan Singh shares the design of the Pantnagar

drill with National Agro-Industries in Ludhiana,

private sector implement manufacturer


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1991-93 the private sector quietly

steals a base

National Agro-Industries continues making

improvements in the Pantnagar drill . . . better

built, better components, better openers, seed

systems, fertilizer systems, finish etc.

Photos: LWH


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1993-96 a crisis begins: the

emergence of herbicide-tolerant

Phalaris minor in Haryana

Evolution of isoproturon-resistance in

littleseed canary grass (Phalaris minor Retz.),

a serious weed of wheat in the rice-wheat

cropping system

Scientists working at Haryana Agricultural

University identified and reported this

herbicide resistance problem

Problem of resistance soon became so acute

that many farmers had to harvest their

immature wheat crop as fodder for animals

Photos: LWH (top), Peter Hobbs (bottom)


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1994 RK Malik comes to bat

In 1994, R.K. Malik, weed scientist at HaryanaAgricultural University and advisor to the Vice-Chancellor, happens to attend a course inMexico on zero tillage and conservationagriculture

Desperate times call for desperate measures Malik decides to see if zero tillage can helpcontrol herbicide-resistance Phalaris

New (and expensive) herbicides also tried

clodinafop (Topik, 15% W.P.), fenoxaprop(Puma-Super, 10%, E.C.), sulfosulfuron(Leader, 75%, W.P.) and tralkoxydim (Grasp,10%, E.C.)

Photo: LWH


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The strategy

Original idea: use zero-tillage to reduce

production costs, enabling farmers to afford

new, more expensive herbicides

However, zero-till itself was found to

substantially reduce weed germination

Later, found that some farmers were able to

stop using herbicides in their wheat fields

altogether after 4-5 years of zero-till

Phalaris population over time using

NT and new herbicides

0

50 0

1000

1500

2000

2500

NT CT

T i l la g e s y s t e m

Phalarisp

opulation

96-97

97-98

98-99

a1

a

b

b

b

a

Photo: LWH. Chart: Peter Hobbs


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Getting set-up

Drills obtained from National Agro-Industries

Purchased by CIMMYT and the RWC with

DFID funds

Made available for use by Malik

A bizarre twist:

If the drills had belonged to the university, they

would have been required to be returned to the

campus each evening

As they were not university owned, they had be

be left behind in the villages with the farmers

Photo: LWH


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1996-97 wheat season in Haryana: Malik swings the bat . . .

Field chosen for first on-farm test of zero till

Density of herbicide-resistant Phalaris minorup

to 3000 plants/ m2

Farmer had decided to give up on cool season

plantings

Farmer agreed to allow zero tillage until hesaw that it meant sowing without plowing

Farmer pulled out of arrangement

New agreement made with son

When we started sowing of wheat the old man

left the field by saying that I had never seen

such type of foolishness of educated people in

my life (Samar Singh, 2004)

Photo: LWH


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. . . And gets a hit

Managed to plant 10 acre of no-tillage wheat infields heavily infested with Phalaris minor

Crop condition at all sites was extremely good

The farmers from different locations in thedistrict were brought to see the crop

Zero till better weed control, lower costs,higher yields

(1996-97 Annual Report of the Directorate of

Wheat Research, Karnal: on-station researchindicates no-tillage not useful)

Photo: LWH


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1997-98 wheat season in Haryana: another hit

More Pantnagar drills purchased for Malik byCIMMYT (DFID funds) and by Australia(ACIAR funds)

90 sites sown with zero tillage

Continued farmer resistance

When he took the zero tillage machine in hisfield, his father . . . came and stopped thesowing of wheat with zero tillage. He said,Youcan make fool of uneducated farmers like myson because they do not want to work hard inthe field.

The activity in 1997-98 highly successful -large improvement in wheat yield at all sites,reduced costs, fewer weeds

Photo: LWH


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1998-2000: home run

National Agro-Industries further improves drill, basedon farmer feedback

150 drills sold for researcher and farmer testing

Scientists from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladeshtravel through NW India see Phalaris problem,success of zero tillage

Zero tillage gets press and television coverage

Department of Agriculture, Haryana, launches zerotill extension activities with own resources

First example of zero till custom service

CIMMYT and ICAR management back zero tillage

Photos: LWH


30/37

Why Haryana? How much of this was simply coincidence?

An unfolding crisis: herbicide-resistant Phalaris

A strong, influential, highly-placed local champion, recently trained in zerotillage management: R. K. Malik

A university policy that compelled researchers to leave zero till implementsin farmers hands

Adapted drills ready for manufacture in volume by the private sector

Absence of obstacles that in other areas have slowed adoption: Basmatirice meant no problem with large volumes of clumped, loose rice straw

A technology highly profitable for farmers in the near term provided theycould get past the intensive tillage mind-set


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All keys to success were in place

Emphasis on development and adaptation of suitable implements,

often using prototypes from elsewhere.

Participation of the private sector in implement development,

adaptation, manufacture and marketing.

Technical mentoring over an extended period of time. Strong local champions.

A crisis mentality that brings with it a willingness to consider radical

departures from conventional practices.

The emergence of a dynamic innovations system.


32/37

Yes, as exemplified by

APPRESID and othergroups

Yes, as exemplified by the

Rice Wheat Consortium forthe Indo-Gangetic Plains

The emergence of a

dynamic innovationssystem.

Soil erosion on hilly lands

after conversion from

pasture to crops

Herbicide-resistant Phalaris

minor

A crisis mentality that brings

with it a willingness to

consider radical departures

from conventional practices

Fatima Ribeiro, others fromIPEAME

RK Malik, Mushtaq Gill, RajGupta

Strong local champions

Rolf Derpsch, University of

Kentucky

Peter HobbsTechnical mentoring over

an extended period of time

SemeatoNational Agro-IndustriesParticipation of the private

sector

Strong emphasis, prototypefrom KentuckyStrong emphasis, prototypefrom New ZealandEmphasis on developmentand adaptation of suitable

implements

BrazilIndo-Gangetic PlainsKey to success


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Related issues: additional innings

Zero till moves to the eastern Indo-

Gangetic Plains

Two-wheel tractors, reduced till, strip till,

surface seeding, benefits for the very poor

Adoption unfolding in Bihar, eastern UP

and, with two wheel tractors for zero/

minimum till, in the Nepal terai Photo: LWH


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Zero till returns to Pakistan with MushtaqGill inspired by work of Malik seen inIndia during traveling seminar

Now used by over 50,000 farm families

Dealing with large volumes of clumped,loose rice straw straw choppers, theHappy Seeder

Using crop residues for mulch

Laser leveling of fields

Photo: LWH


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Full conservation agriculture

Permanent bed systems and water

savings

Zero till rice/ rice on beds

System diversification

Photo: LWH


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What if . . . ?

Aitchison had never come to Pakistan?

The factor of timeliness of sowing had not been identified?

Stemborer had turned out to be, in fact, a serious problem under zero till?

Hobbs had not bothered to import additional drills for use in India?

Scientists in Pantnagar had decided to not test the drill (as happened withthe other three recipients of Aitchison drill)?

Bachan Singh had not created the Pantnagar drill?

Bachan Singh had not shared his design with National Agro-Industries?

National Agro-Industries had not continued with improvements to the drill?

Malik had not gone to Mexico for zero till training?

Herbicide-resistant Phalaris had not emerged as a problem?

University policies had required that even donated equipment be returnedto the campus each evening?


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PS . . .

Definitive study recently published on stemborer in rice-wheat systems, and

how stemborer carryover/ build-up may be affected by zero tillage. No

major concerns expressed.

(Srivastava, 2004)

To this day, extension department in Pakistan Punjab maintains its anti-zero till stance.

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