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HighlightsConservation agriculture (CA) practice meaningfully stabilized organic carbon (OC) upto lower depth of soil.Crop intensification with nutrient exhaustive crops lowers OC stabilization in soil even after adoption of CA practice.Farmers practice of growing rice and wheat produce less yield with less storage of carbon in soil.Rice-wheat-legume crop with CA proved as most efficient in terms of crop yield, soil health and carbon sequestration.

Presently, rice-fallows are targeted for cropping intensification in South Asia. Rice-fallows a rainfed mono-cropping system remain fallow after rice due to lack of irrigation facilities and poor socioeconomic condition of the farmers. Nevertheless, there is the scope of including ecologically adaptable winter crops in water-limited rice-fallow conditions with effective moisture conservation practices. The study aimed to identify the winter-crops that are adaptable and productive in rice-fallow conditions and to evaluate the different tillage-based crop establishment practices for soil moisture conservation, grain yield, economics, and sustainability parameters. Six different crop establishment and residue management (CERM) practices viz., zero-tillage direct seeded rice (ZTDSR), zero-tillage transplanted rice (ZTTPR), puddled transplanted rice (PTR), ZTDSR with rice residue retention (ZTDSR R+), ZTTPR with rice residue retention (ZTTPR R+), PTR with rice residue retention (PTR R+) as main-plot treatment and five winter crops (chickpea, lentil, safflower, linseed, and mustard) as sub-plot treatment were evaluated in a split-plot design. The productivity of grain legumes (chickpea and lentil) was higher over oilseed crops in rice-fallow conditions with an order of chickpea > lentil > safflower > mustard > linseed. Among the CERM practices, ZTDSR R+ and ZTDSR treatments increased the grain yield of all the winter crops over PTR treatment, which was primarily attributed to higher soil moisture retention for an extended period. Grain yield increment with conservation tillage practices was highly prominent in safflower (190%) followed by lentil (93%) and chickpea (70%). Rice grain yield was higher (7-35%) under PTR treatment followed by ZTDSR treatment. Conservation tillage practices (ZTDSR, ZTTPR) reduced energy use (11-20%) and increased the energy ratio over conventional tillage practice (PTR), higher in rice-safflower, rice-lentil and rice-chickpea rotations. Higher net return was attained in rice-safflower and rice-chickpea rotations with ZTDSR R+ treatment. Predicted emission of greenhouse gases was markedly reduced in ZTDSR treatment (30%) compared to ZTTPR and PTR treatments. Hence, the study suggests that cropping intensification of rice-fallows with the inclusion of winter crops like chickpea, lentil, and safflower following conservation tillage practices (ZTDSR R+ in particular) could be the strategic options for achieving the higher system productivity, economic returns, and energy use efficiency with the reduced emission of greenhouse gases. Rice-fallows, the rainfed mono-crop production system, nowadays are gaining greater attention for cropping intensification in South Asia 1. Rice-fallow areas extended over 22.3 M ha in South Asia, having maximum acreage in India (88.3%) and remaining in Bangladesh (8.7%), Pakistan (0.5%), Sri Lanka (1.1%), Nepal (1.4%), and Bhutan (0.02%) 2. The major challenges of cropping intensification in rice-fallow areas includes lack of irrigation

Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has potential as a bioenergy crop for producing food, fiber, and fermentable sugar. Unlike dryland grain sorghum, little information is available on the influence of staggered planting and genotypes, especially in semiarid tropical environments. The objectives of the present study were (i) to quantify the effects of planting time and genotype on stalk and biomass yields, juice sugar quality, and (ii) to identify the most productive genotypes and planting windows for sustainable feedstock supply. Four commercial sweet sorghum genotypes (SSV84, SSV74, CSV19SS, and CSH22SS) were planted on five planting dates (1 June, 16 June, 1 July, 16 July, and 1 August) during the rainy (June–October) season of 2008 and 2009 in Hyderabad (17°27´ N, 78°28´ E), India. Planting in early and mid‐June produced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher fresh stalk yield and grain yield than later planting dates. Commercial hybrid CSH22SS produced significantly more stalk, grain, sugar, and ethanol yield over genotypes SSV84 or SSV74. Based on the stalk yield, juice sugar quality, sugar, and ethanol yields, the optimum planting dates for sweet sorghum in semiarid tropical climate is early June to early July. Planting sweet sorghum during this time allows more feedstock to be harvested and hence extends the period for sugar mill operation by about 1 mo, that is, from the first to the last week of October.