Cropping systems for improving productivity and coping with weather aberrations in the North Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha

A study was conducted to evaluate the response of improved varieties and promising intercropping systems to climate vulnerability such as drought in the Budhadani village of Kandhamal District in North Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha under the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) programme of AICRP for Dryland Agriculture, Phulbani, Odisha during kharif season of 2014–16. Budhadani village often experiences scarce and erratic monsoon rainfall during kharif season. Practice of sole cropping is predominant in this area and results in low yields or sometimes even crop failure due to eneven distribution of monsoon rainfall. In such areas, climate resilient interventions such as improved varieties and intercropping systems are the feasible options to minimize the risk in crop production and ensure reasonable returns. The demonstrations on improved cultivars and different intercropping systems along with the respective local checks were compared with the prevalent farmers’ practices. The main objective of the study was to popularize climate resilient rainfed intercropping systems and improved varieties to mitigate climate variability. The demonstrations were conducted on improved varieties of rice such as var. Sahabhagi, Lalat, Naveen and improved maize hybrids such as P-3501, NMH-51. The demonstrations were also conducted on different intercropping systems such as maize + cowpea, maize + pigeonpea and pigeonpea + radish. The results showed that improved varieties of rice and maize were tolerant to drought situation and resulted in 25–40% higher yield as compared to local varieties. The intercropping systems also resulted in 50–100% higher yield as compared to sole cropping rainfed situation. Hence, adoption of different intercropping system and improved varieties are suitable for rainfed situations and also help in improving food security in these areas.