Agricultural Reviews

  • Chief EditorPradeep K. Sharma

  • Print ISSN 0253-1496

  • Online ISSN 0976-0741

  • NAAS Rating 4.84

Frequency :
Quarterly (March, June, September & December)
Indexing Services :
AGRICOLA, Google Scholar, CrossRef, CAB Abstracting Journals, Chemical Abstracts, Indian Science Abstracts, EBSCO Indexing Services, Index Copernicus
Agricultural Reviews, volume 43 issue 2 (june 2022) : 211-216

Bio-irrigation: A Drought Alleviation Strategy through Induced Hydro-parasitization under Bi-cropping Practices of Rainfed Agro-ecosystem: A Review

R. Mohan Kumar, Yamanura, B. Boraiah
1All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Castor, Zonal Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore-560 065, Karnataka, India.
Cite article:- Kumar Mohan R., Yamanura, Boraiah B. (2022). Bio-irrigation: A Drought Alleviation Strategy through Induced Hydro-parasitization under Bi-cropping Practices of Rainfed Agro-ecosystem: A Review. Agricultural Reviews. 43(2): 211-216. doi: 10.18805/ag.R-2139.
Exploring ecosystem services for environment sustainability is the trending area of research in the field of natural resource management (NRM). Water is an important entity of agro-ecosystem, dryland agriculture greatly suffers due to want of moisture. Bi-cropping is one practice where different crops are grown in proximity to realize various benefits under uncertainties of dryland agriculture. Literacy among multifarious benefits of bi-cropping over monoculture is fairly rich among the researchers as well as growers. However, bio-irrigation is one such co-benefits which address about drought alleviating strategies under bi-cropping practice. In this technique, deep rooted plants suck up water from deep moist sub-soil and deposit part of that sucked water in the upper dry soil layers due to water potential gradient, during this hydraulic lift and redistribution shallow rooted neighboring crops in close proximity gets due benefits of this lifted water in alleviating drought. This is high time to device cropping systems of water limited environment to unlock the potentiality of dryland production units. Based on the published studies Piliostigma reticulatum, Guiera senegalensis, Panicum maximum, Festuca arundinacea and Cajanus cajan were identified as potential bio-irrigator arid agro-ecosystem.
  1. Armstrong, E., Pate, J., Tennant, D. (1994). The field pea crop in south western Australia-patterns of water use and root growth in genotypes of contrasting morphology and growth habit. Funct. Plant Biol. 21. 517-532. 
  2. Bargués Tobella, A., Hasselquist, N.J., Bazié, H.R., Nyberg, G., Laudon, H., Bayala, J., Ilstedt, U. (2017). Strategies trees use to overcome seasonal water limitation in an agroforestry system in semiarid West Africa. Ecohydrology. 10: e1808.https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1808. 
  3. Bayala, J. and Prieto, I. (2019). Water acquisition, sharing and redistribution by roots: applications to agroforestry systems. Plant Soil, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04173-z.
  4. Bogie, N.A., Bayala, R., Diedhiou, I., Dick, R.P. and Ghezzehei, T.A. (2019). Intercropping with two native woody shrubs improves water status and development of interplanted groundnut and pearl millet in the Sahel. Plant Soil. 435: 143-159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3882-4. 
  5. Canadell, J., Jackson, R.B., Ehleringer, J.B., Mooney, H.A., Sala, O.E., Schulze, E.D. (1996). Maximum rooting depth of vegetation types at the global scale. Oecologia. 108: 583-595. 
  6. Carminati, A., Moradi, A.B., Vetterlein, D., Vontobel, P., Lehmann, E., Weller, U., Vogel, J.H., Oswald, E.S. (2010). Dynamics of soil water content in the rhizosphere. Plant Soil. 332: 163-176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0283-8.
  7. Diakhate, S., Gueye, M., Chevallier, T., Diallo, N.H., Assigbetse, K., Abadie, J., Diouf, M., Masse, D., Sembenee, M., Ndour, Y.B., Dick, R.P., Chapuis-Lardy, L. (2016). Soil microbial functional capacity and diversity in a millet-shrub intercropping system of semi-arid Senegal. Journal of Arid Environments. 129, 71e79 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.01. 010.
  8. Ferrufino, A., Smyth, T.J., Israel, W.D. and Carter, E.T. (2000). Root Elongation of Soybean Genotypes in Response to Acidity Constraints in a Subsurface Solution Compartment. Crop Sci. 40: 413-421.
  9. Garland, G., Bünemann, E.K., Oberson, A., Frossard, E. and Six, J. (2016). Plant-mediated rhizospheric interactions in maize-pigeon pea intercropping enhance soil aggregation and organic phosphorus storage. Plant Soil. 415: 37-55. doi: 10.1007/s11104-016-3145-1.
  10. Gomiero, T. (2016). Soil Degradation, Land Scarcity and Food Security: Reviewing a Complex Challenge. Sustainability. 8, 281; doi: 10.3390/su8030281.
  11. Gregory, P.J. (1998). Alternative crops for duplex soils: growth and water use ofsome cereal, legume and oilseed crops and pastures. Aust. J. Agr. Res. 49: 21-32. 
  12. Hiremath, S.M., Kumar, R.M. and Gaddi, K.A. (2016). Influence of balanced nutrition on productivity, economics and nutrient uptake of hybrid maize (Zea mays)-chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cropping sequence under irrigated ecosystem. Indian Journal of Agronomy. 61(3): 292-296. 
  13. Kashiwagi, J., Krishnamurthy, L., Crouch, J.H. and Serraj, R. (2006). Variability of root length density and its contributions to seed yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under terminal drought stress. Field Crops Research. 95: 171-181.
  14. Kizito, F., Dragila, M.I., Senè, M., Brooks, J.R., Meinzer, F.C., Diedhiou, I., Diouf, M., Lufafa, A., Dick, R.P., Selker, J., Cuenca, R. (2012). Hydraulic redistribution by two semi-arid shrub species: implications for Sahelian agro-ecosystems. J. Arid Environ. 83: 69-77.
  15. Kizito, F., Sène, M., Dragila, M., Lufafa, A., Diedhiou, I., Dossa, E., Cuenca, R., Selker, J., Dick, R., Sene, M., Dragila, M., Lufafa, A., Diedhiou, I., Dossa, E., Cuenca, R., Selker, J., Dick, R. (2007). Soil water balance of annual crop native shrub systems in Senegal’s Peanut Basin: the missing link. Agric Water Manag. 90(1-2): 137-148. 
  16. Kumar, R.M. and Girijesh, G.K. (2015). Yield potential, biological feasibility, economic viability of maize (Zea mays L.) and local field bean (Dolichos lablab L.) intercropping system in southern transitional zone of Karnataka. Res. Environ. Life Sci. 8(1): 27-30. 
  17. Kumar, S., Subhash, N., Shivani, Singh S.S. and Dey, A. (2013). Evaluation of different components under Integrated farming system (IFS) for small and marginal farmers under semihumid climatic environment. Experimental Agriculture. 48(3): 399-413.
  18. Kuyah, S., Öborn, I., Jonsson, M., Dahlin, S.A., Barrios, E., Muthuri, C., Malmer, A., Nyaga, J., Magaju, C., Namirembe, S., Nyberg, Y., Sinclair, F.L. (2016). Trees in agricultural landscapes enhance provision of ecosystem services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Int. J. Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manag. 12(4): 255-273.
  19. Liste, H.H. and White, J.C. (2008). Plant hydraulic lift of soil water-implications for crop production and land restoration. Plant and Soil. 313: 1-17.doi:10.1007/s11104-008-9696z
  20. Maitra, S., Ghosh, D.C., Sounda, G., Jana, P.K. and Roy, D.K. (2000). Productivity, competition and economics of intercropping legumes in finger millet (Eleusine coracana) at different fertility levels. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 70: 824-828.
  21. Mallikarjun, B.G., Koppalkar, B.K., Desai, M.A., Basavanneppa, K., Narayana Rao and Mahadev Swamy. (2018). Performance of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) Intercropping as Influenced by Row Ratios and Nutri Cereal Crops. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci. 7(06): 2653-2658. doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.706.314. 
  22. Mavhura, E., Manatsa, D. and Mushore, T. (2015). ‘Adaptation to drought in arid and semi-arid environments: Case of the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe’, Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies. 7(1): Art. #144, 7 pages. http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v7i1.144. 
  23. Metselaar, K., Versace, L.V. and Feddes, A.R. (2009). Root-depth profiles of important agricultural crops. International Symposium “Root Research and Applications” RootRAP, 2-4 September, Boku-Vienna, Austria pp-1-5. 
  24. Mohinder Singh, M., Tiwari, N.K., Naveen Kumar, Dabur, K.R. and Dehinwal, A.K. (2017). Dry and Rainfed Agriculture- Characteristics and Issues to Enhance the Prosperity of Indian Farming Community. Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci. 6: 32-38. 
  25. Ngigi, S.N., (2018). Towards Optimizing the Performance and Cost-Effectiveness of Farm Pond Technology for Small-Scale Irrigation in Semi-arid Farming Systems. In: Rain water-Smart Agriculture in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas. [Leal Filho W., de Trincheria Gomez J. (eds)] Springer, Cham., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66239-8_4. 
  26. Nicola, D., Cannon, Donwell Ma Kamalongo and John S. Conway (2020). The effect of bi-cropping wheat (Triticum aestivum) and beans (Vicia faba) on forage yield and weed competition, Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. 36(1): 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/01448765.2019.1636717. 
  27. Padhi, A.K., Panigrahi, R.K. and Jena, B.K. (2010). Effect of planting geometry and duration of intercrops on performance of pigeonpea-finger millet intercropping systems. Indian J. Agric. Res. 44: 43-47. 
  28. Prieto, I., Kikvidze, Z., Pugnaire, F.I. (2010). Hydraulic lift: soil processes and transpiration in the Mediterranean leguminous shrub Retama sphaerocarpa (L.) Boiss. Plant Soil. 329: 447-456.
  29. Rostamza, M. Richards, R.A. and Watt, M. (2013). Response of millet and sorghum to a varying water supply around the primary and nodal roots. Annals of Botany. 112: 439-446, doi:10.1093/aob/mct099. 
  30. Saharan, K., Schütz, L., Kahmen, A., Wiemken, A., Boller, T. and Mathimaran, N. (2018). Finger millet growth and nutrient uptake is improved in intercropping with pigeon pea through “Biofertilization” and “Bioirrigation” mediated by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Front. Environ. Sci. 6: 46. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2018.00046.
  31. Sekiya, N. and Yano, K. (2004). Do pigeon pea and sesbania supply groundwater to intercropped maize through hydraulic lift? Hydrogen stable isotope investigation of xylem waters. Field Crops Res. 86: 167-173. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2003. 08.007.
  32. Sekiya, N., Araki, H. and Yano, K. (2011). Applying hydraulic lift in an agroecosystem: forage plants with shoots removed supply water to neighboring vegetable crops. Plant Soil. 341: 39-50 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0581-1. 
  33. Singh, D., Mathimaran, N., Boller, T., Kahmen, A. (2020). Deep-rooted pigeon pea promotes the water relations and survival of shallow-rooted finger millet during drought-Despite strong competitive interactions at ambient water availability. PLoS ONE, 15(2): e0228993. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228993. 
  34. Singh, M., Tiwari, N.K. Naveen Kumar, Dabur K.R. and Dehinwal A.K. (2017). Dry and rainfed agricultur-Characteristics and issues to enhance the prosperity of indian farming community. Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci. 6: 32-38.
  35. Varshney, R.K., et al. (eds.), (2017). The Pigeonpea Genome, Compendium of Plant Genomes, Springer International Publishing AG, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-63797-6-3. 
  36. Vijayan, R. (2016). Dryland agriculture in India- Problems and solutions. Asian J. Environ. Sci. 11(2): 171-177. DOI: 10.15740/HAS/AJES/11.2/171-177.
  37. Wilkson Makumba, W., Akinnifesi, K.F. and Janssen, H.B. (2009). Spatial rooting patterns of gliricidia, pigeon pea and maize intercrops and effect on profile soil N and P distribution in southern Malawi. African Journal of Agricultural Research. 4(4): 278-288.
  38. Zhang, H., Turner, N.C., Poole, M.L. (2004). Yield of wheat and canola in the high rainfall zone of south-western Australia in years with and without a transient perched water table. Aust. J. Agr. Res. 55: 461-470. 

Editorial Board

View all ()