Resource Conservation Technologies

A series of field experiments were conducted across diverse agro-ecological zones of Bangladesh including drought prone areas Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, flood affected deep water ecosystems Gopalganj and upland jhum systems in the Chottogram Hill Tracts to evaluate the performance of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) relative to conventional puddled (PTR) and unpuddled transplanting (UPTR). Results demonstrated that PTR remains the most profitable and higher yield amoung establishment method under current management, with superior benefit cost ratios. UPTR provided intermediate performance, balancing water savings with acceptable yield levels, DSR generally recorded lower yields and profitability due to higher weed pressure, reduced straw yield and increased management costs. Field trials highlighted the potential of DSR when integrated with improved technologies and adapted genotypes. The deep water rice mutant line LD-200-1-3-3-4 achieved statistically higher grain yield (1.98 t ha⁻¹) under broadcasting in flood-prone Gopalganj and Binadhan-21 outperformed other aus rice genotypes in the jhum ecosystem under integrated management. Mechanized and precise planting at lower seed rate (20-25 kg ha⁻¹) demonstrate yield stability, the importance of precision seeding, land leveling and seed treatment. Integrated weed management strategies, site-specific nutrient management and irrigation scheduling tools were identified as critical interventions to overcome the major constraints of DSR, particularly weed infestation. Collectively, the findings suggest that DSR method faces agronomic and economic limitation, it holds considerable promise as a resource conserving, climate resilient and labor-saving technology. The future of DSR in Bangladesh lies in genotype, management and environment integration, ensuring that the system economically viable and environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional rice establishment methods.

Wheat plays a critical role in ensuring food security across Asia, where increasing demand, resource limitations, and climate change pose significant challenges to the sustainability of production. Long-term field experiments (LTEs), characterized by decades of continuous observation, provide essential evidence regarding the impacts of agronomic practices on productivity, soil health, climate resilience, and resource efficiency. This review synthesizes findings from LTEs conducted in Asia and worldwide to evaluate the sustainability of wheat-based systems. Yield trends observed in Long-term field experiments highlight the advantages of crop rotation, conservation practices, and integrated nutrient management in stabilizing productivity. Although continuous wheat cultivation can lead to soil degradation, practices such as organic amendments and optimized nitrogen management have been shown to enhance soil fertility and nutrient use efficiency. Water management, particularly in water-scarce regions, remains a critical concern; strategies such as mulching, root architecture optimization, and the balance of nitrogen and phosphorus offer measurable improvements in water use efficiency. Additionally, Long-term field experiments illuminate potential pathways for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through reduced reliance on synthetic inputs and the adoption of conservation agriculture techniques. Despite these advancements, significant knowledge gaps persist concerning the socioeconomic scalability of these practices, interactions among genotype, environment, and management, and the effectiveness of institutional support systems. This review identifies priorities for future LTEs, emphasizing the need for multidisciplinary approaches, longterm climate risk monitoring, and innovations in data management. Furthermore, policy support is crucial for institutionalizing LTE networks, enhancing farmer engagement, and mainstreaming sustainable wheat cultivation. The findings underscore the indispensable role of Long-term field experiments in developing resilient wheat systems that align with food security and environmental objectives in Asia.

Background This study took place at the National Institute for Field Crops in Tunisia, under the Project:" to Support Development of Conservation Agriculture" (a project funded by the French Agency for Development). In this study we tried to assess soil compaction under No-Till system. Two stations were selected to conduct this study, the first belongs to the INGC and it is at Bousalem, the second (a farmer site) in Krib. In these two stations eleven different fields conducted under different No-Ttill rotations and four fields under conventional system have been chosen to be subject of our experiments. Measurements of soil profiles have been taken. Results The results showed that there is no soil compaction at No-Till fields in all soil layers except where there has not been a soil decompaction before conversion to No-Ttill system. A soil compaction is widespread in the depths of 20 cm in soils conducted under conventional tillage due to the presence of a hardpan. Applications and Implications for Conservation Agriculture No tillage system does no induce soil compaction. Fields conducted under no tillage don't have compaction in all depths regardless of years under no tillage practice except fields where no decompacting achieved before converting to no tillage. Soil compaction is widespread in soils conducted under conventional tillage at horizons located at 20 cm deep. It is imperative to go through a diagnosis of the soil structural before the transition to no tillage. Experimental Approach The field work was conducted at two sites; the first belongs to the INGC, where we 8 fields, 2 under conventional tillage and 6 under no-tillage were chosen to establish assessments. For the second station, located in the Krib region, 7 fields were chosen, 2 under conventional tillage and 5 under notillage. Table1: Characterization of fields under conventional tillage. Field site Crop Rotation Prvious Crop water regime SCa Kodiat Cereal/legumes Small Faba bean irrigated SCb Kodiat Cereal/legumes Small Faba bean irrigated SC cBD SC cFev Krib Krib Cereal/legumes Cereal/legumes Small Faba bean Durum Wheat rainfed rainfed Table 2: Characterization of fields under no tillage. Field site Crop Rotation Years Under No-Tillage Previous Crop water regime SD 1BD Kodiat Cereal/legumes 1 chickpea irrigated SD 1Fen Kodiat Cereal/legumes 1 Durum Wheat irrigated SD 2Fen Kodiat Cereal/legumes 2 Durum Wheat irrigated SD 2Avo Kodiat Cereal/legumes 2 Small Faba bean irrigated SD6 Kodiat Cereal/legumes 6 Small Faba bean irrigated SD8 Kodiat Cereal/legumes 8 sorghum irrigated SD4 Krib Cereal/legumes 4 Small Faba bean rainfed SD7 Krib Cereal/legumes 7 Durum wheat rainfed SD 10BD Krib Cereal/legumes 10 Small Faba bean rainfed SD 10Fev Krib Cereal/legumes 10 Durum Wheat rainfed SD11 Krib Cereal/legumes 11 Small Faba bean rainfed Assessments were about measurements of soil profiles.

Precision farming is basically designed to optimize agricultural inputs viz., fertilizers, pesticides, water etc., in tune with micro level/ field requirements. Optimization is focused on increased yields, reduced cost of cultivation and to minimized environmental impacts through locationspecific management. Precision farming in the context of development efforts has to meet production efficiency, sensitivity of ecosystems, appropriate technology,and maintenance of the environment, cultural diversity and satisfaction of the basic needs. Now Modern agricultural management practices are changing from assuming homogenous fields to attempting to address field variability by dividing the field into smaller zones and managing these zones separately. Precision farming has focused on the development of techniques that primarily aid the convention farming system (i.e., tilling the soil to prepare for planting, and heavy reliance on chemical inputs, such as pesticides and fertilizers). Howeve...

This study has evaluated the superiority of resource conservation technologies (RCTs) over conventional methods of cultivation and has identified the factors influencing adoption of these technologies. It has provided succinct evidences from four states-Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh-by comparing the adopters and non-adopters of RCTs in the rice-wheat cropping system of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. The study has highlighted superiority of RCTs over the conventional practices in terms of cost saving and efficient inputs-use. However, there is a need to internalize the RCTs in their totality by applying plans and strategies based on local dynamics. The study has suggested the need of policy formulations for dissemination and wider adoption of these technologies.

Rice-wheat cropping system, intensively followed in Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), played a prominent role in fulfilling the food grains demand of the increasing population of South Asia. In northern Indian plains, some practices such as intensive rice cultivation with traditional method for long-term have been associated with severe deterioration of natural resources, declining factor productivity, multiple nutrients deficiencies, depleting groundwater, labour scarcity and higher cost of cultivation, putting the agricultural sustainability in question. Varietal development, soil and water management, and adoption of resource conservation technologies in rice cultivation are the key interventions areas to address these challenges. The cultivation of lesser water requiring crops, replacing rice in light-textured soil and rainfed condition, should be encouraged through policy interventions. Direct seeding of short duration, high-yielding and stress tolerant rice varieties with water conservation technologies can be a successful approach to improve the input use efficiency in rice cultivation under medium-heavy-textured soils. Moreover, integrated approach of suitable cultivars for conservation agriculture, mechanized transplanting on zero-tilled/unpuddled field and need-based application of water, fertilizer and chemicals might be a successful approach for sustainable rice production system in the current scenario. In this review study, various challenges in productivity and sustainability of rice cultivation system and possible alternatives and solutions to overcome such challenges are discussed in details.

Conventional tillage (CT)-based agriculture is known to be ecologically indiscreet, economically and environmentally unsustainable, and leads to the degradation of soil andtheenvironment in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The surface seeding (SS) method was introduced to manage agro-ecosystems for sustaining productivity and increasing farmers’ profits, while sustaining the natural resources. Here, we conducted a systematic literature review on SS of wheat reported in the IGP, with the aim to cover the concept of SS, its impact on wheat yield, soil properties, andtheenvironment, withthepotential benefits and constraints. The major findings are: (i) an SS-based rice–wheat system improves productivity (∼10%) and profitability (20–30%),whileemploying a lesser amount of irrigation water (15–30%) and energy input (20–25%) compared to a conventional system; (ii) an SS-based system is more adaptive to extreme climatic conditions, reducesthecarbon footprint, and increases crop production; (i...

Global warming - a new global challenge in front of agricultural scientists, affecting almost all the climatic parameters involving air temperature and rainfall intensity and distributions. Elevated levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) viz. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. are only because of faulty agricultural practices viz. intensive tilling, burning of crop residues, which further adversely affecting both land and water productivity. As per one projection that global surface air temperatures may increase by 4.0–5.8°C in upcoming few decades which offset the likely benefits of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide on crop plants. Over space and time, new environmental conditions created which might be responsible for frequent droughts, higher temperatures, flooding, salinity, increased carbon dioxide levels, rise in sea-level, irregular rainfall patterns and shifting of pest dynamics etc. Therefore, global warming cycle needs to break down through forest...

Pakistan’s agriculture sector has remained the main source of livelihood for the rural population as well as ensures food availability to rural and urban people. Due to poor irrigation practices 14 million hectares land has been saline and waterlogged while 11 and 24 million hectares by deforestation and overgrazing, respectively. Among natural resources, land and water are crucial for Sindh’s development so there is dire need to conserve them. To cope with water scarcity different strategies are adopted in the world. Leveling of agriculture land is prerequisite for higher yield as unevenness of field results in lower seed germination rate, water loss and lower yield; eventually put financial strain to the farmers. A sample of 60 farmers from district Mirpurkhas was purposively selected for the study within the radios of 10 kilometers. This research study identified that laser leveled wheat yielded 14.7% higher output than non-laser leveled field and laser leveler user farmers obtai...

Resource conservation technologies (RCTs) are a win-win situation for farmers as well as environment owing to their potential benefits. The study was conducted during 2013-14 Rabi crop season with 120 purposively selected RCT farmers from six villages of Kurukshetra district in Haryana. Findings indicated that a majority of the farmers (95.24percent) reported saving of time under zero tillage sowing. A majority of them (51.20percent) used same quantity of seed rate, about 48.8percent of the farmers found more germination under zero tillage, 46.43percent observed increase in broad leaf weeds under zero tillage. About 26percent of farmers harvested similar yield while 61.9percent recorded more yield as compared to conventional tillage.Adopters further recorded increase in soil fertility (79.76percent), organic carbon (83.33percent) and increased moisture retention capacity of soil (84.53percent), less lodging (85.71percent) and avoidance of terminal heat (61.90percent). Almost all the farmers used similar quantity of wheat seed under rotary tillage as compared to conventional tillage. Around 45percent of the respondents observed better germination under rotary tillage. Most of the farmers (77.63percent)witnessed a decline in the cost of cultivation and 78.94percent got more yield under rotary tillage. The time for leveling of one acre of land ranged from 1 hour to 3.5 hours in the study area.Due to the adoption of laser land leveler there was around 2-3 percent increase in area under cultivation,saving of one-third time to irrigate crop and 30-40percent water saving. All the farmers (100percent) recorded more yield and less lodging (84.38percent) in laser leveled fields. The study recommends for mass adoption of RCTs to reap the potential benefits paving way for sustainable production.

Theoretically, water productivity is defined as the ratio of economic yield output to water used. The biggest challenge on this front is to improve the efficiency and productivity of water being used in existing systems. Agricultural productivity has basically two components: one for the yield (physical biomass) per unit of water (water productivity) and a second which describes the use of the water resources through the comparison of water consumed by crop evapotranspiration versus the volume of irrigation water supplied. The later ‘overall consumed ratio’ is bio-physically related to the former due to the strong relationships between actual evapotranspiration and crop yield. Generally, in agricultural production performance indicators include cropping intensity, ratio of area planted and area harvested, annual yield, productivity of land, and productivity of water. In the present chapter, an attempt has been made to explain the estimation of water productivity using field data.

ISBN: 978-93-5300-510-8
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28187.57125

Zero tillage (ZT) technology in wheat has demonstrated considerable agronomic and economic benefits by reducing energy costs and improving soil and water quality. The study attempted to find the knowledge level of farmers regarding zero till wheat and factors associated with it. The study was conducted in the south-western district named Sri Muktsar Sahib of Punjab. A total of 150 farmers were selected from the district through multistage sampling. A knowledge test was prepared and pre-tested on 20 non-sampled farmers. Study revealed that majority (76%) of farmers had medium level of knowledge about ZT wheat. Farmers lacked knowledge regarding some important aspects such as application of presowing herbicide and depth of seed. Membership of co-operative society, mass media exposure, extension contacts and participation in extension activities were found to be significantly correlated (p≤.01) with knowledge level of farmers. Logit analysis revealed significant influence of mass media (p≤.01) and extension contacts (p≤.05) on the knowledge level.

The study was conducted in Panipat district of Haryana during 2013-14 crop season including purposively selected 120farmers adopting resource conservation technologies (RCTs). The adoption pattern of resource conservation technologies revealed that 84.17% of the farmers had adopted zero tillage, 38.33% rotary tillage, 88.33% laser land leveler, 26.67% zero tillage + rotary tillage, 72.5% zero tillage + laser land leveler, 34.17% rotary tillage + laser land leveler and 22.5% zero tillage + rotary tillage + laser land leve ler. A majority of the farmers reported saving of time, used the same quantity of seed rate and found same germination under both zero tillage and rotary tillage sowing. , Farmers adopted zero tillage observed reduction in overall weed population, cost saving, harvested similar yield,, no change in crop duration, increased soil fertility, increased organic carbon in the soil, increased moisture retention capacity of soil, less lodging and avoiding of terminal heat in case of zero tillage. Most of the farmers (91.30%) told that there is a decrease in cost of cultivation and 56.52% got more yield under rotary tillage. The average time for leveling of one acre of land was 1.86 hours but it ranged from 1 hour to 3.5 hours depending on the condition of the field. All the farmers observed that there was 2-3% increase in area under cultivation with the adoption of laser land leveler. All the farmers observed one-third time and 30-40% water saving in irrigation after laser leveling. Almost all the farmers (97.17%) recorded more yield and less lodging due to even distribution of water in laser leveled fields.

Untenable use of factors of production is causing severe land degradation and food insecurity problems especially in developing world. Land degradation threatens the ecosystem health and food security worldwide and will remain high priority on international agenda. Conservation agriculture (CA) innovations offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development. While examining the total innovation-decision process, one can see how the farmers observe innovations (knowledge), relate to images and message within technological innovations (persuasion), formulate a want for item (decision), actively pursue the desire for item (implementation), and ultimately decide whether future uses of technologies / are desirable (confirmation). The adoption of CA innovations can be facilitated by locally identified and specially trained group leaders or by promoters. For the success, farmers will need to be in forefront for helping in identification, development and deployment of CA innovations. Developing and promoting RCT systems is highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address the prevailing problems / constraints from a systems perspective and be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders. There is also need to strengthen the knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. Improvement in coordination amongst various stakeholders like research, extension service, farmers, service providers, agricultural machinery, and manufacturers for transfer of technologies will play a pivotal role in accelerating the Conservation Agriculture.