Uttarakhand

The state has 0.8 million ha of cultivated area constituting 16% of total geographical area. Over 55% of cultivated area is rainfed with frequent moisture stress to crops. The soils are low to medium in fertility status. The important crops are rice, wheat, fingermillet and maize. Suggested interventions for natural resource management for agriculture in the state are as follows:

� Zero tillage in wheat in tarai region on 0.5 million ha area to produce additional 1.2 million tonnes

  of wheat/ annum along with saving of Rs 125 crore

� Site-specific nutrient management on 0.5 million ha in rice-wheat to provide additional 1.25

  million tonnes of foodgrains/annum

� Inclusion of summer greengram in rice-wheat on one lakh ha to produce 8 lakh tonnes of pulses

  and to improve soil health

� Vermicomposting by utilizing forest and agricultural biomass

Rice

The state has 0.3 million ha under rice cultivation which covers irrigated and rainfed hill rice areas. The current state average productivity is about 2 tonnes/ha and the major constraints in production are unsustainable intensive rice-wheat production systems in tarai areas, decreasing organic carbon content in soils, imbalanced fertilizer use, biotic stresses due to weeds, bacterial leaf blight, stem borer (tarai) and blast (hill area). The suitable interventions are:

� Growing hybrids, Pant Sankar Dhan 1, Pant Sankar Dhan 3, Narendra Sankar Dhan 2, KRH 2,

  DRRH 2 in Tarai region

� Growing of scented rice hybrids Pusa RH 10 and basmati varieties

� Growing blast tolerant varieties, VL Dhan 39, Pant Dhan 16 in hilly areas

� Growing of improved Pusa Basmati 1 for bacterial blight tolerance

Wheat

Uttarakhand consists of hilly tracts as well as tarai areas where wheat is an important crop during rabi. It has a contribution of 1.51% towards national production from 1.07 % of wheat-growing area of the country with a productivity of 1.9 tonnes/ha. This is due to the fact that wheat in hills is mainly rainfed as compared to irrigated crop in the tarai. The total area under wheat is 0.4 million ha, with a total production of 0.8 tonnes and productivity of 1.9 tonnes/ha, over the last five years. The constraints are water scarcity in hills and Tarai areas, low soil organic carbon status, high nutrient mining, imbalanced fertilization, and infestation of powdery mildew and Karnal bunt diseases. Suitable technological interventions are: