Crop rotation and tillage management options for sustainable intensification of rice-fallow agro-ecosystem in eastern India

Abstract

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

Potential of conservation agriculture modules for energy conservation and sustainability of rice-based production systems of Indo-Gangetic Plain region

“…Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10395-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. have several sustainability concerns (Kumar et al 2020). Conservation of non-renewable energy sources and efficient resource management in agriculture is increasingly being realized for cleaner and sustainable production .…”

Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic plain of India?

“…Inclusion of the third crop under CA improved the system productivity considerably in comparison to conventional practices and could play a pivotal role in food as well as nutritional security of the region. Higher system productivity also proves the economic viability of CA as a whole (Kumar et al, 2020;You et al, 2017).…”

Crop Rotation Enhances Agricultural Sustainability: From an Empirical Evaluation of Eco-Economic Benefits in Rice Production

“…Furthermore, fallow practice abandons entire production for one or more seasons and significantly decreases the imminent economic benefit of farmers. This amortized cost should be factored into impact evaluation, resulting in a dilemma between economic and ecological benefits of fallow practice [48]. In spite of some economic and ecological benefits in the production season, the amortized cost of fallow should be considered.…”