Keynote Speaker
Dr. U. Surendran
Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), Kozhikode, Kerala, IndiaSpeech Title: Crop yield forecasting under changing climatic scenario and evolving suitable land and water management strategies
Abstract: In India, it is crucial to have precise and reliable data regarding the area and yield of field crops to aid in national and state planning and maintain food security. The utilization of satellite-based remote sensing is a viable and economical approach to monitoring crops at both regional and national levels. Paddy is one of the major crops cultivated in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India. The fertile soil and abundant water resources in Palakkad make it an ideal location for growing different varieties of paddy.The use of modern farming equipment and irrigation techniques has also helped to increase the yield of paddy in Palakkad. Overall, paddy cultivation plays a vital role in the economy of Palakkad, providing a source of livelihood for many farmers and contributing to the local food supply. The objective of this study is to estimate the paddy crop yield forecasting using remote sensing in the Palakkad district, Kerala. Methodology adopted is by using satellite imageries for estimating various parameters such as vegetation indices, biomass, and chlorophyll content, which are related to paddy yield. Initially, a rice area map has been developed for yield estimation in Palakkad, for which the season Mundakkan was chosen for the year2020. In the Palakkad district, the total area of rice cultivation that was classified amounted to 62,987 hectares. A semi-physical approach was utilized to calculate the net primary product, taking into account the periodic PAR, fAPAR, Wstress, Tstress, and maximum radiation use efficiency. The yield estimation of paddy in the Mundakkan season from January to May of 2020,showed that the rice grain yield for Palakkad district ranged from 1000 to3000kg/ha. This was compared with the observed yield based on the agricultural statistics reportof Palakkad and found that it was comparable. Similarly for future climate scenarios also yield has been predicted and found that in most of the cases, the yield tends to decline. Besides, suitable management strategies were also discussed to sustain the crop productivity
Biography: Dr. U Surendran, is a Principal Scientist and Head, Land and Water Management Research Group, of Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), having more than fifteen years of professional research experience in climate change and its impact in agriculture, agricultural water management, Precision Farming with drip fertigation, crop simulation modelling, nutrient budgeting, salinity management and soil fertility management as main components. He has developed irrigation requirement package for crops such as coconut, pepper, arecanut and vegetables and few of them has been accepted as a technology by Kerala Agricultural University for dissemination to farmers. Currently he is focusing onclimate change impact assessment on agricultural crops, and identifying the best management practices for improving the crop productivity and profitability to the farmers. He has more than 70peer reviewed research articles and 5 Books with a Scopus h-index of 12. Currently serves as handling Editor in Scientific Reports- Nature Publishing Group and Associate Editor / Editorial Board member in journals like agricultural water management, Journal of Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, International Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and also reviewer of different scientific journals of Elsevier, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Nature Publishing group. Besides, he has a good know- how and field experience on drought management, problem soil management micro irrigations systems and has closely monitored about 4000 acres (for sugarcane, Coconut, vegetables etc) with drip, sprinkler and low cost drip irrigation techniques, starting from design, lay out, fertigation scheduling and maintenance of the system in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.