TY  - JOUR
N2  - A study at selected action sites in semi-arid region of Andhra Pradesh, India, showed widespread land degradation due to low levels of soil organic carbon (78% of fields) and deficiencies of available nutrients like phosphorus (34%), sulfur (93%), calcium (33%), zinc (84%), boron (73%), and copper (33%). Soil test-based addition of deficient micro- and macronutrients increased food grain production by 30?40% and straw (which is used as fodder) production by 10?30%. Micro-watershed scale low-cost cement-lined farm-ponds at smallholder farm level proved a scalable technology for drought-proofing of crops resulting into additional crop yield by more than 30% during 2015. Augmentation of water sources also facilitated farmers? to successfully diversify the production system. Shared machinery resources improved the operational and economic efficiency of farm sowing operations through higher crop yields by around 10%. We conclude that a mix of low-cost critical interventions if out-scaled in a large number of dryland small holdings through policy support may not only improve productivity and livelihoods, but also enhance their abilities to effectively cope with the climatic aberrations.
N1  - This work was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems, which was led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
AV  - restricted
KW  - On-farm mechanization
KW  -  rainfed agriculture
KW  -  rainwater management
KW  -  soil health
KW  -  dryland production systems
KW  - 
semiarid region
KW  -  Andhra Pradesh
KW  -  dryland small holdings
KW  -  Micro-watershed
KW  -  drought-proofing of crops
A1  - Chander, G
A1  - Reddy, T Y
A1  - Kumar, S
A1  - Padmalatha, Y
A1  - Reddy, S
A1  - Adinarayana, G
A1  - Wani, S P
A1  - Reddy, Y V M
A1  - Srinivas, K
TI  - Low-cost interventions for big impacts in dryland production systems
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2018.1560426
JF  - Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science (TSI)
SP  - 1
Y1  - 2019///
ID  - icrisat11047
EP  - 12
SN  - 0365-0340
PB  - Taylor & Francis
ER  -