Rice-wheat is the most commonly employed cropping system on around 14 million hectares of land extending across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The IGP region covers the South Asian countries of Pakistan (2.2 million ha), India (10.5 million ha), Nepal (0.5 million ha) and Bangladesh (0.8 million ha). The major challenge facing the IGP's rice-wheat cropping system is to sustain long-term productivity. This system has a pivotal role in the food security and livelihoods of millions of farmers and workers of populous countries such as India, particularly in central Uttar Pradesh. The system's productivity and economic gains have been consistently decreasing, mainly because of the delayed sowing of wheat after the rice harvest and the fatigued soil condition. The region's farmers lose valuable time for pre-sowing irrigation and field preparation due to the gap of two to three weeks between the harvesting of rice and the planting of wheat. If wheat sowing is delayed beyond the optimal time (by late November), yields plummet at the rate of 30 kg per ha per day. The adoption of resource conservation technologies, such as zero tilled wheat sowing, is considered essential to maintain the productivity of the rice-wheat cropping system. Economic analysis of data for two years from six on-farm demonstrations shows that the zero tillage method of wheat cultivation is the most economical and attractive option for the farming community of central Uttar Pradesh. A high grain yield and reduced cost of cultivation per hectare, reduction in the density of weeds, especially Phalaris minor, and greater water saving were noted in zero tilled wheat sowings compared with conventional practices. As a result of field demonstrations and farmer training programmes, the introduction of zero till drill wheat sowing has expanded rapidly and has made significant contributions to the tillage revolution in the study area.

A field experiment in a randomized block design was conducted during Rabi season 2019-2020 on 13 wheat varieties with the twin objectives of objectively selecting and precisely recommending the suitable plant types to farmers of Deoria district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The varieties were evaluated on 12 characters like plant height (cm), flag leaf area (cm2), peduncle length (cm), spike length (cm), effective tillers, grains per spike (grain number), grain weight (g), spikelets per spike, test weight (g), grain yield per plant (g), biological yield per plant (g) and harvest index (%). Normalized cumulative ranks were used to objectively select suitable crop ideotypes. The top five varieties viz., HD-2967, MACS-6222, HUW-669, K-0307 and HUW-213 were precisely recommended to farmers of this region for cultivation.

Nine wheat genotypes, viz., K-508, K-17, K-818, RAJ4037, RAJ3404, K-8903, DBW-14, K-9357 and HD-2967 were evaluated in a randomized block design on nine parameters, viz., tillering ability, plant height, grain yield per plant, peduncle length, spikelets per spike, flag leaf area, thousand grain weight, days to maturity and grains per spike at experimental farm of BRD PG College, Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, India with objective of recommending suitable plant types to farmers of this region. Normalized cumulative ranks (NCR) were used as criteria for selecting suitable plant types. Small flag leaf and early maturity were the criteria of selection (left directional selection) and remaining seven characters were selected for higher values (right directional selection). The suitability order of varieties/genotypes, as per NCR values was DBW-14, HD-2967, K-508, RAJ-4037, K-818, RAJ-3404, K-17, K-9357 and K-8903. The top four varieties, namely DBW-14, HD-2967, K-508 and RAJ-4037 could be recommended for cultivation in this region. When all nine characters were selected for higher values, the suitability order came as HD2967, RAJ4037, DBW-14 and K-9357. High positive correlations were observed between peduncle length and test weight (0.831) and plant height and days to maturity (0.652). When peduncle length, test weight, plant height and days to maturity were made criteria of selection, the suitability order was DBW-14, K-818, HD-2967 and RAJ-3404. HD-2967 is the standard check variety and popular in this region. Therefore, a few of these selected/recommended varieties would give close fight to HD-2967 and might replace it eventually.

Purpose:In an effort to develop crop ideotypes for multi-storey cropping under the conditions of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, a few locally well-adapted chenopods (Chenopodium species) were examined for high yields and their compatibility with many other crops. A few genotypes were identified, selected and recommended as a sole crop as well as along with many other crops. The medicinal value of these chenopods in increasing haemoglobin content in anaemic patient was also evaluated.Method:Available chenopods were evaluated for yield and compatibility in a completely randomized design. About 200 grammes of fresh tender shoots were cooked and fed every day to an anaemic patient having his initial haemoglobin content at 5.2 units.Result:These chenopods produced 13125 to 22688 kgs/ha of edible grade biomass as a sole crop as well as in various crop combinations. The average land equivalent ratio for intercropping with Phaseolus vulgaris was 1.20 indicating 20 per cent yield advantage over sole cropping. These plants were also used as mulch, fuel-wood, walking sticks and live standards for pole type rajma and many other climber crops. After nine days feeding to the anaemic patient, the haemoglobin content increased from 5.2 to 10.0 units.Conclusion:High-density sowing/transplanting coupled with frequent uprooting/picking is trapping solar radiation very efficiently right from its early life stage. A concerted research effort would make it a successful industrial crop. These genotypes are high yielding, input responsive and amenable to scaling up for large scale cultivation. These chenopods are also amenable to the spirit of intensification in the sense that they are responding well to transplanting, spacing and canopy management. A temporally staggered sowing/transplanting, frequent picking/harvesting and high input and high density agriculture would generate a large amount of edible grade biomass that could be used as food, medicine, fodder and feed.