Sustainability, productivity, profitability and nutritional diversity of six cropping systems under conservation agriculture: A long term study in eastern India

Abstract

CONTEXT: Intensive cropping and elevated input use to achieve high crop yields have resulted in the injudicious
use of resources and a consequent reduction in profit margins for farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP)
region of South Asia. In this region rice-wheat (RW) under conventional tillage (CT) management is the most
widely cultivated cropping system. While conservation agriculture (CA)-based management practices have been
demonstrated to improve cropping system performance, they are considered by many farmers to be risky, and
adoption of CA in rice-based cropping systems is low. There has been little agronomic research into alternative
cropping systems to develop diversification options appropriate for the EGP.
OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that shifting from a conventional RW system to crop establishment practices which
incorporate CA principles, combined with alternative crops could improve the whole cropping system in terms of
productivity, profitability, and nutritional security (as crop protein).