•Higher system productivity and efficiency possible through conservation agriculture.•Zero-till cereal system had superior performance than the conventional-till.•Maize is a potential substitute of ...rice in areas with shortages of labor and water.•Avoiding puddling and residue retention in rice saves 30% water with no yield loss.•Conservation agriculture had cumulative and likely long-term benefits.
Increasing scarcity of resources (labour, water, and energy) and cost of production, along with climate variability, are major challenges for the sustainability of rice–wheat system in the northwesten Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). We hypothesized that adopting the principles of conservation agriculture together with best crop management practices would improve system productivity and overall efficiency, resulting in a higher profitability. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the performance of four cropping system scenarios (treatments), which were designed to be adapted to current and future drivers of agricultural changes. The treatments including farmers practices varied in tillage and crop establishment methods, residue management, crop sequence, and crop management. Zero-tillage direct-seeded rice (ZT-DSR) with residue retention and best management practices provided equivalent or higher yield and 30–50% lower irrigation water use than those of farmer-managed puddled transplanted rice (CT-TPR). Overall, net economic returns increased up to 79% with a net reduction in production cost of up to US$ 55ha−1 in ZT-DSR than CT-TPR. Substituting rice with ZT maize was equally profitable but with 88–95% less irrigation water use. Avoiding puddling in rice and dry tillage in maize with residue retention increased yield (by 0.5–1.2tha−1) and net economic returns of the succeeding wheat crop. Inclusion of mungbean in the rotation further increased system productivity and economic returns. In summary, our initial results of 2-year field study showed positive effects of CA-based improved management practices on yield and system efficiencies with greater benefits in the second year. There is a need of longer term monitoring to quantify cumulative effects of various interventions and to eventually make recommendations for wider dissemination.
Abstract
Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) of South Asia have supported bulk of human and bovine population in the region since ages, and a spectacular progress has been made in food production. However, ...malnutrition, diminishing total factor productivity, and natural resource degradation continue to plague this cereal-dominated region, which is also vulnerable to climate change. Addressing these challenges would require a transition towards diversifying cereal rotations with agroecological cropping systems. A study was, therefore, conducted at the experimental farm of ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal on crop diversification and sustainable intensification options using agro-ecological approaches such as Conservation Agriculture (CA) and diversified cropping systems to ensure food and nutritional security while sustaining the natural resources. On 2 years mean basis, CA-based cropping system management scenarios (mean of Sc2–Sc7) using diversified crop rotations; increased the system yield by 15.4%, net return by 28.7%, protein yield by 29.7%, while using 53.0% less irrigation water compared to conventional tillage (CT)-based rice–wheat system (Sc1). Maize-mustard-mungbean on permanent beds (PBs) (Sc4) recorded the highest productivity (+ 40.7%), profitability (+ 60.1%), and saved 81.8% irrigation water compared to Sc1 (11.8 Mg ha
−1
; 2190 USD ha
−1
; 2514 mm ha
−1
). Similarly, Sc5 (maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs) improved productivity (+ 32.2%), profitability (+ 57.4%) and saved irrigation water (75.5%) compared to Sc1. In terms of nutritional value, Sc5 was more balanced than other scenarios, and produced 43.8, 27.5 and 259.8% higher protein, carbohydrate and fat yields, respectively, compared to Sc1 (0.93, 8.55 and 0.14 Mg ha
−1
). Scenario 5 was able to meet the nutrient demand of 19, 23 and 32 additional persons ha
−1
year
−1
with respect to protein, carbohydrate and fat, respectively, compared to Sc1. The highest protein water productivity (~ 0.31 kg protein m
−3
water) was recorded with CA-based soybean-wheat-mungbean (Sc6) system followed by maize-mustard-mungbean on PBs (Sc4) system (~ 0.29 kg protein m
−3
) and lowest under Sc1. Integration of short duration legume (mungbean) improved the system productivity by 17.2% and profitability by 32.1%, while triple gains in irrigation water productivity compared to CT-based systems. In western IGP, maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs was found most productive, profitable and nutritionally rich and efficient system compared to other systems. Therefore, diversification of water intensive cereal rotations with inclusion of legumes and CA-based management optimization can be potential option to ensure nutritious food for the dwelling communities and sustainability of natural resources in the region.
Disposal of paddy residue has turn out to be a huge problem in north-west Indian states, resulting farmers prefer to burn the residues in-situ. Paddy residue management is of utmost important as it ...contains plant nutrients and improves the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum. Burning biomass not only pollutes environment and results in loss of appreciable amount of plant essential nutrients. The objectives of the review paper is to access the amount of residue generation, its utilization in-situ and ex-situ, emphasize harmful effects of residue burning on human health, soil health and environment of north-west states of India specially in Punjab and Haryana. This paper also discusses the possible strategies, financial and socio-economic evaluation of the paddy residue management technologies and accentuates the assessment of range of potential policy instruments which would offer avenues for sustainable agriculture and environment. Timely availability of conservation agriculture (CA) machinery is of utmost significance to manage the paddy residues in-situ. Collection and transportation of voluminous mass of paddy residue is cumbersome, therefore, ex-situ residue management is still not an economically viable option. The agricultural waste opens vivid options for its versatile usage and is possible if residue is collected and managed properly. It is a prerequisite for surplus residues to be used for CA. There is an urge to create awareness among farming communities to incline them to understand importance of crop residues in CA for sustainability and resilience of Indian agriculture.
To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, India imposed a national lockdown at the end of March 2020, a decision that resulted in a massive reverse migration as many workers across economic sectors returned ...to their home regions. Migrants provide the foundations of the agricultural workforce in the ‘breadbasket’ states of Punjab and Haryana in Northwest India.There are mounting concerns that near and potentially longer-term reductions in labor availability may jeopardize agricultural production and consequently national food security. The timing of rice transplanting at the beginning of the summer monsoon season has a cascading influence on productivity of the entire rice-wheat cropping system. To assess the potential for COVID-related reductions in the agriculture workforce to disrupt production of the dominant rice-wheat cropping pattern in these states, we use a spatial ex ante modelling framework to evaluate four scenarios representing a range of plausible labor constraints on the timing of rice transplanting. Averaged over both states, results suggest that rice productivity losses under all delay scenarios would be low as compare to those for wheat, with total system productivity loss estimates ranging from 9%, to 21%, equivalent to economic losses of USD $674 m to $1.48 billion. Late rice transplanting and harvesting can also aggravate winter air pollution with concomitant health risks. Technological options such as direct seeded rice, staggered nursery transplanting, and crop diversification away from rice can help address these challenges but require new approaches to policy and incentives for change.
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•An ex-ante analysis was done using geospatial tools on potential effect of labour shortage on rice-wheat system.•Food grain production loss due to labor shortage can be 23% from current levels of production.•Residue burning will exacerbate air pollution in winter and could coincide with an anticipated COVID resurgence in the fall.•India needs new strategies to use available technological and management innovations to address emerging constraints.
•Enrichment in soil organic carbon was observed under ZT diversified cropping system.•Conservation agriculture improved aggregate indices.•ZT and crop diversification improved particulate and ...aggregate associated carbon.•Conservation agriculture showed higher system productivity.
Intensive tillage based management practices are threatening soil quality and systems sustainability in the rice-wheat belt of Northwest India. Furthermore, it is accentuated with puddling of soil, which disrupts soil aggregates. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices involving zero tillage, crop residue management and suitable crop rotation can serve as better alternative to conventional agriculture for maintaining soil quality. Soil organic carbon is an important determinant of soil quality, playing critical role in food production, mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as performs many ecosystem functions. To understand the turnover of soil carbon in different forms (Total organic carbon-TOC; aggregate associated carbon-AAC; particulate organic carbon- POC), soil aggregation and crop productivity with different management practices, one conventional agriculture based scenario and three CA based crop management scenarios namely conventional rice-wheat system (Sc1), partial CA based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc2), full CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc3) and maize-wheat-mungbean system (Sc4) were evaluated. TOC was increased by 71%, 68% and 25% after 4 years of the experiment and 75%, 80% and 38% after 6 years of the experiment in Sc4, Sc3 and Sc2, respectively, over Sc1 at 0–15 cm soil depth. After 4 years of the experiment, 38.5% and 5.0% and after 6 years 50.8% and 24.4% improvement in total water stable aggregates at 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil depth, respectively was observed in CA-based scenarios over Sc1. Higher aggregate indices were associated with Sc3 at 0–15 cm soil depth than others. Among the size classes of aggregates, highest aggregate associated C (8.94 g kg−1) was retained in the 1-0.5 mm size class under CA-based scenarios. After 6 years, higher POC was associated with Sc4 (116%). CA-based rice/maize system (Sc3 and Sc4) showed higher productivity than Sc1. Therefore, CA could be a potential management practice in rice-wheat cropping system of Northwest India to improve the soil carbon pools through maintaining soil aggregation and productivity.
Farmer profit can be increased and air quality improved
Although intentional use of fires to transform land has decreased globally (
1
,
2
), particularly among highly capitalized countries through ...regulatory and market-oriented approaches and moral suasion, regulatory strategies have been less effective in southern and eastern Asia (see table S21). Some densely populated agricultural regions in China and India buck the global trend, showing increases in agricultural fires (
2
). This is particularly true in northwestern India, where rice residue burning makes a substantial contribution to air pollution and short-lived climate pollutants (
3
,
4
). Regulations are in place to reduce agricultural fires, but burning continues because of uncertainty regarding policy implementation and regarding access and returns to alternative technologies. With the field burning season soon upon us, we synthesize emerging evidence on alternatives to burning, clarify the business case for alternative practices, identify remaining uncertainties, and discuss approaches to increase their widespread adoption. Often, there are difficult trade-offs between environmental improvement and profitable economic opportunities. The case of crop residue management in northwestern India does not appear to fit this pattern and provides lessons that may be useful elsewhere.
Agricultural field experiments are costly and time-consuming, and often struggling to capture spatial and temporal variability. Mechanistic crop growth models offer a solution to understand intricate ...crop-soil-weather system, aiding farm-level management decisions throughout the growing season. The objective of this study was to calibrate and the Crop Environment Resource Synthesis CERES-Maize (DSSAT v 4.8) model to simulate crop growth, yield, and nitrogen dynamics in a long-term conservation agriculture (CA) based maize system. The model was also used to investigate the relationship between, temperature, nitrate and ammoniacal concentration in soil, and nitrogen uptake by the crop. Additionally, the study explored the impact of contrasting tillage practices and fertilizer nitrogen management options on maize yields. Using field data from 2019 and 2020, the DSSAT-CERES-Maize model was calibrated for plant growth stages, leaf area index-LAI, biomass, and yield. Data from 2021 were used to evaluate the model's performance. The treatments consisted of four nitrogen management options, viz., N0 (without nitrogen), N150 (150 kg N/ha through urea), GS (Green seeker-based urea application) and USG (urea super granules @150kg N/ha) in two contrasting tillage systems, i.e., CA-based zero tillage-ZT and conventional tillage-CT. The model accurately simulated maize cultivar's anthesis and physiological maturity, with observed value falling within 5% of the model's predictions range. LAI predictions by the model aligned well with measured values (RMSE 0.57 and nRMSE 10.33%), with a 14.6% prediction error at 60 days. The simulated grain yields generally matched with measured values (with prediction error ranging from 0 to 3%), except for plots without nitrogen application, where the model overestimated yields by 9-16%. The study also demonstrated the model's ability to accurately capture soil nitrate-N levels (RMSE 12.63 kg/ha and nRMSE 12.84%). The study concludes that the DSSAT-CERES-Maize model accurately assessed the impacts of tillage and nitrogen management practices on maize crop's growth, yield, and soil nitrogen dynamics. By providing reliable simulations during the growing season, this modelling approach can facilitate better planning and more efficient resource management. Future research should focus on expanding the model's capabilities and improving its predictions further.
Given the increasing scarcity of production resources such as water, energy and labour coupled with growing climatic risks, maize-based production systems could be potential alternatives to intensive ...rice-wheat (RW) rotation in western Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Conservation agriculture (CA) in maize systems has been widely promoted for minimizing soil degradation and ensuring sustainability under emerging climate change scenario. Such practices are also believed to provide mitigation co–benefits through reduced GHG emission and increased soil carbon sequestration. However, the combined effects of diversified crop rotations and CA-based management on GHG mitigation potential and other co-benefits are generally over looked and hence warrant greater attention. A field trial was conducted for 5–years to assess the changes in soil organic carbon fractions, mineral–N, N2O emission and global warming potential (GWP) of maize-based production systems under different tillage & crop establishment methods. Four diversified cropping systems i.e. maize–wheat–mungbean (MWMb), maize–chickpea–Sesbania (MCS), maize–mustard–mungbean (MMuMb) and maize–maize–Sesbania (MMS) were factorially combined with three tillage & crop establishment methods i.e. zero tilled permanent beds (PB), zero–tillage flat (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) in a split–plot design. After 5–years of continued experimentation, we recorded that across the soil depths, SOC content, its pools and mineral-N fractions were greatly affected by tillage & crop establishment methods and cropping systems. ZT and PB increased SOC stock (0–30 cm depth) by 7.22–7.23 Mg C ha−1 whereas CT system increased it only by 0.88 Mg C ha−1as compared to initial value. Several researchers reported that SOC & mineral–N fraction contents in the top 30 cm soil depth are correlated with N2O–N emission. In our study, global warming potential (GWP) under CT system was higher by 18.1 and 17.4%, compared to CA-based ZT and PB, respectively. Among various maize systems, GWP of MMS were higher by 11.2, 6.7 and 6.6%, compared that of MWMb (1212 kg CO2–eq. ha−1), MCS (1274 kg CO2–eq. ha−1) and MMuMb (1275 kg CO2–eq. ha−1), respectively. The results of our study suggest that CA and diversified crop rotations should be promoted in north-western IGP and other similar agro-ecologies across the globe for ensuring food security, restoration of soil health and climate change mitigation, the key sustainable development goals (SDGs).
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•Soil C fractions and N dynamics and N2O emissions from different tillage and diversified cropping systems were analysed.•The mass equivalent SOC stock and mineral-N fractions increased dramatically in CA practices.•Greater N2O fluxes occurred in CT than CA based systems.•The higher SOC and mineral-N, with lower N2O fluxes were found in MWMb and MCS than in MMS cropping system.
Abstract
In water scarce regions of South Asia, diversification of rice with maize is being advocated towards sustainability of cereal-based cropping systems. Adoption of innovative agronomic ...management practices, i.e., conservation agriculture (CA) and sub-surface drip irrigation (SSDI) are considered as key strategies for much needed interventions to address the challenges of water scarcity under projected climate change. Benefits from CA and SSDI concerning water economy are well-established, however, information about their complementarity and water budgeting in cereal-based systems are lacking. A field study was conducted with process-based model (HYDRUS-2D) to understand water transport, root water uptake and components of soil water balance in maize grown in rotation with wheat after five years of continuous adoption of conservation agriculture. In this study, altogether eight treatments comprising of 6 CA+ treatments (CA coupled with SSDI); permanent beds using sub-surface drip (PB-SSD) with (WR) and without (WOR) crop residue at different N rates, 0, 120 and 150 kg N ha
−1
were compared with CA (PB using furrow irrigation-FI with crop residue-120 kg N ha
−1
) and conventional tillage practices (CT) (CT using FI without crop residue-120 kg N ha
−1
). Results showed that the model could simulate the daily changes in profile soil water content with reasonable accuracy in all the treatments. Simulated soil water balance indicated higher cumulative root water uptake (CRWU), lower cumulative evaporation (CE) and higher soil water retention in CA+ (PB-SSD+ crop residue at 150 and 120 kg N ha
−1
) than CA and CT plots. Hydrus-2D model efficiency > 0, RMSE between 0.009–0.026 and R
2
value between 0.80–0.92 at
P
< 0.01 indicates that the model is performing efficiently. The mean evaporation from CA+ treatments was 10 and 36% less than CA and CT treatments, respectively. On average, CRWU under CA+ treatments were 14–48% higher than FI treatments. The mean cumulative deep drainage in CA+ plots was 80–100 mm less than CA and CT plots. In CA+ based plots significantly higher biomass production and radiation use efficiency were observed with reduced water use than CA and CT. Therefore, the study justifies the water-saving nature of CA+, while maintaining higher productivity and meeting the transpiration demand of crops and halting unnecessary evaporation and deep drainage losses.
Intensive tillage operations, indiscriminate use of irrigation water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides and crop biomass burning have made the conventional rice-wheat (RW) system highly ...energy-intensive and inefficient. In the recent past, portfolios of climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAP) have been promoted as a potential alternative to improve the energy efficiency in conventional RW system. Therefore, to evaluate the energy input-output relation, energy flow and economic efficiency in various combinations of crop management options, a 3-year (2014-2017) on-farm study was conducted at Karnal, India. Various portfolio of management practices; Sc1-Business as usual (BAU) or Conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-Reduce tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/Zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, Sc6-Sc5 + Nutrient expert were investigated. Present study results revealed that net energy, energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 11-18, 31-51 and 29-53% higher under CSAP (mean of Sc4, Sc5 and Sc6) in RW system than Sc1, respectively. However, renewable and non-renewable energy inputs were 14 and 33% higher in Sc1 compared to CSAP (4028 and 49,547 MJ ha
), respectively, it showed that BAU practices mostly dependents on non-renewable energy sources whereas CSAP dependents on renewable energy sources. Similarly, the adoption of CSAP improved the biomass yield, net farm income and economic efficiency by 6-9, 18-23 and 42-58%, respectively compared to Sc1. Overall, the adoption of CSAP could be a viable alternative for improving energy use efficiency, farm profitability and eco-efficiency in the RW system.
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