Intervention of Climate-Smart Practices in Wheat under Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Nepal

Authors

Janma Jaya Gairhe, Tribhuvan University, KathmanduFollow
Mandeep Adhikari, University of Hawaii at ManoaFollow
Deepak Ghimire, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Arun Khatri-Chhetri, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, ColombiaFollow
Dinesh Panday, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Deepak Ghimire https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6718-2302

Arun Khatri-Chhetri https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3811-0462

Dinesh Panday https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8452-3797

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2021

Citation

Climate 2021, 9, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9020019

Comments

Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license

Abstract

Besides a proper agronomic management followed by Nepalese farmers, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production has been severely affected by changing climate. There are many interventions, including climate-smart practices, to cope with this situation and possibly enhance crop and soil productivity. Field experiments were set up in a randomized complete block design with six treatments (TRT) with four replications in three locations (LOC) during wheat-growing seasons in Nepal from 2014 to 2016. Treatments included (i) Controlled Practice (CP), (ii) Improved Low (IL), (iii) Improved High (IH), (iv) Climate Smart Agriculture Low (CSAL), (v) Climate Smart Agriculture Medium (CSAM), and (vi) Climate Smart Agriculture High (CSAH), whereas those LOC were Banke, Rupandehi and Morang districts. There was a significant main effect of TRT and LOC on grain yield and a significant interactionn effect of TRT × LOC on biomass yield in 2014–2015. About 55.5% additional grain yield was produced from CSAM treatment compared to CP in 2014–2015. Among locations, grain yield was the highest in Banke (3772.35 kg ha^–1) followed by Rupandehi (2504.47 kg ha^–1) and Morang districts (2504.47 kg ha^–1). In 2015–2016, there was a significant interaction effect of TRT × LOC on grain and biomass yields. The highest grain yield was produced from CSAH treatment in Banke district in 2015–2016. Overall, grain yield and other parameters showed a better response with either of the climate-smart interventions (mostly CSAH or CSAM) despite variability in geography, climate, and other environmental factors indicating the potential of climate-smart practices to improve wheat production in southern plains of Nepal.