Root zone irrigation in cereal based systems to address the groundwater crisis in North-West India

Abstract

The RZI/SDI system combined with conservation agriculture (CA) approaches like zero till, retaining residues on soil surface and dry seeding requires 40-50% less irrigation water than flood irrigation for rice and wheat with the same or higher amount of yields, and would still be cost-effective for farmers. As well, it was found that both rice and wheat needed 20% less nitrogenbased fertilizer (urea) under a subsurface drip fertigation system which could improve ecosystem health and cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The study demonstrated that this can be accomplished with significant benefits to farmers, saving them input costs and labour. Therefore, for its fast and wider replicability convergence of schemes like ‘More Crop Per Drop’ with Food security mission, Soil health mission, Doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and Sustainable agriculture mission is required to harvest the better fruits from RZI in RW system.