1. Role of non-monetary inputs in
Sustainable cropping Systems
Presented by:-
P. Sri Ranjitha,
RAD/11- 04

2. What is Sustainable Agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture is a profitable way of producing high quality food and
fiber that:
Protects and renews the natural environment,
Builds local economies, and
Enhances the quality of life of farmers and farm workers.
Source: Cooperative Development Institute

3. “Non monetary inputs are defined as those cultural operations which
help to achieve high yield at no extra cost & whose cost does not
change with the level of output”
Some of the non-monetary inputs in crop production are:-
- Tillage
- Time of Sowing
- Plant population
- Choice of crops & Varieties
- Plant protection
- Weed management
Source: Farming system

4. Tillage
In sequential cropping
• When cropping intensity is increased - less time between two crops - affect
the intensity of tillage.
• For triple crop rotation, i.e.,
Eg. Sorghum (Feb – May) – 100 days
Ragi (May – August) – 90 days 360 days
Cotton (August – January) – 170 days
Very little time is left for land preparation for ragi and cotton.
• Land shaping of succeeding crop may not be possible before sowing &
have to be done late
Eg. Rice-fallow pulse/cotton
• Increase in cost of cultivation
Source: Jayanthi et al.,2008

5. • Minimum tillage - Restricting the number of tillage operations to the
minimum possible required level. Seed zone is tilled intensively.
• Zero tillage - Succeeding crop is sown, without any preparatory cultivation
in the stubbles of the previous crop.

6. In case of minimum or no tillage
Temperature is a few degrees lower than in open/ conventional
method.
E.g. In Sorghum, at 5 cm depth after 2 weeks after planting
temperature is
Conventional- 410C ; No tillage- 310C
Prevents surface encrustation owing to good seedling emergence
E.g. Planting Cotton in finger millet stubbles in the northern
districts of Tamil Nadu.
Cost reduction & time saving can be achieved.
Source: Jayanthi et al.,2008

7. Off season tillage
Land shaping after crop establishment
Eg. Cotton sown in ragi stubbles, ridges
& earthing up operations are carried
out at first top dressing of nitrogen
at 30-35 DAS.
Using labour saving implements.

8. Yield and economics of maize and wheat as influenced by different tillage practices in
maize – wheat cropping rotation
Tillage practice Grain yield (t/ha) Biological yield (t/ha) B:C ratio
2008-09 2009-10 2008-09 2009-10
Maize
Zero tillage 2.62 2.82 7.89 8.76 1.14
Conventional tillage 3.20 2.91 9.39 10.70 0.73
SEm 0.10 0.12 0.49 0.74 0.08
CD (P=0.05) 0.35 0.40 1.55 NS 0.35
Wheat
Zero tillage 3.04 3.09 11.94 10.27 2.81
Conventional tillage 4.04 4.09 14.64 14.37 2.25
SEm 0.06 0.10 0.37 0.78 0.17
CD (P=0.05) 0.21 0.36 1.27 2.70 0.77
Source: Singh et al.,2011

9. Influence of different treatments on yield structures & yield of Sunflower for
two seasons (2004 & 2005)
Treatments Crop Heads per m 2 Seeds/ Head 1000 seed wt Seed Yield
emergence (g) (kg ha -1 )
rate (%)
Complete 90.5a 7.0a 823.0b 58.1a 3394a
residue
removal
Residue 90.0a 6.7a 839.0ab 57.3a 3755a
burning
Residue
incorporated
(%)
25 90.8a 7.1a 863.0a 56.8a 3796a
50 80.6b 5.9b 870.3a 54.8a 3745a
75 70.06c 5.3b 777.0a 48.6b 3340b
100 70.0b 5.2b 715.0d 41.9c 3323b
Source: Bahrani et al., 2009

10. SOWING
Sowing Time:
Optimum time of sowing / planting
E.g. Cotton – August 15th
Turmeric – End of May
Any fluctuation in optimum sowing time results in drastic yield reduction.
E.g. Wheat.
Correct age of seedlings should be used for transplanting
E.g. Ragi/ sorghum – 16 to 18 days

11. The most common causes of late wheat planting following rice harvest.
Source: Hobbs et al

12. Depth of Sowing / Planting:
Sowing should be done at optimum depth
E.g. Rice – 4 to 5 cm
Ragi – 2 to 3 cm
Sorghum – 3 to 4 cm
Cotton, maize, groundnut – 5 to 7 cm
In Kharif, sowing should be shallow and in Rabi deeper except pre sowing
irrigation.

13. Mean values for some agronomic traits in rapeseed grown at 4 different
sowing times in 2 seasons
Parameters Plant height Beginning of Duration of Seed Yield
(cm) flowering (day) flowering (day) (kg/ha)
Season (S)
S1 (2005-06) 109.1b 38.3a 26.3b 197.5a
S2 (2006-07) 120.2a 35.2b 28.7a 167.1b
LSD 0.05 4.2 0.5 0.7 11.2
Sowing time (ST)
ST1 (Oct 10) 121.4a 31.9d 27.9b 2437.5a
ST2(Oct 20) 114.5b 34.2c 26.7c 2298.8a
ST3(Oct 30) 117.6ab 38.2b 28.9a 1526.6b
ST4(Nov 10) 105.2c 42.9a 26.4c 1027.4c
LSD 0.05 5.7 0.7 0.9 14.9
Source: Turhan et al.,2011

14. Faba bean yield (kg/ha) and yield components as affected by planting dates
grown under rainfed conditions of Jordan during 2003/2004 and 2004/2005
seasons
Treatment Grain yield Pod Grain yield Pod
(kg/ha) no./plant (kg/ha) no./plant
2003-2004 2004-2005
D1 1369a 8.3a 247a 3.7a
D2 1115b 4.8b 163b 3.4a
D3 531c 5.3b - -
Means within each column, followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% probability
level
Source: Thalji et al.,2006

15. Effect of seeding depth on the yield and yield attributes of wheat
Source : M Arifin

16. Effect of planting dates and intercropping systems on Pod yield (t/ha) of Okra
and tuber yield (t/ha) Sweet potato
Planting dates Okra Yield (t/ha) Tuber Yield (t/ha)
2009 2010 2009 2010
Sole Crop
12th July 5.1 5.3 16.5 15.0
26th July 4.5 4.2 13.5 13.0
9th August 4.1 4.0 10.7 11.2
Sweet potato -Okra
12th July 4.7 4.5 13.6 13.1
26th July 4.4 4.2 13.1 12.0
9th August 3.9 3.7 12.8 11.0
LSD (P≤0.05) 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.3
CV (%) 4.2 7.0 15.4 12.6
Source: M. O. Ijoyah et al.,2011

17. Plant population
Spacing and Plant Population:
Optimum plant population.
E.g. Soybean – 3.33 lakhs/ha
Practicing paired row/ Skip row planting
E.g. Rainfed groundnut – 20/50 cm
Sorghum 45 x 15 cm (or) 60/30 x 15 cm
Uniform row planting with a replacement of main crop rows by intercrop
rows
Eg. Sorghum + Black gram at 2:1 ratio

18. Effects of density on the seed yield of soybean
intercropped with sorghum
P – Population density of Soybean
P1-0.5m 0.1m, P2-0.5 m 0.06m and P3-0.5m 0.05m
Source: O. M. Egbe, 2010

19. Effect of different cropping system on forage yield (t.ha-1)
Cropping Systems Forage yield
Cp 6.13c
M1 10.47a
M2 11.13a
M3 10.16a
C 8.7b
LSD at 0.05% 1.44
Different letters indicate significance at P ≤ 0.0 Cp: sole cow pea; M 1: alternate-
row intercrop; M 2: within-row intercrop; M 3: mixed intercrop; C: sole maize
Source: Eskandari et al.,2009

20. Choice of Crops & Varieties
Selection of crop depends on a no. of factors
1. Depends on
- allelopathic effect. Eg. Sorghum after sunflower
- depletion of nutrients i.e., rooting depth
2. Irrigation water availability
Eg. Rice- Cotton/gingelly
Rice- Black gram
3. Influenced by the timing of the rainfall.
For example, winter wheat is more suited to regions with higher winter rainfall
while areas with summer wet seasons may be more suited to summer growing
crops such as sorghum, sunflower or cotton.
4. Vegetables deserve their place in cropping systems

21. For Inter cropping situation :-
a) Cereals- Sorghum + Pigeon pea
Maize + Bean
Pearl millet + Castor/ Groundnut/ Black gram
b) Pulses- Red gram + Ground nut
Red gram + Black gram/ Soybean
c) Cotton- Cotton + Green gram/ Black gram/ Groundnut/ Cluster bean/ Onion
d) Sugarcane- Sugarcane + Black gram/ Soybean
Sugarcane + Green manure- Dhaincha
e) Dry lands – Pigeon pea + Green gram/ Bajra/ Sorghum/ Groundnut

22. For Sequential cropping situation:-
a. Wetlands – Rice- Rice
b. Irrigated uplands – Maize- Wheat
Green gram- Maize – Wheat
c. Dry lands – Sorghum- Safflower/ Horse gram
Pearl millet- Cowpea/Black gram
Selection of varieties – Region/season/duration
• Low temperature – MDU 2 rice
• Saline soil – CO 43 rice
• Rice fallow – Black gram T9
Cotton MCU 9

23. Pest management
Seed treatment
E.g. Carbendazim @ 1gm/kg seed
Raising disease tolerant varieties
E.g. Rice variety Vijetha is tolerant against blast
Time of sowing
E.g. Early sowing of maize controlled Fusarium
spp. related diseases (ear, stalk & root rot)
in MBCSs.
Practicing crop rotation
- Cereals – legumes etc.

24. Non host plants in mixtures emit chemicals/ odours that affect the pests there by
protecting host plants.
E.g. Volatiles released from Mustard have a inhibitory effect on Groundnut stem rot
pathogens – Sclerotium rolfsii.
IPM / IPDM
Alteration in micro climate
E.g. Sorghum + pulses reduced
the early shoot borer
incidence

25. Population of DBM on cabbage intercropped with
selected crops
Source: Talekar et al

26. Average pest densities in each cropping system
Source: Fabiao et al.,2007

27. Weed management
Weeding during critical crop weed competition period
- Maize – 10-35 DAS
- Sugarcane- 21-90 DAP
Depends on growth habit of intercrop
E.g. Greengram/Cowpea in Sorghum
Cowpea in Banana
Pre-emergence herbicide with little residual effect
E.g. Butachlor- Maize + Green gram
Trifluralin – Maize + Groundnut
Line sowing/ planting for inter cultivation

28. Effect of different cropping systems on dry wt of weed (kg/ha)
Cropping C I1 I2 I3 M LSD at
System 0.05%
Weeds dry 106.23b 96.85a 97.51a 97.65a 116.23c 6.22
wt.
C: Sole Cow pea; I 1: Alternate-row intercrop; I 2: Within row intercrop;
I 3: Mixed intercrop; M: sole maize
Source: Eskandari et al.,2011

29. Weed biomass in sole- cropped barley and barley intercropped with red clover.
Asterisks indicate significant differences between treatments (P < 0.05).
Source : Liebman et al.,2001

30. Some practical low cost technologies:
Mulching and irrigation in tea is a practical example for low cost
technology. The mulching was done with coir pith. Instead of that mulch
crops are grown in the field and then cut and incorporated it as mulch and
then tea plantation is taken up.
Usage of Neem leaves for cereal storage is another low cost technology.
Sun drying is a common low non monetary input which has got lot of
prospects in the processing industry also.
Use of biofertilizer like Azospirillium for cereals, millets, cotton, sesame
and Rhizobium for pulses.