Analysis Of Some Indigenous Methods Of Soil Moisture Conservation By Soil Amendment And Mulching

摘要

The present research and documentation work on Indigenous Technological Knowledge (ITKs) on soil and water conservation in semi-arid India envisages documentation of ITKs in various agro-ecological (AER) locations. This project was operated at different All India Co-ordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) centres in various agro-ecological sub regions (AESR). This research work was formulated to collect and document the indigenous technologies being practised at present by the farmers for information dissemination. The analysis of the information leads to finding technological gaps, constraints and researchable issues. Some major ITKs have been documented by various agencies. Besides, the farmers are practicing many simple ITKs in villages. They need to be documented for making them public for recommending to other similar situations for adoption. Mulching and soil amendment is an important conservation practice that reduces impact of raindrop, minimizes soil erosion, facilities water infiltration, reduces runoff as well as evaporation losses. In this paper some of the ITKs on soil amendment and mulching practised by the farmers in various agro-ecological sub regions namely application of tank silt, application of sand, groundnut shell as soil amendment and sal leaf in turmeric, retention of sunflower stalks, pebbles on soil surface,crop residue as mulch in the field etc. have been discussed. These information were generated through a National Agricultural Technological Project (NATP) on "Documentation & Analysis of Indigenous Methods of In-situ Moisture Conservation and Runoff Management" operated at CRIDA, yderabad with associated centers at Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh), angalore (Bangalore),ijapur(Bangalore),Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Phulbani (Orissa) and Targhadia(Gujarat).