A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis

Climate change jeopardizes the food security gains achieved in India since the Green Revolution, especially by impacting the productivity of the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a region that serves as the ‘breadbasket’ of South Asia. In this study, we characterized the potential of lon...

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Autores principales: Jat, Hanuman Sahay, Khokhar, Shivani, Prajapat, Kailash, Choudhary, Madhu, Kakraliya, Manish, Gora, Manoj Kumar, Gathala, Mahesh Kumar, Parbodh Chander Sharma, McDonald, Andrew, Ladha, Jagdish K., Jat, Mangi Lal
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169496
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author Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Khokhar, Shivani
Prajapat, Kailash
Choudhary, Madhu
Kakraliya, Manish
Gora, Manoj Kumar
Gathala, Mahesh Kumar
Parbodh Chander Sharma
McDonald, Andrew
Ladha, Jagdish K.
Jat, Mangi Lal
author_browse Choudhary, Madhu
Gathala, Mahesh Kumar
Gora, Manoj Kumar
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Jat, Mangi Lal
Kakraliya, Manish
Khokhar, Shivani
Ladha, Jagdish K.
McDonald, Andrew
Parbodh Chander Sharma
Prajapat, Kailash
author_facet Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Khokhar, Shivani
Prajapat, Kailash
Choudhary, Madhu
Kakraliya, Manish
Gora, Manoj Kumar
Gathala, Mahesh Kumar
Parbodh Chander Sharma
McDonald, Andrew
Ladha, Jagdish K.
Jat, Mangi Lal
author_sort Jat, Hanuman Sahay
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate change jeopardizes the food security gains achieved in India since the Green Revolution, especially by impacting the productivity of the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a region that serves as the ‘breadbasket’ of South Asia. In this study, we characterized the potential of long-term conservation agriculture (CA) based management practices (i.e., no-tillage, residue retention, and diversified rotations) to stabilize and enhance crop yields in Northwest India. The study consisted of six different production scenarios (Sc) namely Sc I: conventional rice-wheat system; Sc II: partial CA-puddled transplanted rice-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (TPR-ZTWMb); Sc III: CA-based zero-till direct seeded rice-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (ZTDSR-ZTWMb); Sc IV: CA-based zero till maize-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (ZTM-ZTWMb); Sc V: Sc III + subsurface drip irrigation (SSDI); and Sc VI: Sc IV + SSDI. Long-term yield analysis indicated that the CA-based maize-wheat-mung bean system with SSDI (Sc VI) produced approximately 12%, 27% and 35% higher rice equivalent yield (REY), wheat yield and overall system yield, respectively, over to Sc I. Our study examines Wricke's ecovalence index (Wi2) and the sustainability yield index (SYI) to gauge long-term yield stability and sustainability. Consistently higher wheat yields with lower Wi2 and higher SYI were recorded in CA-based scenarios (Sc V: Wi2 = 0.82, SYI = 0.81; Sc VI: Wi2 = 0.85 and SYI = 0.82). CA-based scenarios also demonstrated stable REY over time. The soil physical properties were influenced by CA systems and compared to Sc I, bulk density was −5.89% in Sc V, followed by −3.62% in Sc III and −1.73% in Sc VI. Moreover, CA systems, Sc IV, Sc VI, and Sc V exhibited positive responses by +106%, +99 % and +72%, respectively for water infiltration rates. Overall, soil organic carbon was +83% and +69% with Sc VI and Sc V, respectively than in Sc I. By substantially enhancing soil health and crop productivity, as well as boosting resilience, CA emerges as a promising solution for meeting the increasing food demand in Northwest India and beyond.
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spelling CGSpace1694962025-12-08T09:54:28Z A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis Jat, Hanuman Sahay Khokhar, Shivani Prajapat, Kailash Choudhary, Madhu Kakraliya, Manish Gora, Manoj Kumar Gathala, Mahesh Kumar Parbodh Chander Sharma McDonald, Andrew Ladha, Jagdish K. Jat, Mangi Lal cereals conservation agriculture soil chemicophysical properties subsurface irrigation sustainability yield stability wheat rice Climate change jeopardizes the food security gains achieved in India since the Green Revolution, especially by impacting the productivity of the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a region that serves as the ‘breadbasket’ of South Asia. In this study, we characterized the potential of long-term conservation agriculture (CA) based management practices (i.e., no-tillage, residue retention, and diversified rotations) to stabilize and enhance crop yields in Northwest India. The study consisted of six different production scenarios (Sc) namely Sc I: conventional rice-wheat system; Sc II: partial CA-puddled transplanted rice-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (TPR-ZTWMb); Sc III: CA-based zero-till direct seeded rice-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (ZTDSR-ZTWMb); Sc IV: CA-based zero till maize-zero till wheat-zero till mung bean (ZTM-ZTWMb); Sc V: Sc III + subsurface drip irrigation (SSDI); and Sc VI: Sc IV + SSDI. Long-term yield analysis indicated that the CA-based maize-wheat-mung bean system with SSDI (Sc VI) produced approximately 12%, 27% and 35% higher rice equivalent yield (REY), wheat yield and overall system yield, respectively, over to Sc I. Our study examines Wricke's ecovalence index (Wi2) and the sustainability yield index (SYI) to gauge long-term yield stability and sustainability. Consistently higher wheat yields with lower Wi2 and higher SYI were recorded in CA-based scenarios (Sc V: Wi2 = 0.82, SYI = 0.81; Sc VI: Wi2 = 0.85 and SYI = 0.82). CA-based scenarios also demonstrated stable REY over time. The soil physical properties were influenced by CA systems and compared to Sc I, bulk density was −5.89% in Sc V, followed by −3.62% in Sc III and −1.73% in Sc VI. Moreover, CA systems, Sc IV, Sc VI, and Sc V exhibited positive responses by +106%, +99 % and +72%, respectively for water infiltration rates. Overall, soil organic carbon was +83% and +69% with Sc VI and Sc V, respectively than in Sc I. By substantially enhancing soil health and crop productivity, as well as boosting resilience, CA emerges as a promising solution for meeting the increasing food demand in Northwest India and beyond. 2025-01 2025-01-20T20:49:51Z 2025-01-20T20:49:51Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169496 en Limited Access Elsevier Jat, H. S., Khokhar, S., Prajapat, K., Choudhary, M., Kakraliya, M., Gora, M. K., Gathala, M. K., Sharma, P. C., McDonald, A., Ladha, J. K., & Jat, M. L. (2025). A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis. Journal of Environmental Management, 373, 123448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123448
spellingShingle cereals
conservation agriculture
soil chemicophysical properties
subsurface irrigation
sustainability
yield stability
wheat
rice
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Khokhar, Shivani
Prajapat, Kailash
Choudhary, Madhu
Kakraliya, Manish
Gora, Manoj Kumar
Gathala, Mahesh Kumar
Parbodh Chander Sharma
McDonald, Andrew
Ladha, Jagdish K.
Jat, Mangi Lal
A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title_full A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title_fullStr A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title_full_unstemmed A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title_short A decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems: Transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
title_sort decade of conservation agriculture in intensive cereal systems transitioning to soil resilience and stable yield trends in a climate crisis
topic cereals
conservation agriculture
soil chemicophysical properties
subsurface irrigation
sustainability
yield stability
wheat
rice
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169496
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