Describe the following in about 150 words each: (a) The major ways for sustainable management of natural resources (10…

(a) Sustainable management of natural resources

Sustainable management meets present needs without eroding the resource base for future generations. Its main ways are:

Soil: conservation agriculture (zero tillage, residue retention, crop rotation), Integrated Nutrient Management combining organics with balanced fertilisers, and soil-test-based application through the Soil Health Card scheme (2015).

Water: watershed management with rainwater harvesting and soil conservation, micro-irrigation under PMKSY ('per drop more crop', 2015), and community groundwater management under Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019).

Biodiversity and land: agroforestry, Integrated Pest Management using biocontrol and resistant varieties, and protection of common lands.

Policy backing includes the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the National Agroforestry Policy, 2014, and the approach serves SDGs 2, 6 and 15.

(b) Agro-practices for Quality Protein Maize (QPM)

QPM carries the opaque-2 gene with modifiers, giving about twice the lysine and tryptophan of normal maize. Practices:

Varieties: use QPM composites and hybrids such as Shakti-1, HQPM-1 and Vivek QPM-9.

Isolation: keep 200-400 m from normal maize, as cross-pollination reverts the grain to normal protein. Rogue off-types.

Sowing: kharif at monsoon onset (June-July) or rabi (mid-October to November); seed rate about 20 kg/ha at 60 x 20 cm.

Nutrition: about 120 kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and 40 kg K2O per hectare, with zinc sulphate 25 kg/ha on deficient soils.

Weeds and water: pre-emergence atrazine (1 kg/ha) and irrigation at knee-high, tasseling and grain-filling stages.

Harvest and storage: harvest at physiological maturity and dry to below 12% moisture, as the softer endosperm makes QPM more prone to storage pests.

(c) Social forestry and related schemes

Social forestry means growing trees on non-forest and community lands, such as farm bunds, roadsides, canal banks, village commons and wastelands, to meet local fuel, fodder, timber and small-timber needs and to relieve pressure on natural forests. It was recommended by the National Commission on Agriculture (1976). Its forms are farm forestry, extension forestry (roadside, canal and railway strips), community woodlots and agroforestry.

Related schemes: Joint Forest Management (1990 guidelines), which shares forest produce with village communities; the National Afforestation Programme (2000, under the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board, set up in 1992); the Green India Mission (2014, under the NAPCC); and the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (2016-17, 'Har Med Par Ped'), under the National Agroforestry Policy, 2014.

(d) Major weeds of rice and their management

Lowland (transplanted) rice: Echinochloa crus-galli (grass); Cyperus difformis and Fimbristylis miliacea (sedges); Monochoria vaginalis, Ludwigia and Marsilea quadrifolia (broad-leaved). Management: puddling and levelling, 3-5 cm standing water, pre-emergence butachlor or pretilachlor with safener (3-5 days after transplanting), hand weeding at 20 and 40 days, and post-emergence bispyribac-sodium or 2,4-D for sedges and broadleaves.

Upland (direct-seeded) rice: Echinochloa colona, Digitaria sanguinalis, Dactyloctenium aegyptium and Eleusine indica (grasses); Cyperus rotundus (sedge); Commelina benghalensis (broad-leaved). Management: stale seedbed, pre-emergence pendimethalin (1 kg/ha), post-emergence bispyribac-sodium 15-20 days after sowing, and hand or mechanical weeding at 20 and 40 days. Integrated Weed Management combines these with competitive varieties and crop rotation.

(e) Biofertilizers and constraints in popularisation

Biofertilizers are carrier-based live microorganisms that raise nutrient availability: Rhizobium (legumes), Azotobacter and Azospirillum (non-legumes), Acetobacter (sugarcane), phosphate-solubilising bacteria, potassium-mobilising bacteria, mycorrhiza (VAM), and Azolla and blue-green algae (rice).

Constraints: short shelf life (about six months for carrier-based forms) and need for cool storage; strain specificity and variable field performance; poor quality control and contamination, despite FCO standards (biofertilizers added in 2006); slow, less visible response than chemical fertilisers; weak extension and low farmer awareness; and loss of viability when mixed with chemical seed treatments. Liquid formulations and consortia offer longer shelf life, and the National Centre of Organic and Natural Farming certifies and promotes use.