The following conditions apply to the five crops considered:
Barley is grown for dry grain production from day-length neutral cultivars.
Oat is grown from dry grain production from day-length neutral cultivars.
Cowpea is grown for dry grain production from early to medium duration cultivars of determinate growth habit (i.e. upright and semi-upright or bunch types).
Green gram is grown for dry grain production.
Pigeonpea is grown for dry grain production from medium duration cultivars in the range 130 to 190 days to maturity.
The crops are considered at three levels of inputs, a low an intermediate and a high. The attributes of the two input level production circumstances are listed in Table 4.1, and form the basis of the definition of the land utilization types employed in the assessment of the agro-climatic and agro-edaphic suitabilities.
TABLE 4.1
Attributes of land utilization types
| Attribute | Low inputs | Intermediate inputs | High inputs |
| Produce and production | Rainfed cultivation of barley, maize, oat, pearl millet, dryland rice, wetland rice, sorghum, wheat, cowpea, green gram, groundnut, Phaseolus bean, pigeon pea, soybean, cassava, sweet potato, white potato, banana, oil palm and sugarcane. Sole and multiple cropping of crops only in appropriate cropping patterns and rotations. | ||
| Market orientation | Subsistence production | Subsistence production plus commercial sale of surplus | Commercial production |
| Capital intensity | Low | Intermediate with High credit on accessible terms | |
| Labour intensity | High, including uncosted family labour | Medium, including uncosted family labour | Low, family costed if used |
| Power source | Manual labour with animal traction with | Manual labour with hand tools hand tools and/or animal traction with improved implements; some mechanization | Complete mechanization including harvesting |
| Technology | Traditional cultivars. No fertilizer or chemical pest, disease and weed control. Fallow periods Minimum conservation measures | Improved cultivars as available.Appropriate extension packages including some fertilizer application and some chemical pest, disease and weedcontrol. Some fallow periods and some conservation measures | High yielding cultivars including hybrids. Optimum fertilizer application. Chemical pest, disease and weed control.Full conservation measures |
| Infrastructure | Market accessibility not necessary Inadequate advisory services | Some market accessibility necessary with access to demonstration plots and services | Market accessibility essential. High level of advisory services land application of research findings |
| Land holding | Small, fragmented | Small, sometimes fragmented | Large, consolidated |
| Income level | Low | Moderate | High |
Note. No production involving irrigation or other techniques using additional water. No flood control measures.
