No-Tillage Revolution India
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Transcript of 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
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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.
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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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Related issues: additional innings
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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Related issues: additional innings
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.