Track 2‐7‐1: Seed Production, Storage, Quality, Testing, Quarantine and Marketing Systems
Description
Livestock occupies a crucial position in Indian agriculture and directly contributing 4.1% of total GDP of the country. India, with 2.29% of the world land area, is maintaining about 10.71% of the world’s livestock population. To sustain the present milk growth rate of 4.04% and for further expansion to meet the demands of ever growing human population, livestock needs sustainable supply of feed material. The area under fodder cultivation is estimated to be about 4% of the gross cropped area which remained static for the last four decades.The traditional grazing lands are gradually diminishing because of urbanization, expansion of cultivable area, grazing pressure and industrialization etc. These factors resulted in severe shortage of feed and fodder to the extent of 26% in dry-crop residues, 35.6% in green fodder and 41% of concentrates (Anon, 2013). To reduce the demand and supply gap, the production and productivity of fodder crops needs to be enhanced. The utilization of non-cultivable space viz., field bunds, common grazing lands, backyards apart from regular cultivation of high biomass species like Bajra-Napier hybrid (BN hybrid), guinea grass, Trispecific hybrid helps in enhanced production of green fodder.
Bajra-Napier hybrid is one of the high biomass grasses with fodder potential of 300 tons/ha/year. However, this grass can be propagated only through rooted slips as it does not form any viable seed. Several varieties suitable to different agro-climatic zones were released for the successful cultivation of this grass throughout India. Due to increasing demand both from small and marginal farmers as well as well-structured large scale diary industry, there is severe shortage of rooted slips of this grass. The traditional uprooting of tussocks not only destructs the mother tussock but also highly labour intensive and difficult to transport to long distances. Keeping in view of all these constraints, two novel technologies were developed for the large scale multiplication of BN hybrid rooted slips.
Included in
Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Availability of Bajra-Napier Hybrid Rooted Slips
Livestock occupies a crucial position in Indian agriculture and directly contributing 4.1% of total GDP of the country. India, with 2.29% of the world land area, is maintaining about 10.71% of the world’s livestock population. To sustain the present milk growth rate of 4.04% and for further expansion to meet the demands of ever growing human population, livestock needs sustainable supply of feed material. The area under fodder cultivation is estimated to be about 4% of the gross cropped area which remained static for the last four decades.The traditional grazing lands are gradually diminishing because of urbanization, expansion of cultivable area, grazing pressure and industrialization etc. These factors resulted in severe shortage of feed and fodder to the extent of 26% in dry-crop residues, 35.6% in green fodder and 41% of concentrates (Anon, 2013). To reduce the demand and supply gap, the production and productivity of fodder crops needs to be enhanced. The utilization of non-cultivable space viz., field bunds, common grazing lands, backyards apart from regular cultivation of high biomass species like Bajra-Napier hybrid (BN hybrid), guinea grass, Trispecific hybrid helps in enhanced production of green fodder.
Bajra-Napier hybrid is one of the high biomass grasses with fodder potential of 300 tons/ha/year. However, this grass can be propagated only through rooted slips as it does not form any viable seed. Several varieties suitable to different agro-climatic zones were released for the successful cultivation of this grass throughout India. Due to increasing demand both from small and marginal farmers as well as well-structured large scale diary industry, there is severe shortage of rooted slips of this grass. The traditional uprooting of tussocks not only destructs the mother tussock but also highly labour intensive and difficult to transport to long distances. Keeping in view of all these constraints, two novel technologies were developed for the large scale multiplication of BN hybrid rooted slips.
