Coping with Hailstorm in Vulnerable Deccan Plateau Region of India:Technological Interventions for Crop Recovery

Vulnerability of agriculture to climate change is becoming increasingly apparent in recent years. During 2014 and 2015, India experienced trails of unusually widespread and untimely hailstorm events. The increased frequency of hailstorm events, especially in vulnerable ecosystem of Deccan Plateau region of India demanded appropriate measures to minimize adverse impact on agricultural crops. Therefore some of the post-hail measures including nutritional supplement, plant bio-regulators and canopy management were evaluated in field trials conducted at Maharashtra, India during 2014 and 2015. Amongst these, pruning of the hardy and indeterminate eggplant crop induced effective branches, which produced more flowers and fruits. Nitrogen supplemented with urea drenching and stress alleviating effects of salicylic acid promoted recovery in maize while drenching with humic acid along with spraying of potassium nitrate improved productivity of onion. These studies indicate the potential of technological interventions to cope with extreme events such as hailstorms.