Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a climate-tolerant cereal highly required in food security in semi-arid and marginalized conditions but the production is dramatically limited by soil degradation and erosion. In this chapter, the author discusses the importance of conservation agriculture (CA) as a sustainable measure to improve soil health, productivity and climate resiliency of finger millet systems. These aimed to test CA principles, including minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop diversification, and to test their performance in the reduction of erosion, enhancement of water-use efficiency and maintenance of yield in dryland conditions. Both field-based experiments, long-term CA trials, and modelling strategies were addressed using RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation), APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems simulator), and DNDC (Denitrification–Decomposition) model) with the assistance of remote sensing instruments, i.e., Sentinel-2, Landsat, and SMAP to monitor soils and crops. Case studies in Zimbabwe, India, and the East African highlands show that CA practice potential can decrease soil loss by 40–55% and raise soil moisture by 15–20% and raise finger millet grain output in the conventional systems of 1.5–1.8 t ha−1 to 2.2–2.4 t ha−1 with CA practices. The retention of residues, intercropping, and stress-tolerant varieties enhance the fertility of soil, the biomass accumulation, and the stability of yield. The directions in the future are CA-adapted breeding, digital agriculture, AI/ML-based decision support, and long-term monitoring in order to optimize the adoption and sustainability. All these plans facilitate the production of climate-resilient finger millet, conservation of soil and livelihood of smallholders.

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Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana): Conservation Agriculture and Soil Erosion Control

  • Umar Farooq,
  • Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid

摘要

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a climate-tolerant cereal highly required in food security in semi-arid and marginalized conditions but the production is dramatically limited by soil degradation and erosion. In this chapter, the author discusses the importance of conservation agriculture (CA) as a sustainable measure to improve soil health, productivity and climate resiliency of finger millet systems. These aimed to test CA principles, including minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop diversification, and to test their performance in the reduction of erosion, enhancement of water-use efficiency and maintenance of yield in dryland conditions. Both field-based experiments, long-term CA trials, and modelling strategies were addressed using RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation), APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems simulator), and DNDC (Denitrification–Decomposition) model) with the assistance of remote sensing instruments, i.e., Sentinel-2, Landsat, and SMAP to monitor soils and crops. Case studies in Zimbabwe, India, and the East African highlands show that CA practice potential can decrease soil loss by 40–55% and raise soil moisture by 15–20% and raise finger millet grain output in the conventional systems of 1.5–1.8 t ha−1 to 2.2–2.4 t ha−1 with CA practices. The retention of residues, intercropping, and stress-tolerant varieties enhance the fertility of soil, the biomass accumulation, and the stability of yield. The directions in the future are CA-adapted breeding, digital agriculture, AI/ML-based decision support, and long-term monitoring in order to optimize the adoption and sustainability. All these plans facilitate the production of climate-resilient finger millet, conservation of soil and livelihood of smallholders.