Sustainable Agriculture

Advances in Technological Interventions

Ajoy Kumar Singh, Vishwa Bandhu Patel, Ajoy Kumar Singh, Vishwa Bandhu Patel

• Editore: Apple Academic Press
• Anno: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000527452
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Biological Sciences
• Categoria: Science General

This new volume looks at the evolution and challenges of sustainable agriculture, a field that is growing in use and popularity, discussing some of the important ideas, practices, and policies that are essential to an effective sustainable agriculture strategy. The book features 25 chapters written by experts in crop improvement, natural resource management, crop protection, social sciences, and product development. The volume provides a good understanding of the use of sustainable agriculture and the sustainable management of agri-horticultural crops, focusing on eco-friendly approaches, such as the utilization of waste materials. Topics include ecofriendly plant protection measures, climate change and natural resource management, tools to mitigate the effect of extreme weather events, agrochemical research and regulation, soil carbon sequestration, water and nutrient management in agricultural systems, and more.

Key features:

• Discusses sustainable agriculture within the framework of recent challenges in agriculture
• Looks at the development and diversification of crops and cultural practices to enhance biological and economic stability
• Discusses innovative nanotechnologies in research and production technologies
• Highlights the development of new varieties in agri-horticultural crops
• Discusses use of recent technologies for soil–plant–microbe–environment interactions.

PART I
Crop Improvement

CHAPTER 1
Genetic Improvement of Major Cereals in Prospect to Bihar State

P. K. SINGH,¹ ANAND KUMAR,¹ and RAVI RANJAN KUMAR²

¹Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India

²Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is major sector in Bihar state since it contributes about 16% to State Gross Domestic Product and provides employment to about 70% of working force in rural area. More than 90% of farm households belong to marginal farm category (less than 1 hectare land) but own about 44% of cultivated land in Bihar. Genetic improvement of major cereals in Bihar through plant breeding has accounted for more than 50 percent of increases in yield of major cereal crops and has the ability to solutions of several challenges such as food security, hunger alleviation, increasing nutritional values, and higher input costs. Genetic improvement of crops consists of analytical frameworks that allow researchers to create and select plants that are consistently outstanding in desired traits. Centuries of selection for preferred traits, accelerated dramatically with the development of scientific plant breeding, have had tremendous positive impacts on food security and an improved quality of life. Today’s scientific advances in genomics and genetics are exploring new frontiers in crop breeding, including rapid and targeted advances in specific traits. But there is still more work to do and many goals to achieve. Constantly evolving plant pests and pathogens, global climate change, and changing social needs make plant breeding, genetics, and genomics ever more vital. We hope genetic improvement in crops can contribute to sustainable agriculture and to the improvement of food in quantity and quality as well as security and safety.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Before the 20^th century, farmers used the selection of seeds from superior plants for the genetic improvement of crops. As human populations expanded into new regions, farmer selection produced increased genetic diversity in the form of distinct ‘landraces,’ or traditional varieties, with different genetic characteristics within the cultivated crop species. In the first half of the 20^th century, specialized crop breeding programs were developed to exploit this farmer-created diversity to produce ‘modern’ crop varieties through systematic crossing and selection. These crop breeding programs had by mid-century produced several generations of modern crop varieties in most cultivated species, suitable primarily for richer and more developed—and incidentally or not, temperate zone-countries (Mba et al., 2012).

With the advent second half of the 20^th-century, economic development policies and investments came into prominence. This period saw the creation of international (multilateral) institutions for meeting the objectives of economic development (e.g., The World Bank, Regional Banks, and other agencies of UN). Individual countries also established bilateral aid agencies (e.g., USAID, IDRC, and GTZ). As a result of the end of colonial regimes, the expectations were high. Many observers expected the subsequent decades to be characterized by per capita income ‘convergence,’ in which the highest growth rates in per capita income would be achieved by countries with the lowest initial levels of per capita income. By the 1960s, the prevailing conditions clearly depicted that the maintenance of food production per capita was a challenging task. It was impressive to see the improvements in health in the 1950s and 1960s. There was a decline in infant mortality rate and an increase in life expectancy. Even though in most of the countries, birth rates experienced a decline shortly after the decline in death rates, still there was an unprecedented increase in population in all developing countries. Agricultural policymakers in developing countries had experimented in the 1950s and 1960s with extension-led programs predicated on the concept of the ‘inefficient farmer.’ The central idea was that technology was available to farmers, but that farmers’ ‘ignorance’-combined with the lack of community education and information programs, as well as credit constraints and a high degree of risk refusal were preventing the effective and full use of modern technology. The agricultural aid programs of the 1950s and 1960s also recognized the need for capacity building in universities, both for purposes of training extension and education specialists and for developing agricultural experimental station capabilities in national agricultural research systems (Miflin, 2000).

The popularized view of the green revolution was based on the patchy data which showed rapid adoption of HYV rice and wheat in Asia and Latin America from 1968 to the early 1980s. Till the day today, only a few data have been available publicly on other crops or regions, or on more recent time periods. For example, until recent years, little has been known about the development or diffusion of new rice and wheat varieties in the 1980s and 1990s. In the same manner, few data have been available on varietal adoption of rice and wheat in sub-Saharan Africa or in West Asia and North Africa. Finally, the data on the improved varieties in other crops have been very few. As a result, there has been little systematic work attempting to evaluate crop improvement in developing countries until this volume (Miflin, 2000).

In a developing country like India, the agriculture sector continues to be the backbone of the Indian economy contributing approximately 27.4% to the gross domestic product (GDP), and accounts for about 18% share, of the total value of the country’s export. The agricultural production growth rate is 21% per annum. Today we are the largest exporter of spices and cashew as well as the second-largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits, vegetables, and freshwater aquaculture. Per capita availability of food grains went up to 528.77 g per day in 1996–1997 when compared to 395 g in the early fifties. Fertilizer consumption has also increased and India has become fourth in the world after the USA, USSR, and China (Mahadevan, 2003). In the world, the Indian pulse area harbors the largest area for its production. India is the first to develop a cotton hybrid. The domestic demands and requirements of export have lead to a change in cropping pattern with an increase in the importance of commercial and nontraditional crops (moong, summer groundnut, soybean, sunflower) production. The introduction of short-duration varieties allows the use of residual moisture available from post-Kharif and post-rabi cultivation.

Bihar state, endowed with appropriate climatic conditions, with its bountiful natural resources of fertile soil, abundant water, varied climate, and rich cultural and historical heritage is one of the most fascinating states of India. Agriculture is the vital source of employment in the state with about 79% of its population engaged in agricultural activities. Bihar’s productive contribution to food grain, fruit, vegetables, spices, and flowers can increase manifold with improved methods and system management (Bansil, 2011). In this chapter, we will discuss the various strategies used in the crop improvement and development in major field crops in Bihar state.

1.2 MAJOR CEREALS IN BIHAR STATE

Bihar has a geographical area of approximately 94.2 thou...

Indice dei contenuti

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• About the Editors
• Contents
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Part I: Crop Improvement
• Part II: Natural Resource Management
• Part III: Crop Protection
• Part IV: Product Development and Extension Education
• Index