Impact of Tillage and Crop Establishment Practices on Soil Fertility and Crop Productivity under Rice Wheat Cropping System in an Inceptisol

Abstract

The traditional cultivation practice for rice requires puddling, it has benefit on newlinerice productivity and have positive effect on profits and is energy intensive but it newlineoverall deteriorates soil physical properties by forming hard pans, destroying soil newlineaggregates and lowers soil permeability thus producing negative effect on wheat crop newlineleading to decline in wheat yields. In order to cope up with the above issues newlineintroduction of conservation agriculture took place and have gained pace in order to newlineprevent resource degradation and increasing profitable by reducing resource input newlinemaking farming more remunerative. Conservation agriculture (CA)- based newlineinterventions thus, improve crop production and also income, there by addressing the newlineemerging problems. CA based technologies is also in improving the soil fertility in newlineterms of its physical, chemical, and biological properties which in turn improves the newlineoverall soil health, crop productivity, water-use efficiency, system productivity and newlinefarmers income. Keeping above facts in view, a study is proposed to investigate the newlineeffects of different tillage and crop establishment practices on crop performance, soil newlinefertility, residue decomposition and economics in rice wheat system. newline