Comparative Water Efficiency Analysis of Sole and Multiple Cropping Systems under Tunnel Farming in Punjab-Pakistan

Water scarcity is the growing concern of present times, requiring its efficient utilization deemed as necessity. Rapidly growing population has significantly exerted pressure on its demand, in Pakistan. In order to fulfill it, all factors of production are required to be used in the possibly most efficient way. Good quality and quantity of water are the growing concerns of producers in Pakistan and around the globe. The efficient water utilization is crucial to optimize the farm returns under the selected sole and multiple cropping systems. This study considered the water efficiency analysis of multiple and sole cropping systems, with the aim of finding out cropping patterns more efficient in terms of water utilization in Pakistan. In order to estimate the water efficiency analysis, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is run to find out the water efficient cropping systems among sole and multiple cropping systems. The Tobit analysis is also used to find out the factors affecting the water efficiency of selected farms in the study area. The results of the study report an inefficient water usage in terms of irrigation, the inefficient use of water instigates the wastage of one of the most important as well as scarce farm inputs especially water, in case of multiple cropping system. Around 51% and 13% of water inefficiency are present under multiple and sole cropping systems, respectively. Basin irrigation is the method for irrigation, used by the farmers of the study area approximating to be 95% - 97%. It is one of the most conventional and least efficient methods of irrigation. Only 2.67 and 4.67 percent of farms were using the Furrow irrigation method, which is way more efficient and steady as compared to Basin irrigation method, respectively. It appears as a requirement that the most efficient methods regarding water application in Pakistan should be recognized. Lack of management in water application on both selected cropping systems resulted in over utilization of water and depletion of one of the fundamental natural resource. In order to overcome the inefficiency in water management, farmers’ farming knowledge, adoption of new irrigation techniques, efficient application of inputs is needed.

Nitrogen uptake and transfer in broad bean and garlic strip intercropping systems

Utilization and transfer of nitrogen （N）in a strip intercropping system of garlic （Allium safivum L.） and broad bean （Vicia faba L.） have been investigated rarely. The objectives of this study were to quantify N uptake and utilization by intercropped broad bean and garlic and determine the magnitude of N transfer from broad bean to garlic. Field and pot trials were carried out in the Erhai Lake Basin in China using ^15N tracer applied to the soil or injected into broad bean plants. Strip intercropping of garlic and broad bean increased N absorption （47.2%） compared with sole crop broad bean （31.9%） or sole crop garlic （40.7%） and reduced soil residual N. Nearly 15% of 15N injected into petioles of broad bean intercropped with garlic was recovered in garlic at harvest, suggesting that N could be transferred from broad bean to strip intercropped garlic. The findings provide a basis for evaluating legumes＇ role in optimizing N fertilization when intercropped with non-legumes.

Productivity status of traditional agrisilviculture system on northern and southern aspects in mid-hill situation of Garhwal Himalaya, India

The productivity of traditional agrisilviculture system （agricultural crops ＋ trees） was investigated in the northern and south- ern aspects of mid-hill situation in Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India during the 2004-2006. A total of 19 tree species were studied in both northern and southern aspects, out of which 17 tree species were selected in northern aspect and 12 tree species in southern aspect for phytosociological characteristic analysis of trees in agrisilvicultural system. The most dominant tree species are Grewia optiva, Celtis australis and Melia azedarach and successively grown under traditional agrisilviculture system. The results show that the annual produc- tivity of all tree species was 3 775 kg.ha-1.a^-1 in northern aspect （site-N） and 3 10! kg.ha^-1.a^-1 in southern aspect （site-S）. G. optiva had the highest productivity in both site-N and site-S among the tree species, followed by M. azedarach, Quercus leucotrichophora and C. australis. The dominant agricultural crops were Eleusine coracana in summer cereals, Phaseolus vulgaris in summer pulses-oilseeds and Triticum aestivum in the winter season in the area. The average biological productivity of agricultural crops in northern aspect was about 16% higher than that in southern aspect under traditional agrisilviculture system. The sole agricultural crop productivity （without trees） in northern aspect was also higher than that in southern aspect. An obvious difference in annual productivity of trees and agriculture crops was observed between northern aspect and southern aspect. The overall productivity in traditional agrisilviculture system （crop ＋ tree） was 24% （in northern aspect） and 21% （in southern aspect） higher than that in sole cropping system.