Management of drought in sali rice under increasing rainfall variability in the North Bank Plains Zone of Assam, North East India

Prasanta Neog (), Pallab K. Sarma, Debashis Saikia, Palakshi Borah, Girindra Nath Hazarika, Manoj Kr Sarma, Digambar Sarma, G. Ravindra Chary and Ch. Srinivasa Rao
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Prasanta Neog: BN College of Agriculture
Pallab K. Sarma: All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, BN College of Agriculture
Debashis Saikia: BN College of Agriculture
Palakshi Borah: All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, BN College of Agriculture
Girindra Nath Hazarika: Assam Agricultural University
Manoj Kr Sarma: All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, BN College of Agriculture
Digambar Sarma: All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, BN College of Agriculture
G. Ravindra Chary: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture
Ch. Srinivasa Rao: ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management

Climatic Change, 2020, vol. 158, issue 3, No 12, 473-484

Abstract: Abstract The intermittent dry spells during growing season of winter or sali rice, cultivated in NBPZ of Assam located in the foothills of Eastern Himalayan region, is a major weather risk causing widespread damage to the crop. Herein, variability of rainfall in Lakhimpur district situated in NBPZ was studied. A significant decreasing trend of annual and seasonal rainfall was observed. Significant decrease in monsoon rainfall and increase in monthly rainfall variability clearly explains the recent rainfall fluctuations with increasing frequency of intermittent dry spells and flash floods. A participatory evaluation trial was conducted in Chamua village of Lakhimpur district having different land situations to identify climate resilient technologies to cope with seasonal drought in sali rice. High-yielding short-duration varieties, viz., Dishang, Luit, Lachit and Kolong, and medium-duration varieties, viz., Basundhara, Mohan, Mulagabhoru and TTB-404 performed consistently better than the long-duration HYV or the traditional varieties under upland and medium land situations, respectively. Though the effect of dry spells on long-duration varieties cultivated on low lands was least, yield of these varieties reduced up to 43.07% when sowing was delayed beyond 23rd of June. Performance of the delayed sown varieties was further declined, when exposed to dry spells at later growth stages. However, adverse impact of dry spells can be managed effectively by replacing farmers’ varieties with short and medium-duration high-yielding varieties in upland and medium lands, respectively, and manipulating sowing time of long-duration varieties for low lands.

Keywords: Seasonal drought; Sali rice; Dry spells management; Alternate variety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10584-019-02605-4

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