Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem

Long term effect of legume intensified crop rotations and tillage practices on productivity and profitability of maize vis-a-vis soil fertility in North-Western Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

“…All data recorded were analyzed with the help 55.8-59.6% higher stover yield compared to CT-MMS (Fig.1). Our findings of higher yields of maize under ZT and PB are in close agreement with the findings of Yadav et al, (2016a); Gathala et al, (2013); Parihar et al, (2016a); Parihar et al, (2017). The higher yields of maize in ZT/PB systems could be due to the compound effects of additional nutrients (BlancoCanqui and Lal 2009;Kaschuk et al, 2010) reduce competition for resources due to lesser weed population (Ozpinar, 2006) and improved bio-physicochemical soil health Parihar et al, 2016;Govaerts et al, 2009) over CT.…”

“…(2) continuous cultivation of high water requiring rice crop (Mahajan et al, 2012); and (3) irrational production practices resulted in decline in system productivity and resource-useefficiency (Pooniya et al, 2012 andParihar et al,2017). The practice of growing cereal after cereal coupled with use of intensive tillage led to decline in factor productivity (Dwivedi et al, 2012), stagnation in crop yield and depression in farm income which in bulk posing a serious threat to food security of IGP region (Aggarwal et al, 2004).…”

Impact of legume intensified crop rotations and tillage practices on maize productivity vis-à-vis C and N dynamics of a sandy loam soil in north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

“…ZT-MCS and ZT-MWMb plots registered 14.08-31.41% higher MPYA compared to CT-MMuMb and CT-MMS. Our findings of higher MPYA under CA practices (ZT and PB) are in close agreement with the findings of Parihar et al, 2017. The higher availability of nutrients due to better soil bio-physico-chemical properties, better availability of soil moisture, and reduced competition for resources (Kaschuk et al, 2010;Parihar et al, 2016a) leads to higher uptake of the nutrient especially nitrogen which is critical for protein synthesis that ultimately resulted into higher protein profile of the crop under CA practices (ZT/PB) over CT.…”

Beans with Benefits—The Role of Mungbean (<i>Vigna radiate</i>) in a Changing Environment

“…Parihar et al [123] argued that adoption of conservation tillage practices with improved nutrient management could be a viable option for achieving higher biomass productivity, water and energy-use efficiency and profitability in maize-wheat cropping systems, particularly when mungbean is introduced to rotations. Long-term experiments from India suggest that the adoption of CA-based tillage under maize-chickpea-sesbania and maize-wheat-mungbean systems can enhance crop productivity, profitability and nutrient uptake of kharif maize in the north-western region of India and under similar agro-climatic conditions [124].…”

“…Semiarid and arid areas are fragile ecosystems and adapted production systems are important to safeguard food production and economy of the rural Lower production costs due to strip cropping; better prices for wheat and mungbean improved farm economy [131] ZT, CRM and Sesbania sp., residue retention (RR), green manure Soil organic carbon (SOC) increases under zero tillage, when residue were retained; improved water infiltration; higher water availability; decreased soil strength and bulk density; improved grain yields [132] India No tillage, mungbean, residue management Increase of wheat and rice yields; higher net returns [122] ZT, permanent bed (PB), legume-based crop rotations with mungbean, crop diversification Lower production costs, improved water and energy efficiency; crop yield increase [123] ZT, PB, legume-based crop rotations with mungbean Positive yield responses of maize; improved energy efficiency [124] ZT, PB, RR, precise irrigation Decreased water use; higher water and crop productivity [125] ZT, Sesbania sp., brown manuring, relay cropping with mungbean, RR Increase of stable and labile SOC fractions; no effects on soil mineral N, but on soil microbial mass [126] Partial tillage and ZT in CRM, crop diversification Improved soil properties and nutrient availability; potential to reduce external fertilizer inputs in the long run [127] PB, RR, CRM, site specific nutrient management (SSNM)…”