Farmers usually grow Cucurbitaceous crops with bamboo or branches of forest tree as staking material which is not easily available and costly these days. There is also pressure on nearby forest areas. Moreover, due to irregular trailing and less duration of these trellis materials often crop growth is affected and duration of crop shortened. There is more pest and disease incidence which ultimately affects the yield.
In Ganjam district of Odisha 40% lands are upland & rice is the major crop in rainy season. However due to climatic vulnerability like late onset of monsoon, frequent dry spell, terminal moisture stress the rice crop is affected severely and yield is reduced drastically. The net profit is very less in upland rice. To manage the problem, Climate resilient crop maize has been demonstrated under RESILIENCE Project in Ganjam cluster villages in 10.0 ha area during last 03 years. Maize was grown in ridge & furrow system which increased water use efficiency by 25%.