eChapters

Farmer Producer Organizations represent a transformative institutional innovation in agricultural development that addresses the fundamental challenges of small-scale farming through collective action and cooperative enterprise development. These organizations emerge from the recognition that individual small farmers face insurmountable obstacles in accessing markets, obtaining fair prices, securing quality inputs, and achieving economies of scale necessary for sustainable agricultural livelihoods in increasingly competitive and globalized food systems. The concept of FPOs builds on the rich tradition of agricultural cooperation while adapting to contemporary market realities and policy frameworks that require formal institutional structures for accessing services, credit, and government support programs. FPOs represent a hybrid institutional form that combines the democratic governance and member ownership characteristics of traditional cooperatives with the business orientation and professional management capabilities of modern enterprises, creating organizations that can operate effectively in comp

In India since ages, the dryland farmers adopted a kind of mixed farming involving traditional annual crops and livestock consisting of one or two cows / bullocks and few poultry birds. This traditional system though of small scale provided some kind of risk minimisation particularly in the years of scanty rainfall causing agricultural drought. (https://coabnau.in/uploads/1587050523_ Agriculturalheritage.pdf) Discouraged by their marginal impact on farm economy, dryland farmers switched over to the lure of ‘productive’ mono-cropping with certain commercial crops like cotton etc. The continuous mono-cropping resulted in impoverishment of soils and low crop yields which took farmers into the labyrinth of poverty.

9.1 Introduction

Nanoparticles (NPs) are particulate matter with at least one dimension less than 100 nm (Christian et al., 2008). Although NPs are naturally present in the environment, manufactured NPs may have distinctive surface properties and chemistry in comparison with natural NPs (Handy et al., 2008). Manufactured NPs have a large area-to-volume ratio and size-dependent properties, which impart novel properties and behaviors that make them suitable for nanotechnology applications (Auffan et al., 2009). Range of applications for NPs has brought about a rapid development of the nanotechnology industry.

The Fertilizer (Control) Order

The Fertilizer (Control) Order (FCO) is a set of legally enforceable executive orders issued by the Govt. of India under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 passed by the Parliament. This order came into force in 1957, essentially to regulate the sale, price and quality of fertilizers in India. Amendments are made from time to time as per the exigencies and need of the hour and therefore a large number of amendments were made over a period of time. Consequently, after an overall review of the various provisions of the order, a revised Fertilizer (Control) Order 1985, was issued, which came into effect on September 25, 1985. The FCO consists of five Schedules comprising of different activities as mentioned in Figure 8.1, besides forms of registrations and appendices.

Schedule I comprises Part A and B. While Part A contains the specifications of different fertilizers (e.g. minimum nutrient content, maximum moisture content, range of physical parameters, maximum levels of impurities/ contaminants, etc.), that can be marketed in India (no material not performs the specifications as in the FCO cannot be sold as fertilizer), Part B lists the tolerance limits in plant nutrients and physical parameters for various fertilizers. Schedule II encompasses again two parts, with Part A describing the procedures for drawal of samples of fertilizers, and Part B describing detailed methods of analysis of fertilizers.

Schedule III encompasses four parts namely, Part-A, Part-B, Part-C and Part-D. While Part-A contains specifications of different biofertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of biofertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of biofertilizers, Part-D describes the methods of analysis of biofertilizers. Schedule IV also encompasses four parts. Part-A contains specifications of organic fertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of organic fertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of organic fertilizers, and Part-D describes the methods of analysis of organic fertilizers. Schedule V also contains of four parts. Part-A contains specifications of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, and Part-D describes the methods of analysis of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers.

Fertilizer N has been the key input in increasing cereal production throughout the world. In India, it made possible to achieve the yield potential of high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat that led to ‘Green Revolution in 1968’. Nitrogen fertilization also increases protein content in wheat grains (Rajeswara Rao and Prasad, 1987) and leads to increased production of proteins in cereals (Prasad and Shivay, 2015). Cereal production in India increased from 42.4 million tonnes (Mt) in 1950–51 to 259.6 Mt in 2017–18, while fertilizer N application increased from 0.05 Mt to 16.96 Mt. However, the average agronomic ef?ciency of N (AEn) in India for cereals is only 9.5 kg grain kg–1 N (Sharma and Batra, 2011) as compared to global average of 24 kg grain kg–1 N for maize, 22 kg grain kg–1 N for rice and 18 kg grain kg–1 N for wheat (Ladha et al., 2005). Besides this, more disturbing is the fact that in irrigated areas the AEn declined from 13.4 to 3.4 kg grain kg–1 N during 1970–2005 (Biswas and Sharma, 2006). This is due to poor N management. Bulk of fertilizer N is applied broadcast on surface in most crops.

Potato plays a vital role in food security for ever increasing world population (Thiele et al., 2010; Scott and Sourez, 2011; Scott and Sourez, 2012). It is highly capital and labour intensive crop (Kushwah and Singh, 2011). Presently, India is the second largest potato producer in the world. India is producing about 45-48 million tonnes of potato annually from about 2 million hectare of area. However, India would require 125 million metric tonnes of potato from 3.6 million hectare area in 2050 (Vision, 2050). The stagnating growth rates of cereals’ productivity, large scale diversion of food grains to feed & bio-fuel and expected steep rise in per capita consumption of pulses, edible oil, fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar and non-vegetarian food in the regime of steadily rising population is bound to put pressure on existing cultivable land. Since, cultivable land is expected to remain more or less constant in the next 40 years, the role of crops like potato having higher production potential per unit land and time will become imperative. In this context potato crop has very high probability of making crucial contribution to the future national food security agenda. The perceived changes in Indian socio-economics in the medium and long term are expected to enhance per capita food consumption of fresh potatoes.

Fertilizer and nutrient recommendations for different crops are mostly region specific and very general in nature which results into a blanket application of fertilizer leading to its poor efficacy and wastage of costly resources as well as of environmental pollution. In addition, this has caused severe imbalance of nutrients in soil. The spatial variability of available nutrients properly mapped along with other relevant parameters will help to develop site specific nutrient management practices with increased productivity and profitability apart from checking nutrient imbalance and environmental pollution.

Any material of natural or synthetic origin added to the soil to supply one or more plant nutrients.

10.1. Classification of fertilizers

10.1.1. Straight fertilizers

Supply only one primary plant nutrient, namely nitrogen or phosphorus or potassium.

Eg. Urea, ammonium sulphate, potassium chloride and potassium sulphate.

Many farmer participatory field  experiments were designed and conducted in different states of India having large area under acid soils, with locally available soil ameliorants to study their effect on soil health and crop performance. This work was done during 2000 & 2005 under an ICAR network project on “Soil characterization and resource management of acid soil regions for increasing productivity”. The details of the field locations are presented in table 1.

I. Filtration

Filtration is a process of separation of precipitate from solution. Filtration is used to remove impurities from a solution (or) to isolate a solid.

Nutrient adsorption in soil is one of the important phenomena in terms of nutrient availability to plants. Due to the nutrient fixation of the added nutrients supplied through fertilizers or manures may result the increase in cost of production due to the non-availability of the added nutrients at the optimum level to the plants. Hence, management options are required to release the sorbed nutrients from soil for better availability to the plants. The ion-fixation is driven by physico-chemical and biological processes and varies under agro ecological situations. The chemistry of ion fixation in the form of specific or non-specific adsorption on soil colloids will help understanding the bonding and adsorption reactions of ions in the soil.

8.0 What is fixation?

Fixation of plant nutrients in soil may be defined as the process, where readily soluble plant nutrients are transformed into less soluble forms by physical or chemical reaction with organic or inorganic compounds and thus restricting the mobility of ions in soil that leads to the decrease in availability to the plants. There are two kinds of fixation in general, viz; cation (N, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ca,Mg etc.) and anion (P, B, Mo etc.) in soils. The fixation of ions in soil is governed by important physical and chemical parameters of soil based on which the available pools of nutrients for plants may be determined.

Flood-control economics compares the financial, social, and environmental costs of flood damage with the costs and benefits of alternative mitigation measures. Because complete protection is generally impractical, planners must identify an economically justified level of risk reduction. Evaluation considers construction, operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, residual risk, avoided losses, project life, discount rates, and direct and indirect benefits. This chapter introduces economic assessment of flood-control projects and examines flood-damage estimation, depth-damage relationships, benefit-cost analysis, present value, and investment decision criteria. It also considers remote-sensing approaches for mapping inundation and assessing losses. The discussion supports the selection of measures that are technically feasible, socially acceptable, environmentally responsible, and economically efficient.

Flood-control measures aim to reduce the probability of inundation or limit its harmful consequences. Structural measures physically modify water flow or storage and include dams, reservoirs, levees, floodwalls, diversions, channel improvements, detention basins, and watershed-treatment structures. Non-structural measures reduce exposure and vulnerability through forecasting, warnings, zoning, insurance, preparedness, evacuation, public education, land-use control, and disaster-response planning. This chapter classifies and evaluates both groups of measures, explaining their purposes, benefits, limitations, and selection criteria. It emphasizes that no individual intervention provides complete protection. Effective flood-risk reduction normally requires an integrated combination of structures, sound watershed management, reliable information systems, institutional coordination, and community participation.

Flood diversion redirects part or all of an excessive flow away from a vulnerable river reach, settlement, or agricultural area. Water may be conveyed through diversion channels, floodways, canals, tunnels, spillways, or natural depressions and discharged into another river, reservoir, wetland, or safe storage area. A diversion scheme must have sufficient capacity and a dependable control structure while avoiding unacceptable flooding, erosion, sediment deposition, or environmental damage elsewhere. This chapter explains the purpose, principles, and methods of flood diversion. It covers site selection, diversion routes, hydraulic and structural components, design discharge, operational requirements, advantages, limitations, maintenance needs, and the role of diversions within integrated basin-level flood-control planning.

Flood estimation determines the probable magnitude and frequency of flood events for designing hydraulic structures and managing flood risk. Intense rainfall over a catchment generates excess water after interception, infiltration, evaporation, and depression storage have been satisfied. This runoff reaches the drainage system and may cause flooding when channel capacity is inadequate. Reliable estimates help engineers select suitable dimensions for dams, spillways, bridges, culverts, reservoirs, and other protective works. This chapter describes rainfall-based and streamflow-based estimation techniques, including the Rational and Cook’s methods, unit-hydrograph procedures, frequency distributions, Gumbel, log-normal and Log-Pearson Type III analyses, empirical formulae, flow-mass curves, and partial-duration series.

Hydrology examines the occurrence, circulation, distribution, and properties of water in the atmosphere and on Earth. Solar energy drives the hydrologic cycle through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and groundwater movement. Rainfall first satisfies interception, depression storage, evaporation, and infiltration before excess water begins flowing across the surface and into channels. When runoff entering a river exceeds its conveyance capacity, flooding may occur. This chapter explains clouds, precipitation measurement, rain-gauge networks, rainfall consistency, infiltration, runoff mechanisms, hydrographs, unit hydrographs, empirical runoff models, and stage-discharge relationships. These concepts provide the scientific foundation required for analysing floods and designing appropriate control measures.

Flood management is a continuing process of assessing flood risk and coordinating prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and adaptation. Unlike flood control, which often emphasizes physical structures, integrated flood management accepts that floods cannot always be eliminated and seeks to balance their risks and beneficial functions. It protects life and property while considering river-basin development, environmental sustainability, social needs, and economic feasibility. This chapter explains flood-management concepts, objectives, purposes, and techniques. It discusses structural and non-structural actions, forecasting, watershed treatment, afforestation, rainwater harvesting, floodplain zoning, community preparedness, institutional responsibilities, interlinking proposals, and government programmes. Emphasis is placed on coordinated, basin-wide and risk-informed decision-making.

Flood routing predicts how a flood hydrograph changes as it passes through a river reach or reservoir. Storage, channel geometry, friction, inflow distribution, and outlet conditions generally reduce, delay, or otherwise modify the flood peak. Routing results help forecast downstream water levels, determine reservoir releases, design spillways and channels, issue warnings, and evaluate flood-control alternatives. This chapter introduces the continuity and storage principles underlying flood routing and distinguishes reservoir routing from channel routing. It discusses hydrologic and hydraulic approaches, including level-pool, Muskingum, and related techniques. Attention is also given to inflow and outflow hydrographs, routing coefficients, travel time, attenuation, data requirements, assumptions, calculations, and practical engineering applications.

A flood occurs when water exceeds the carrying capacity of a river, stream, drain, gully, or another natural or artificial channel and spreads over adjoining land. Its severity depends on water volume, depth, velocity, duration, timing, and the vulnerability of affected communities. Prolonged inundation can severely damage crops, property, infrastructure, water supplies, and human and animal life. Night-time floods may be particularly dangerous because warnings and evacuation become difficult. This chapter introduces flood occurrence and mechanisms, India’s and the world’s flood history, flood-prone regions, flood types and causes, major consequences, and the responsibilities of Indian flood-control and forecasting agencies.

6.1. Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity of Saturated Soil: Laboratory Methods

Hydraulic conductivity of a saturated soil indicates the ease with which water is transmitted through the soil pores. If a constant water head (h) is maintained on a saturated soil column of length (L) and the volume of water (V) percolating per unit time (t) through per unit cross sectional area (A) to the other end, then according to Darcy’s Law the rate of flow of liquid or flux (q) is proportional to the hydraulic gradient (ΔH/L) across the length of soil column.