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Assessing Unrealized Yield Potential of Maize Producing Districts in India


Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
2 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Hyderabad 502 324, India
 

The projected demand of maize production in India in 2050 is 4–5 times of current production. With the scope for area expansion being limited, there is need for enhancement of yield. This calls for identifying areas where huge unrealized yield potential exists. With a view to address the issue, the present study delineates homogeneous agro-climatic zones for maize production system in India taking district as a unit and using the factors production, viz. climate, soil, season and irrigated area under the crop. There are 146 districts in India that grow maize as a major crop. They were divided into 26 zones using multivariate cluster analysis. Study of variation in yield between districts within a zone vis-a-vis crop management practices adopted in those districts was found useful in targeting the yield gaps. These findings can have direct relevance to the maize farmers and district level administrators.

Keywords

Agro-Climatic Zone, Climate, Cluster, Irrigation, Potential Yield, Yield Gap.
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  • Assessing Unrealized Yield Potential of Maize Producing Districts in India

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Authors

B. M. K. Raju
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
C. A. Rama Rao
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
K. V. Rao
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
Srinivasarao
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
Josily Samuel
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
A. V. M. Subba Rao
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
M. Osman
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
M. Srinivasa Rao
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
N. Ravi Kumar
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
R. Nagarjuna Kumar
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
V. V. Sumanth Kumar
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Hyderabad 502 324, India
K. A. Gopinath
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India
N. Swapna
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India

Abstract


The projected demand of maize production in India in 2050 is 4–5 times of current production. With the scope for area expansion being limited, there is need for enhancement of yield. This calls for identifying areas where huge unrealized yield potential exists. With a view to address the issue, the present study delineates homogeneous agro-climatic zones for maize production system in India taking district as a unit and using the factors production, viz. climate, soil, season and irrigated area under the crop. There are 146 districts in India that grow maize as a major crop. They were divided into 26 zones using multivariate cluster analysis. Study of variation in yield between districts within a zone vis-a-vis crop management practices adopted in those districts was found useful in targeting the yield gaps. These findings can have direct relevance to the maize farmers and district level administrators.

Keywords


Agro-Climatic Zone, Climate, Cluster, Irrigation, Potential Yield, Yield Gap.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi09%2F1885-1893