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

Authors

Jamma Jaya Gairhe, Tribhuvan University
Mandeep Adhikari, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Deepak Ghimire, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Arun Kjatri-Chhetri, International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Dinesh Panday, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-20-2021

Citation

Gairhe, J.J.; Adhikari, M.; Ghimire, D.; Khatri‐Chhetri, A.; Panday, D. Intervention of Climate‐ Smart Practices in Wheat under Rice‐Wheat Cropping System in Nepal. Climate 2021, 9, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9020019

Comments

CC-BY

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.