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ThesisItem Open Access AGROCLIMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HAZARIBAGH DISTRICT OF JHARKHAND FOR WEATHER BASED CROP PLANNING(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2020) Kumar Gupta, Chandan; Kumar Gupta, Chandan; Wadood, A.; Wadood, A.Rainfed agriculture plays most important role in providing food and livelihood security to the world and India. However, rainfed agriculture is highly dependent on rainfall therefore crop cultivation in these areas continues to be a gamble due to uncertainty of rainfall. Further, global warming is leading to climate change and negative impact on crop production. The number of heavy precipitation events has increased in most of the regions of the world while in some regions it has also decreased. This change in precipitation pattern is altering hydrological systems and agricultural production. Therefore agro-climatic characterization at micro/local geographical scale becomes necessary for better crop planning. With this background, present study characterised agro-climatic condition of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand at block level for weather based crop planning. The objectives of the study were (a) to characterize agro-climatic condition of Hazaribagh district at block level, (b) to assess the frequency and intensity of drought and length of growing period at block level and (c) to develop suitable crop plans based on soil and climatic condition. To achieve the objectives of the study, 10 representative blocks of the Hazaribagh district were selected for soil sampling and collection of historical weather data from 1983-2017. The representative soil samples of each selected blocks were collected from up land, mid land and low land agricultural filed by ‗V‘ shape digging of soil up to 30 cm depth. Collected soil samples were analysed for important physical (texture, bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point and available water capacity etc.), physico-chemical (pH, Org. C) and chemical parameters (avail N, P and K). Several statistical analyses (using Weather Cock v1.0 software) of collected weather data was done to characterise the agro-climatic condition prevailing over Hazaribagh district. Mann -Kendall test was done for trend analysis of surface atmospheric temperature and rainfall. Rainfall data of the blocks were analysed for weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual distribution, occurance of meteorological and agricultural drought, initial and conditional probabilities, and incomplete gamma probability of rainfall. Soil moisture balance and length of growing period was also detrmined. The result showed that the minimum annual temperature of the district varied from 15.30C to 20.60C (Mean19.50C) while maximum annual temperature varied from 27.40C to 31.10C (mean=29.30C) with 2.8% and 6.5% coefficient of variation respectively in the last 35 years. The maximum annual temperature was found increasing with the rate of 0.03 0C per annum while the minimum annual temperature decreased with 0.08 0C per annum. The average annual rainfall of the district in the last 35 years was 1206 mm with 9.5 to 33.5 % coefficient of variation. The rainfall was found spread over about 59 rainy days with CV of 21%, indicating relatively low variability in number of rainy days over the years. Blocks situated in western part of the district received lowest average annual rainfall while blocks situated in central portion of the district received highest average annual rainfall. Negative trend in annual rainfall was observed in most of the blocks (Barhi, Barkatha, Chauparan, Churchu, Hazaribagh and Katkamsandi blocks) except Bishnugarh, Barkagaon, Ichak and Keredari blocks. It was observed that blocks situated in north part of the district are observing faster rate of decrease in annual rainfall while blocks situated in southern part of district is observing slightly increase in annual rainfall. The length of the growing period (LGP) was observed to be 26 weeks for most of the blocks of Hazaribagh district under upland condition. Under Don III Don II land situation LGP was of 29-31 weeks for all blocks. Low land condition possessed 30-31 weeks of LGP at all blocks. Occurrence of mild drought was found to be a common feature in Hazaribagh district (33%). It was observed that almost all blocks of Hazaribagh district faced long spells of late season agricultural drought and frequent early season drought. Water availability was found surplus in all the land situations during active growing period of Kharif crops. Hence, water deficit does not matter for kharif crops, though it would be of great concern as far as the cultivation of winter season rabi crops. Hence, rainwater harvesting during its plenty and its re-use during its scarcity will be good strategy for ensuring sustainable agriculture in the study areas. In view of the different water related conditions in different land situations, crop diversification would be practicable in uplands as well as in medium lands. Direct seeded rice in upland and direct as well as transplanted rice in medium lands may be replaced, to some extent, with less water requiring crops like maize, oilseeds and pulses. Among all the blocks, upland areas of Katkamsandi and Keredari had fairly low moisture retention capacity therefore less water requiring tropical crops like pigeon pea and finger millet can be grow successfully. During, kharif lowland (Don I) in almost all blocks had very high moisture content with waterlogging therefore it is mainly suitable for paddy cultivation and farmers don‘t have much option for crop diversification or replacement. However, crop diversification can be done in rabi season crops after harvesting of paddy.
