Conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification: Increasing yields and water productivity for smallholders of the Eastern Gangetic Plains

2019 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saiful Islam ◽  
Mahesh K. Gathala ◽  
Thakur P. Tiwari ◽  
Jagadish Timsina ◽  
Alison M Laing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Productivity ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Gangetic Plains

scholarly journals Sustainability, productivity, profitability and soil health with conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification of oilseed brassica production system

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Jat ◽  
R. L. Choudhary ◽  
H. V. Singh ◽  
M. K. Meena ◽  
V. V. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Indian Mustard ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Farm Profitability ◽  
Equivalent Yield

AbstractConservation agriculture (CA) practices are getting space world-wide to answer many emerging challenges like; declining factor productivity, deteriorating soil health, water scarcity, climate change, and farm profitability and sustainability. Oilseed brassica (Indian mustard, Brassica juncea L.), a winter oilseed grown under rainfed agro-ecosystem is vulnerable to low yields, high production cost, degrading soil and water quality, and climatic vagaries. The present study was undertaken on CA-based sustainable intensification of Indian mustard for enhancing inputs efficiencies, farm profitability and sustainability. Permanent beds with residue retention (PB + R) improved mustard equivalent yield (11.4%) and system grain yield (10.6%) compared with conventional tillage without residue (CT − R). Maize–mustard rotation (Mz–M) increased system grain yield (142.9%) as well as mustard equivalent yield (60.7%) compared with fallow-mustard (F-M). Mz–M system under PB + R increased sustainable yield index (376.5%), production efficiency (177.2%), economic efficiency (94%) and irrigation water productivity (66%) compared with F-M under CT − R. PB + R increased soil organic carbon (SOC) stock at 0–15 cm (17.7%) and 15–30 cm (29.5%) soil depth compared with CT − R. Addition of green gram in rotation with mustard improved SOC at 0–15 cm (27.4%) and 15–30 cm (20.5%) compared with F-M system. CA-based cluster bean-mustard/GG-M system increased N productivity, whereas, P and K productivity improved with Mz–M system compared with F-M under CT − R. Thus, CA-based Mz–M system should be out-scaled in the traditional rainfed fallow-mustard system to improve the farm production and income on holistic basis to make the country self-sufficient in edible oils.

Conservation agriculture in an irrigated cotton–wheat system of the western Indo-Gangetic Plains: Crop and water productivity and economic profitability

2014 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.K. Das ◽  
Ranjan Bhattacharyya ◽  
S. Sudhishri ◽  
A.R. Sharma ◽  
Y.S. Saharawat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Productivity ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Gangetic Plains

Changes in soil biology under conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification of cereal systems in Indo-Gangetic Plains

Geoderma ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 313 ◽  
pp. 193-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Choudhary ◽  
Ashim Datta ◽  
Hanuman S. Jat ◽  
Arvind K. Yadav ◽  
Mahesh K. Gathala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Soil Biology ◽  
Gangetic Plains

scholarly journals Effects of Long-Term (7 Years) Adoption of Conservation Agriculture and Nutrient Management Practices on the Soil Properties, System Crop and Water Productivity and Farm Economics of a Maize–Chickpea Rotation 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay Pooniya ◽  
R.R. Zhiipao ◽  
Niraj Biswakarma ◽  
S.L. Jat ◽  
Dinesh Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Seed Yield ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Maize Grain Yield ◽  
Maize Grain

Abstract Conservation agriculture (CA)-based practices have been promoted and recouped, as they hold the potential to enhance farm profits besides a consistent improvement in soil properties. The CA-based crop establishment practices (CEP) along with adequate fertilizer inputs in the diversified maize-chickpea rotation (MCR) could be a profitable choice to sustain the crop production of Indo-Gangetic plains in the posterity. Therefore, a seven years' field experiment consisting of three CEP viz., zero till flatbed (ZTFB), permanent beds (PNB), conventional system (CT) along with the three nutrient management practices; nutrient expert assisted: site-specific nutrient management (NE®), recommended fertilization (RDF), and farmers’ fertilizer practice (FFP), was carried out from 2013–2020 in a sandy loam soil of the north-western Indo-Gangetic plains. Seven years’ mean maize grain yield under the ZTFB (4.34 Mg ha-1) and PNB (4.37 Mg ha-1) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the CT (3.79 Mg ha-1). The NE® and RDF had 25.7% and 22.3% greater maize grain yield than the FFP, respectively. Similarly, ZTFB and PNB had 12.2% and 21.5% greater chickpea seed yield, respectively over the CT. The NE® and RDF gave 12.1% and 8.4% higher chickpea seed yield over the FFP, respectively. The CA-based CEP (ZTFB / PNB) produced 13.9–17.6% (seven years’ mean) higher maize grain equivalent yield (MGEY) compared to the CT, while NE® and RDF had 10.7–20% higher MGEY than the FFP. Furthermore, the PNB and ZTFB gave 28.8% and 24% additional net returns than the CT, while NE® and RDF had 22.8% and 17.4% greater returns, respectively over the FFP. The mean data showed that PNB had 7.5% and 30.8% greater system water productivity (SWP) than the ZTFB and CT, the NE® and RDF had 20% and 14% greater SWP than the FFP, respectively. After harvest of the 7th year maize, the PNB and ZTFB had 2.3–4.1% (0.0-0.20 m soil layers) lower bulk density (ρb) than the CT, however NE® and RDF had 1–1.9% lower ρb compared to the FFP. The CEP had a significant (p<0.05) impact on the soil organic carbon (OC) in 0.0-0.20 m soil layers but it remained unaffected due to the nutrient management beyond 0.10 m soil depth. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) increased by 8–19% (0.0-0.50 m soil layers) in the ZTFB / PNB over the CT, and by 7.6–11.0% in the NE® / RDF over FFP. The sustainability yield index (SYI) was also greater under the CA-based CEP and with the NE® or RDF compared to the CT practices. Hence, the present study suggests that the CA-based CEP coupled with the NE® or RDF could enhance the yields, farm profits, soil properties of the maize-chickpea rotation, thereby, could sustain the production in long-run.

scholarly journals Sustainability, Productivity, Profitability and Soil Health With Conservation Agriculture-Based Sustainable Intensification of Oilseed Brassica Production System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.S. Jat ◽  
R.L. Choudhary ◽  
H.V. Singh ◽  
M.K. Meena ◽  
V.V. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Indian Mustard ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Farm Profitability ◽  
Equivalent Yield

Abstract Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices getting space world-wide to answer many emerging challenges like; declining factor productivity, deteriorating soil health, water scarcity, climate change, and farm profitability and sustainability. Oilseed brassica (Indian mustard, Brassica juncea L.), a winter oilseed grown under rainfed agro-ecosystem vulnerable to low yields, high production cost, degrading soil and water quality, and climatic vagaries. The present study was undertaken on CA-based sustainable intensification of Indian mustard for enhancing inputs efficiencies, farm profitability and sustainability. Permanent beds with residue retention (PB+R) improved mustard equivalent yield (11.4%) and system grain yield (10.6%) compared to conventional tillage without residue (CT-R). Maize-mustard (Mz-M) increased system grain yield (142.9%) as well as mustard equivalent yield (60.7%) compared to fallow-mustard (F-M). Mz-M system under PB+R increased sustainable yield index (376.5%), production efficiency (177.2%), economic efficiency (94%) and irrigation water productivity (66%) compared to F-M under CT-R. PB+R increased soil organic carbon (SOC) stock at 0-15 cm (17.7%) and 15-30 cm (29.5%) soil depth compared to CT-R. Intensification of F-M system with green gram–mustard (GG-M) improved SOC at 0-15 cm (27.4%) and 15-30 cm (20.5%) compared to F-M. CA-based cluster bean-mustard/GG-M system increased N productivity, whereas, P and K productivity improved with Mz-M system compared to F-M under CT-R. Thus, CA-based Mz-M system should be out-scaled in the traditional rainfed fallow-mustard system to improve the farm production and income on holistic basis to make the country self-sufficient in edible oils.

scholarly journals Sustainable Intensification in the Eastern Gangetic Plains: Key to Food Security and Livelihood Improvement of Smallholders

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Thakur Tiwari ◽  
Mahesh Gathala ◽  
Apurba Chowdhury ◽  
Renuka Shrestha ◽  
Sanjay Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
Livelihood Improvement

The Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGPs) has the potential to become a major contributor to South Asian regional food security, despite the world’s highest concentration of rural poverty and a strong dependence on agriculture. A regional project entitled ‘Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI), managed by CIMMYT with over 20 partners with ACIAR/DFAT funding was launched in May 2014 to sustainably reduce the poverty. A total of 436 farmer-participatory on-farm trials comparing the performance of three conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification (CASI) technologies like Zero/Strip till as base (ZT/ST) over the conventional tillage (CT; T1) practices were conducted across eight districts in northwest Bangladesh, Bihar and West Bengal in India, and eastern Terai of Nepal for two consecutive years i.e. 2015/16 and 2016/17. The three CASI treatments comprised a “partial CASI” option (T2: at least one crop in the cropping system established with ZT management) and two “full CASI” options (T3 and T4: all crops established with ZT/ST management; in T3 rice was direct seeded (DSR) while in T4, it was unpuddled transplanted (UPTR)). Multicriteria assessment showed an increase in rice equivalent system yield (RESY) by 4%, gross margin by 19–20%, input water productivity by 7–9% and energy productivity by 13–14% while decrease in requirements for irrigation water, energy, labor and the production cost by 15–17%, 10–11%, 32–38% and 15–18% respectively, and reduction in CO2 equivalent emission by 8–13% in full CASI over CT. CASI has shown great promise for food security and livelihood improvement at small scale.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document