CONTEXT

Farmers in rainfed areas of South Asia depend on livestock to augment income, and provide manure for soil and crops. However, the full potential of the livestock is not realized due to the non-availability of quality fodder. The deficit may be attributed to limitation in expansion of cultivable land as well as non-availability of fodder from the protected forest areas. It is possible to enhance the productivity of the livestock by crop-livestock systems.

OBJECTIVES

This study was conducted to determine the crop and fodder production potential, nutritive value of the fodder, and reductions in soil nutrients loss and pests of the seven fodder-based inter-cropping systems in a rainfed region in South India.

METHODS

A medium-term field experiment was conducted from 2015 to 2021 at the Gungal Research Farm of ICAR's Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (17^o05’ N, 78^o39’E) with seven fodder-based cropping systems involving conventional crops either alone or in combinations with annual or perennial fodder species. The seven systems (treatments) were: sorghum + pigeon pea - hedge lucerne, sorghum + pigeonpea - guinea grass, castor - hedge lucerne, castor - guinea grass, sorghum - fodder - clusterbean - fodder-cowpea - fodder -horsegram, sole sorghum, and sole pigeonpea. Impacts of these systems on crop and livestock productivity, reductions in surface soil erosion and nutrient loss, and soil health and pest dynamics were studied. Livestock based studies were also conducted with the harvested fodders.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

We found that sorghum + pigeonpea-hedge lucerne on average can produce 3865 kg ha⁻¹ of sorghum grain equivalent yield and 37,820 kg ha⁻¹ of sorghum fodder equivalent yield. The sorghum + pigeon pea-guinea grass would benefit the farmers with no animals, by selling the high biomass grass fodder and minimizing the risk of crop failure. These two systems are also better in providing green fodder for at least 8–9 months without any supplementary irrigation. We also observed increase in soil N, OC and soil microbes. There was reduction in runoff (by 51–52%) and sediment loss (by 52%), and reduced pest and disease incidence in these systems.

SIGNIFICANCE

Our study demonstrated that perennial fodder-based cropping systems are an excellent option to enhance the sustainability and livelihood security of rainfed farmers by reducing the risk of crop failure and supporting the livestock. These systems also open up the scope of integrating tree fodders especially in the bunds and farm borders.

中文翻译：

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作物和牲畜生产力、土壤健康改善和昆虫动态：印度雨养地区不同饲料种植系统的影响

语境

南亚雨养地区的农民依靠牲畜来增加收入，并为土壤和作物提供肥料。然而，由于缺乏优质饲料，牲畜的全部潜力并未得到充分发挥。赤字可能归因于耕地扩张的限制以及无法从受保护的森林地区获得饲料。通过农牧系统可以提高牲畜的生产力。

目标

进行这项研究是为了确定印度南部雨育地区七种以饲料为基础的间作系统的作物和饲料生产潜力、饲料的营养价值以及土壤养分流失和害虫减少情况。

方法

2015 年至 2021 年在 ICAR 旱地农业中央研究所 Gungal 研究农场（17 ^o 05' N，78 ^o39'E) 有七种以饲料为基础的种植系统，涉及传统作物，既可以单独种植，也可以与一年生或多年生饲料物种结合使用。七个系统（处理）是：高粱+木豆-紫花苜蓿，高粱+木豆-珍珠草，蓖麻-紫花苜蓿，蓖麻-珍珠草，高粱-草料-簇豆-草料-豇豆-草料-藜，鳎高粱，和唯一的木豆。研究了这些系统对作物和牲畜生产力、减少地表土壤侵蚀和养分流失以及土壤健康和害虫动态的影响。还对收获的饲料进行了基于牲畜的研究。

结果和结论

我们发现高粱+木豆篱苜蓿平均可产生3865 kg ha ^-1的高粱谷物当量产量和37,820 kg ha ^-1的高粱饲料当量产量。高粱+木豆几内亚草将通过销售高生物量草饲料并最大限度地降低作物歉收的风险，使没有牲畜的农民受益。这两个系统还可以更好地提供至少 8-9 个月的青饲料而无需任何补充灌溉。我们还观察到土壤 N、OC 和土壤微生物的增加。这些系统的径流（减少了 51-52%）和泥沙流失（减少了 52%）减少了，病虫害发生率也降低了。

意义

我们的研究表明，以多年生饲料为基础的种植系统是通过降低作物歉收的风险和支持牲畜来提高靠雨养的农民的可持续性和生计安全的绝佳选择。这些系统还开辟了整合树饲料的范围，尤其是在堤岸和农场边界。