Real time monitoring and management of agricultural drought in major rainfed crops (Soybean)

Introduction

The erratic nature of monsoon rains, coupled with rising temperatures and climate change, has intensified the frequency and duration of dry spells in Maharashtra. This poses a serious challenge to agricultural sustainability, water availability, and rural livelihoods. To mitigate these effects, various adaptation strategies have been implemented, including water conservation techniques, drought-resistant crop varieties, and improved soil moisture management practices. In-situ moisture conservation technologies refer to a set of agricultural practices aimed at retaining and efficiently utilizing soil moisture within the root zone of crops. These techniques are especially crucial in rainfed farming systems, where irregular rainfall and prolonged dry spells can severely impact crop productivity. Maharashtra, with its large semi-arid and droughtprone regions, relies heavily on in-situ moisture conservation methods to enhance soil water retention and improve agricultural resilience. Common techniques include mulching, contour ploughing, compartmental bunding, ridges and furrows, deep ploughing, and organic matter incorporation. These practices help reduce runoff, enhance infiltration, minimize evaporation losses, and improve soil health, ultimately leading to better crop yields and sustainable farming. This study explores various in-situ moisture conservation technologies, their effectiveness in Maharashtra's agro-climatic conditions, and their role in mitigating water stress, improving farm productivity, and ensuring long-term agricultural sustainability.

Study Area

The present study area is located at All India Co-ordinated Research Project, for Dryland Agriculture Farm, for Soybean crop during kharif season of 2024. The soil type ranges from medium to deep black with pH of 8.2. Geographically Parbhani is situated at 17° 36' North latitude and 76º 47' East longitudes with an elevation of 406m above mean sea level (Agriculture contingency plan-Parbhani district). The weather prevailing at Parbhani station is categorized as sub-tropical and semi-arid. The region falls an assured rainfall agroclimatic zone of Maharashtra with average annual precipitation of 892mm mostly received between June to September. Rainfall is uneven, erratic and varies from year to year. This tract receiving more than 80% of the rainfall from south-west monsoon. Vasantarao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani which falls under semi-arid tropics having highest temperature 44 °C during month of May and lowest 11 °C during December. The minimum and maximum relative humidity varies between 25 to 63 and 85 to 96 percent, respectively.

Material and Methods

The rainfall data for the year 2024 was collected from Department of Agricultural Meteorology, VNMKV, Parbhani. The data on actual date of onset and withdrawal of monsoon as compared to normal are presented in table. During 2024, the onset of monsoon was on 11 th Jun as against the normal onset of monsoon as on 10 th June indicating the timely onset of monsoon and thus the sowing was carried out in the second fortnight of Jun after availability of sufficient moisture for sowing of soybean. During the year 2024, the withdrawal of monsoon was observed on 20 th October as against the normal withdrawal of monsoon as on 10 th October indicating the timely withdrawal of monsoon this year. As per observation of dry spells during the crop growth period in 2024, the real time interventions like dust mulching, opening of furrow after every 4 rows 30 DAS, KNO3 spraying and protective irrigation from farm pond water was applied using sprinkler irrigation method. Dust mulching was undertaken after 30 days after sowing. During mid-season dry spell, furrows were opened after every 4 rows in soybean. KNO3 spraying was under taken in mid-season dry spell in the month of August.

During mid-season dry spell (Aug 11 to Aug 19) the treatment of protective irrigation was administered using farm pond water and sprinkler irrigation method. Data presented in Table indicated that, the highest grain yield was observed under the treatment of protective irrigation followed by under the treatment of opening of furrow every after 4 rows 30 DAS. All the real time interventions resulted in increase in grain yield of soybean as compared to control. The lowest grain yield was observed under control treatment. The GMR, NMR, BC ratio and RWUE was also recorded the similar trend.

Soil Moisture

The observations of soil moisture under various treatments during the month of July, August, September and October were taken and the mean monthly soil moisture data is presented in Table 4. During this year, due to even distribution of rainfall in the crop season, much difference in soil moisture per cent was not observed. However, in the treatment of protective irrigation, the sufficient soil moisture was maintained which reflected in yield enhancement. Similarly, in the treatment of opening of conservation furrow, soil moisture was observed higher than other treatment. Dust mulching also reflected sufficient moisture during crop growth period as compared to control. All the real time intervention reflected higher soil moisture in the tune of 31 to 34 per cent during entire crop growth period as compared to control.

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