Project 4: Conservation agriculture for sustainable land use

Project 4: Conservation agriculture for sustainable land use

Introduction:
Conservation agriculture is application of modern agricultural technologies to improve production with concurrent protection and enhance the land resources on which the production depends. It promotes the concept of optimizing yield and profits with minimal disturbance of land resources along with balanced application of chemical inputs and careful management of crop residues and waste.

Objectives
• To promote minimal mechanical disturbance of soil through zero/minimum tillage.
• To maintain permanent soil cover with available crop residues and other wastes.
• Efficient nutrient management practices through balanced application of organic and inorganic source.
• Effective utilization of residual soil moisture.

Methodology
1. Selection of field
2. Selection of crop (Cereals/Oilseed/Pulse/ leafy vegetables)
3. Divide the field into two equal halves and mark as (a) and (b)
a) Dig lines of 2” – 3” depths with equal distance between the lines, place the fertilizer, cover it with loose soil, place the seed on it and cover the lines.
b) Plough the soil and apply fertilizer (as per local practice) and sow the seeds.
4. Doses of fertilizer, pesticides etc. will be as per practice followed by farmers.

Observation:
1. Record economic yield/ biomass data of the crops
2. Workout the economic benefit.
3. Determine bulk density of soil at the time of harvest of the crops from all the plots.
4. Find out porosity of soil and compare the differences.

Procedure to measure bulk density:
1) Cut 4-6” length pieces (core) from a G I Pipe with > 2” diameter
2) Place the core on the soil surface.
3) Place a wooden block (approximately 4” width, 5” length, 1” thickness) on the top of the core.
4) Hammer the wooden block to push the core into the soil
5) Cut the soil around the core with spade and take out the core with soil in it.
6) Cut the excess soil at both ends of the core with knife so that volume of the core will represent volume of the soil
7) Take the weight of core plus soil
8) Push the soil out, wash and clean the core and make it dry.
9) Take the weight of the core
10) Measure the inside diameter and length of the core, which will be used in calculating the volume of soil
11) Divide the mass of the soil by the volume of soil this will give the bulk density of the soil.

Follow up:
1) Show the crops condition to others.
2) Discuss the results with the farmers/ students.

Note:
Density is the mass of an object per unit volume. It is expressed as gm/cm3
Soil has got two densities – Particle density and Bulk density.
• Particle density (pd) is the density of the solid soil particles (sand, silt and clay). For all practical purposes and on-farm studies average particle density is considered as 2.65 gm/cm3
• Bulk density (bd) is the density for a volume of soil as it exists naturally, which includes any air space and organic materials in the soil volume. Science bulk density is calculated for the dried soil, moisture is not included in the sample. It is calculated using the following formula
bd = weight of soil/ volume of soil core
Volume of soil core = πr2h (π = 22/7 = 3.14)
Where, r is the radious of the core = d/2 (d is the diameter of the core)
h is the height of the soil core


Note : fig. is not shown

Suppose, in the figure of the cylinder, AB is the diameter (d) and AB/2 or d/2 is the radius (r). BC is the height (h) of the cylinder.
Calculate (i) cross sectional area(A) of the cylinder (A = π r2 )
(ii) Volume of the cylinder (V) = A x h = π r2 xh = 3.14 r2 xh (π = 3.14)

Soil porosity, % = (1- bd/2.65)x100