Drought Tolerance Agronomic Management Strategies for Rainfed and Irrigated Maize Crop in Eastern India
R. K. Srivastava, Rajendra Kumar Panda, Arun Chakraborty, Swayam Prava Singh
Abstract
The global population is estimated to increase by 50% by 2050 and thereby the global grain demand is expected to double. Doubling grain production with environmental sustainability is a major challenge to be faced. Sustainable grain production can be achieved by ecofriendly farming techniques of crop production without using toxic agrichemicals. Agricultural crop production is highly sensitive to climatic variables in different regions of the world. The key factor of agriculture crop production is the temperature, which causes drought conditions. It directly affects the crop growth rate and development. Heat stress is one of the primary agricultural problems globally. Sowing date is an important management practice used to adjust the timing and duration of crop phenological phases according to environmental conditions for crop development. Varying sowing dates can alter crop growth and the length of crop phenological phases, which affects potential grain yield and its components. Delayed sowing dates can reduce the synchronization of peak solar radiation and maximum leaf area index for the maize hybrid varieties. The most critical growth stage of maize is flowering, which affects its biomass, grain yield, and plant height.