Weed is one of the major problems in maize production. To develop an appropriate weed management practice, a field experiment was carried out during 2017 and 2018 at Khumaltar. Twelve different treatments, Pendimethalin as pre @ 1.0 kg a.i ha-1, Atrazine as pre @ 1 kg a.i ha-1, Metribuzine as pre @ 0.5 kg a.i ha-1, Tembotrione as post @ 0.2 kg a.i ha-1,  Pendimethalin followed by (fb) 1 HW, Atrazine fb 1 HW, Metribuzine fb 1 HW, Tembotrione fb 1 HW,  Atrazine + Metribuzine (early post ) as tank mixed, Straw mulch, Weed free (2 HW) and Weedy check (control) were evaluated in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experimental plot size was 12 m2 and maize variety Manakamana -4 was sown on 21 and 26 May in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The  seed rate used was 20 kg ha-1 with row spacing of 60 cm and plant to plant 20 cm. Fertilizers dose of 120:60:40 kg N:P2O5:K2O kg ha-1 was applied. Data on crop growth, weed and yields were recorded and analyzed. Weed count and biomass were recorded from a meter square quadrat and yield data taken from net plot of 5.4 m2. Results showed that plant height with straw mulch was maximum of 294 cm. Weed density was significantly influenced by different weed management treatments. Metribuzine post fb 1 HW recorded the less weeds (52.8) and highest (258.5) in weedy check. The lowest weed dry biomass was recorded in Metribuzine post fb 1 HW (9.3 g m-2). The highest grain yield (7.6 Mt ha-1) was found in Metribuzine @ 0.5 kg a.i ha-1 as post emergence. The increased in grain yield due to the application of Metribuzine @ 0.5 kg a.i ha-1 as post emergence was 32.5% over the weedy check. Similarly, the highest weed control efficiency (77.1%) and the highest BC ratio (2.46) was also recorded in Metribuzine @ 0.5 kg a.i ha-1 as post emergence.

Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on soil. Soil’s carrying capacity is being decreased these days due to erosion, depletion of soil nutrients and climate change. Regenerative agriculture is a way of farming both plants and animals that enriches and restores topsoil, and in turn, improves the water cycle. Nepal is also facing the ill effects of the conventional agriculture system. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this review article to highlight some of the alternative production systems suitable for Nepal. The findings of this review paper were about regenerative agriculture technology reduced the cost of production through minimum tillage, less use of agriculture inputs, less labor, consumption of less irrigation, maintaining soil moisture, water holding capacity and nutrient value through crop residue, crop rotation, soil cover, reduced soil erosion and run off top layer soil and increases the soil fertility through soil carbon sequestration that mitigates the climate change effects. The major constraints of regenerative agriculture are the lack of appropriate information and technologies in hand. For policymakers, farmers and food processing and marketing companies, regenerative agriculture has been an alternative production system with lower impacts on the environment. Therefore, to promote the identified and developed regenerative agricultural practices, participatory research in the farmer’s field with large-scale demonstration across the egro-ecological domains of the country.

With the aim of identifying appropriate crop establishment methods in cereals-cereals, cereals-legumes, legumes-cereals and legumes-legumes cropping patterns, an experiment was carried out during 2019/20 to 2020/21 in National Agronomy Research Centre, Khumaltar. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with 8 treatments and 3 replications. Main plot was for two tillage methods [Zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT)] and sub-plots for 4 different cropping patterns (maize-wheat, maize-lentil, soybean-wheat and soybean-lentil). In zero tillage, the soil was disturbed only along the rows for making seeding furrows and the previous crop residues were left anchored. The rest of the crop management practices were adopted as per the recommended practices. The data were analyzed using GenStat software. The results revealed that tillage treatments did not influence the winter crop yields in 2019, but in 2020, ZT recorded a significantly higher yield of wheat (4.9 Mt ha-1) compared to CT (3.4 Mt ha-1). Similarly, irrespective of crop establishment methods, pooled system yields and benefit: cost ratios were significantly influenced by various cropping patterns. The significantly higher system yield was recorded with maize-wheat (9.0 Mt ha-1) and the least with the soybean-lentil (5.2 Mt ha-1) cropping systems. Improvements in the soil properties were observed as SOM was 14% higher in ZT compared to CT. Similarly, average soil moisture and soil temperature in ZT and CT were found to be 30.2%, 27.5 °C and 28.7%, 29.4 °C, respectively. It is suggested that CA could possibly be an alternative production system for the fragile agro-ecology in the mid-hills of Nepal.

Agricultural production is due to the exploitation of soil, water and energy. The objective of this review work was to identify the yield gap of major crops viz. rice, maize, wheat, and finger millet and their causes. An attempt has been made to suggest the potential agronomical interventions that reduce the yield gaps. Rice, wheat, and finger millet yields in all agro-ecological zones are declining, although yield trends of maize were reported to have increased in the Terai due to the increased use of hybrids. The yield gap can be minimized with assured irrigation and appropriate agronomic practices such as the use of the quality seed, timely planting with appropriate establishment methods, timely intercultural operations, soil fertility, moisture, weeds, diseases, insect pests and post-harvest management along with growing high-yielding and stable genotypes resilient to climate change. It is obvious that there must be a strong interaction between plant breeding and agronomy for enhanced crop production. Therefore, some of the potential agronomical technologies that contribute to increase the crop yields thereby reduce the yield gaps have been discussed in this article.

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merril) is an important summer legume in terms of area and production in Nepal. A field experiment was conducted on the farm of National Agronomy Research Centre, Khumaltar, Lalitpur to evaluate the effect of different combination of nutrients on yield and yield component of soybean variety Tarkari Bhatamas-1. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) consisting of eight nutrient treatments. These were 30:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha (recommended dose), 30:80:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha, 50:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha, 50:80:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha, 30:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha + compost 10 ton/ha, 30:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha + Rhizobium inoculation, 30:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha + Biochar (@ 330 g/plot and Compost 20 t/ha with four replications. Results of the pooled analysis revealed that maximum grain yield (2258 kg/ha) and straw dry matter (2735 kg/ha) was obtained with the application of compost 20 t/ha followed by 30:60:30 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha + compost 10 t/ha (2007 kg/ha) and straw dry matter (2394 kg/ha). The number of nodule and nodule dry weight was not affected by different nutrient combination. The number of pods significantly differed with nutrient combinations. The three years result suggested that 20-ton compost/ha or integration of recommended dose of chemical fertilizer with 10-ton compost/ha had shown the best treatment combination for the sustainable production of soybean at Khumaltar condition.