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Humid sub-tropical
The
agro-climate of the region is characterized by warm/hot summer and cool
winter.
The agro-ecoregion with hot, subhumid (dry) climate and
alluvium-derived
soils covers a part of the northern Indo-Gangetic plain, including
plains of
the western Himalayas.
It also
comprises eastern plateau, Chhattisgarh region and southwest highlands
of Bihar
State.
An injudicious use of irrigation water may lead to waterlogging and
salinity
hazards. The region, comprising the plains of the Brahmaputra
and the Ganga
rivers,
covers parts of the states of Assam
and West Bengal. The
climate of
the area is characterized by hot summer and mild to moderately cool
winter.
Traditionally the rainfed and irrigated agriculture is common. The
crops grown
are rice, maize, barley, pigeonpea and jute in kharif season. The soils
are
susceptible to severe water erosion hazard. There is partial water
logging in
early stages of crop growth and seasonal droughtiness during advance
stage crop
growth. There is Deficiency in N, P and micronutrients, such as Zn and
B,
causing nutrient imbalances.
The
agro-ecoregion, comprising eastern plains covers north-eastern Uttar
Pradesh
and Northern Bihar
including foothills
of Central Himalayas.
Rainfed
agriculture with cultivation of rice, maize, pigeonpea, moong are
common in
kharif season. The important cash crops such as sugarcane, tobacco,
chillies,
turmeric, coriander and potato are usually grown with supplemental
irrigation.
The natural vegetation comprises tropical moist deciduous and dry
deciduous
forests. Flooding and imperfect drainage conditions limit soil
aeration.
Salinity and/or sodicity, occurring in patches, affect crop yields.
The
north-eastern hills (Purvanchal) agro-ecoregion comprises hilly States
of
Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Tripura. Jhum
cultivation is
the traditional farming. Rice is the dominant crop grown in valleys and
on hill
terraces. Millets, maize and potatoes are cultivated on terraces at
higher
altitudes, while rice and jute are grown in small under rainfed
condition. Hill
terraces are also used for plantation crops, such as, tea, coffee,
rubber and
horticultural crops, like oranges, pineapple, etc. The natural
vegetation
comprises wet evergreen and tropical moist deciduous forests.
Deforestation and
shifting cultivation result in severe soil erosion hazard. Excessive
rainfall
leading to leaching results in depletion of nutrients rendering soil's
poor in
base status. Low temperature in post-rainy period limits the
introduction of a
wide variety of crops.
Small
to marginal land holdings limit the introduction of modern implements.[1]
The
change in sowing season due to temperature variations is impacting the
wheat
yield in Haryana, one of the key wheat producing states of India.
A paper authored by Dr J C Katyal, V-C of Chaudhari
Charan
Singh
Haryana
Agricultural
University,
Hisar, says that the rise of maximum temperatures during February and
March
over the past seven years coincides with pre- and post-grain formation
stages
and has had a negative impact on wheat yield. Katyal notes that "this
challenges the very sustainability of food self-sufficiency reached in
the
early nineties" [2]
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