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Nutrient uptake by the rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) is an important indicator of soil fertility and plant nutrient status. The hypothesis of this investigation was that the rate and sources of nutrient application can differentially influence nutrient removal and soil nutrient status in different crop establishment techniques (CETs). Cropping system yield was on par in all the CETs evaluated, however, there were significant changes in soil nutrient availability and microbiological aspects. The system nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) uptake in aerobic rice system followed by zero tillage wheat (ARS-ZTW) was 15.7–17.6 kg ha −1 , 0.7–0.9 kg ha −1 , 7–9.8 kg ha −1 and 13.5–23.1 g ha −1 and higher than other CETs. The formulations of Anabaena sp. (CR1) +  Providencia sp. (PR3) consortium (MC1) and Anabaena – Pseudomonas biofilm (MC2) recorded significantly higher values of soil chlorophyll and microbial biomass carbon and positively affected cropping system nutrient uptake and soil nutrient balance, illustrating the beneficial effect of microbial inoculation through increased supply of biologically fixed N and solubilised P. Zinc fertilization (5 kg Zn ha −1 through ZnSO 4 ·7H 2 O as soil application) increased soil DTPA-extractable Zn by 4.025–4.836 g ha –1 , with enhancement to the tune of 20–24% after two cropping cycles of RWCS. Our investigation recommends the need for change in the present CETs to ARS–ZTW, along with the use of microbial inoculation as a means of significantly enhancing cropping system nutrient uptake and soil nutrient status improvement.

Soil is an important natural resource providing water, nutrient, and mechanical support for plant growth. In agroecosystem, continuous manipulation of soil is going on due to addition of input, removal of nutrients, changing water balance, and microbial life. These processes affect soil properties (physical, chemical, and biological), and the deviation of these properties from the normal status is controlled by soil buffering capacity and soil resilience. If these changes are beyond the reach of soil resilience, then soil loses its original state, leading to soil degradation. At present, the extent of the degraded area in the world is 1,036 to 1,470 million ha. This urges the need for maintaining soil health rather than the mere addition of input for crop production. Soil health is an integrative property that reflects the capacity of soil to respond to agricultural intervention, so that it continues to support both agricultural production and the provision of other ecosystem services. Maintaining the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil is needed to keep it healthy, and this is possible through the adoption of different agronomic approaches. The diversification of nutrient sources with emphasis on organic sources, adoption of principles of conservation agriculture, enhancement of soil microbial diversity, efficient resource recycling through the integrated farming system, and amendment addition for correcting soil reactions are potential options for improving soil health, and are discussed in this review. This article reviewed the concept of soil health and its development, issues related to soil health, and indicators of healthy soil. At the same time, the impact of the ill health of the soil on crop productivity and resource use efficiency reported in different parts of the world in recent years are also reviewed. The agro-techniques such as green and brown manuring in arable land and agroforestry on degraded and marginal land were followed on piece meal basis and for economic gain. The potential of these and several other options for maintaining soil need to be recognized, evaluated, and quantified for their wider application on the front of soil health management avenues. The use of crop residue, agro-industrial waste, and untreated mineral or industrial waste (basic slag, phosphogypsum, etc.) as soil amendments has a huge potential in maintaining healthy soil along with serving as sources of crop nutrition. The review emphasizes the evaluation and quantification of present-day followed agro-techniques for their contribution to soil health improvement across agro-climatic regions and for wider implications. Furthermore, emphasis is given to innovative approaches for soil health management rather than mere application of manures and fertilizers for crop nutrition.

A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years with the aim to quantify the role of different nutrient management variables such as microbial inoculation, zinc (Zn) fertilization and optimal and sub-optimal fertilization of nitrogen and phosphorus on the energetic and nutritional status of the rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS). The said nutrient management variables were applied over six different crop establishment methods (CEMs) in RWCS viz. puddled transplanted rice (PTR), system of rice intensification (SRI) and aerobic rice system (ARS) in rice and conventional drill-sown wheat (CDW), system of wheat intensification (SWI) and zero-tillage wheat (ZTW) in wheat. Two microbial consortia viz. Anabaena sp. (CR1) + Providencia sp. (PR3) consortia (MC1) and Anabaena-Pseudomonas biofilmed formulations (MC2) were used in this study, while recommended dose of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) (RDN) (120 kg N ha−1 and 25.8 kg P ha−1), 75% RDN and Zn fertilization (soil applied 5 kg Zn ha−1 through zinc sulphate heptahydrate) were the other variables. The contribution of microbial consortia, Zn fertilization and RDN (over 75% RDN) to net energy production of RWCS was 12.9–16.1 × 103 MJ ha−1, 10.1–11.0 × 103 MJ ha−1 and 11.7–15.3 × 103 MJ ha−1. Among the CEMs, the highest gross and net energy production was recorded in ARS–ZTW with lowest energy required for production of one tonne of system yield (2366–2523 MJ). The system protein yield varies from 494.1 to 957.7 kg ha−1 with highest protein yield in 75% RDN + MC2 + Zn applied ARS–ZTW. Among micronutrients, the uptake of Zn and iron (Fe) is sensitive to all studied variables, while manganese (Mn) and cupper (Cu) uptake was found significantly affected by CEMs alone. The combination of 75% RDN + MC2 + Zn in ARS–ZTW was found superior in all respects with 288.3 and 286.9 MJ ha−1 net energy production and 2320 and 2473 MJ energy required for production of one tonne system yield in the first and second year of study, respectively.

A field experiment was conducted during the wet seasons of 2013 and 2014 to evaluate the effect of three rice establishment methods: viz. puddled transplanted rice (PTR), system of rice intensification (SRI) and aerobic rice system (ARS), two cyanobacteria based inoculants, viz. Anabaena sp (CR1) + Providencia sp (PR3) consortium and Anabaena–Pseudomonas (An‐Ps) biofilm formulation, and zinc (Zn) fertilization on the rice yield, water productivity, and nutrient use efficiency. The yields of rough, brown and milled rice were highest in SRI, which was on par with PTR and both methods proved significantly superior to ARS in both years. The total water productivity of rough and brown rice in the first year was significantly higher in SRI. The SRI method saved 21.9% and 27.4% irrigation water over PTR, and savings in ARS were 37.4% and 50.8% in first and second year respectively, over PTR. The use of An‐Ps biofilm formulation along with 75% RDN improved the agronomic use efficiency of both nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers applied. On the basis of the present study, it can be concluded that SRI improved rice yields and water productivity; while involvement of An‐Ps biofilm formulation can be recommended for improved nutrient use efficiency. Globally, improving water and nutrient use efficiency of crops is gaining significance, particularly the rice–wheat cropping system, which consumes a large share of both water and nutrients. System of rice intensification and aerobic system of rice cultivation are promising options to enhance the total water productivity over the conventional method of puddled transplanted rice. The additional use of microbial inoculation augments the nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiency by 27% and 32%, respectively, and overall, along with 75% recommended dose of nutrients, increases the system yield by 6.65%.

Adoption of innovative crop establishment practices relies on the type of impact on soil-plant-water complex, rather than just crop productivity. Hence, a field experiment was conducted to study the impact of wheat establishment methods (WEMs) on soil biological properties as well as crop and water productivity. Three wheat establishment methods (WEMs), viz., drill-sown wheat (DW), wheat intensification system (WIS) and zero till-drill wheat (ZTDW) were selected along with two sources of nutrients, viz. chemical fertilizers and microbial inoculation Significant changes in the soil and plant-related aspects, particularly an improvement in soil microbiological properties such as acetylene reduction activity (ARA) (2.7–11.8%), soil chlorophyll (0.6–21.1%), dehydrogenase activity (1.1–10.8%), microbial biomass carbon (0.5–2.1%) and alkaline phosphatase activity (1.3–9.0%) at 90 days after sowing (DAS) in ZTDW over DW and WIS were recorded in the two-year field study. The highest values were observed with the application of 75% recommended dose of nutrients (RDN) (90 kg nitrogen ha−1 and 19.35 kg phosphorus ha−1) + Anabaena–Pseudomonas biofilm formulation + Zn. The soil microbiological parameters such as dehydrogenase activity, microbial biomass carbon and alkaline phosphatase activity also showed a significant increase due to the application of 100% RDN indicating that the application of fertilizers induced beneficial changes in soil-plant-water system. Interestingly, microbial inoculation had an economic impact on wheat which recorded an increase in grain yield by 200–230 kg ha−1 and water productivity by 0.45–0.53 kg ha-mm−1. The contribution of zero till-drill wheat to improvement in grain yield and water productivity was 240–260 kg ha−1 and 0.54–0.58 kg ha-mm−1, respectively. ZTDW and application of Anabaena–Pseudomonas biofilm formulation with 75% RDN led to significant and positive impacts on the biological activities in the rhizosphere of wheat.

Rice–wheat cropping system in India (RWCS) is facing several problems which lead to reducing productivity and profitability. Change in the crop establishment methods (CEMs) and nutrient and water management strategies have considerable influence on both productivity and profitability. Our 2-year study at ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute—showed that net return in aerobic rice system followed by (fb) zero-till wheat increased by ₹ 3416–7737 ha−1 over the conventional puddled transplanted rice fb conventional drill-sown wheat and ₹ 7864–12,376 ha−1 over system of rice intensification (SRI) fb system of wheat intensification due to savings in energy and water, even though gross return and system productivity were statistically identical in all three CEMs. Zinc fertilization increased the net return and system productivity by ₹ 5350–7670 ha−1 and 0.34–0.39 Mg ha−1 when applied with 100% recommended dose of fertilizer (120 kg nitrogen ha−1 and 25.8 kg phosphorus ha−1). Nutrient management strategy involving Anabaena–Pseudomonas biofilmed formulations improved system productivity by 350–440 kg ha−1 and net return by ₹ 9217–11,344 ha−1 over the same quantity of chemical fertilizer application. Net return was highly correlated with cost of cultivation (R2 = 0.95 and 0.99) than the gross return in both years indicating the importance of cost of cultivation in selecting CEM than gross return.