Impact of Tillage and Residue Management on Sustainable Food and Nutritional Security

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif and rabi in 2016-17 and 2017-18 at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics, Patancheru, Hyderabad to study the influence of tillage practices and residue management practices on yield attributes and yield of maize in maize-based cropping systems under semi-arid tropics. The field experiment was laid out on broad-beds and furrows in a split-split design with four replications under rainfed conditions. Main plot consisted of two tillage practices (minimum tillage and conventional tillage), sub-plot of two crop residue management practices (residue addition and no-residue addition) and sub-sub plot of two cropping systems (Maize-chickpea sequential cropping and maize+pigeonpea intercropping system). The results revealed that equivalent yield, system productivity and nutrient content of maize did not vary significantly due to tillage practices, however, minimum tillage led to considerable yield losses. Among the residue management practices, addition of crop residue recorded significantly higher equivalent yield as compared to no residue addition. System productivity was significantly higher under residue addition and maize-chickpea copping system. Stover nitrogen content was significantly higher under residue addition over no residue addition