Journal Article

Tillage and residue management for sustaining rice-wheat cropping system in Indo-Gangetic Plains- A review

Kang, J S, Singh, Harmeet, Kaur, Jagroop

2017

Overview

The rice-wheat cropping system occupying 13.5 million ha is important to meet the challenge of food security in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The consequences of current production practices viz., degraded soil health, high cost of cultivation, inefficient use of resources and environment raises the danger to its sustainability. In the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia, the most widely adopted resource conserving technology has been zero-tillage (ZT) in wheat after rice, particularly in India. The severity of system constraints can be reduced by ZT wheat via earlier/timely planting (5-10% yield gains), control of Phalaris minor, reduced cultivation costs (fuel saving of 36-43 litres ha-1 and higher returns of Rs 4300-5700 ha-1) and water saving. Soil organic carbon, porosity, aggregate size and infiltration rate also increased significantly with long term zero tillage. The yield increase alongwith a cost saving led to pretty robust adoption rate but still knowledge gaps exist. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the interactions between ZT and soil type, seasonal factors and cumulative effects that cause farmers to adhere to conventional tillage (CT) or reduced tillage (RT) in some plots or seasons. Therefore for further wider adoption, ZT should be considered as a system and be looked more precisely to suit varying farm situation.

• Publisher: The Pharma Innovation
• Subject: Tillage