Due to complexity of smallholder farms, many times technologies with great potential fail to achieve the desired impact in leveraging productivity and profitability of the farming community. In the Indo-Gangetic Plains there is an urgent need to understand the diversity of farm households, identifying the main drivers deciding their system thus, classifying them into homogenous groups. In the present study, the diversity of smallholder farms was assessed using crop, livestock and income related characteristics and associated farm mechanization. Using principal component analysis and cluster analysis for 252 farm households, 4 farm types were identified i.e. Type 1. Small Farm households with cereal-based cropping system and subsistence livestock (39%), Type 2. Small Farm households with diversified cropping system dominated by cereal and fodder crops with only cattle herd (9%), Type 3. Marginal Farm household with diversified cropping system dominated by cash crop and herd comprising of only cattle (39%), Type 4. Marginal Farm household with diversified cropping system dominated by cereal crops and herd dominated by small ruminants (12%). Based on the constraints identified for different components of farming systems, low-cost interventions were planned for each farm type. These interventions have resulted in 84.8–103.2 per cent increase in the income of the farm HH under study suggesting usefulness of typology-based intervention planning in increasing income of small farm holders.

Rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS), a lifeline for the majority of the population in South Asia is under stress, due to the imbalanced and indiscriminate use of fertilizers. Therefore, we conducted an on-farm study at eight locations (Amritsar, Katni, Nainital, Samba, Pakur, Kanpur, Ambedkarnagar, and Dindori) covering five agro climatic zones of six Indian states (Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand) to (i) calculate the partial factor productivity (PFP) and agronomic use efficiency (AUE) to judge the response of NPK and Zn on grain yield of rice and wheat in RWCS and (ii) to work out the economic feasibility of different combinations of NPK in rice and wheat. Seven fertilizer treatments: Control (0-0-0), N alone (N-0-0), NP (N-P-0), NK (N-0-K), NPK (N-P-K), NPK+Zn (N-P-K-Zn), and FFMP (Farmers Fertilizer Management Practice) were assigned to all the locations. The levels of applied nutrients were used as per the standard recommendation of the location. The average of all the locations showed that the use of NP enhances the grain yield of rice and wheat by 105% and 97% over control, respectively. System productivity of RWCS was expressed in terms of rice grain equivalent yield (RGEY), Mg ha⁻¹. Among the locations, Samba recorded the lowest productivity of RWCS with fertilizer treatments. In contrast, the highest productivity of RWCS with fertilizer treatments was recorded at Amritsar, except with NPK and NPK+Zn fertilization, where Katni superseded the Amritsar. An approximately 3-fold productivity gain in RWCS was recorded with the conjoint use of NP over control across the locations. Overall, the results of our study showed that the balance application of NPK increased the productivity of RWCS 245% over control. Partial factor productivity of Nitrogen (PFP_n) N alone in rice varied across locations and ranged from 19 kg grain kg⁻¹ N at Pakur to 41 kg grain kg⁻¹ N at Amritsar. PFP_n of N alone in wheat also ranged from 15.5 kg grain kg⁻¹ of N at Ambedkarnagar to 28 kg grain kg⁻¹ N at Amritsar. However, across locations the mean value of PFP_n of N alone was 29 kg grain kg⁻¹ N in rice and 21 kg grain kg⁻¹ N in wheat. PFP_n increased when combined application of N and P sorted in both rice and wheat across the locations. Similarly, combined application of NPK increased partial factor productivity of applied phosphorus (PFP_p) in both the crops at all the locations. The combined application of NPK increased the PFP_k for applied K at all the location. The response of K application with N and P when averaged over the location was 114% in rice and 93% in wheat over the combined use of N and K. In our study, irrespective of fertilizer treatments, the agronomic use efficiency of applied N (AUE_n) and agronomic use efficiency of applied P (AUE_p) were greater in rice than in wheat across the location. With regards to the economics, the mean net monetary returns among the fertilizers treatments was minimum (INR 29.5 × 10³ ha⁻¹) for the application of N alone and maximum (INR 8.65 × 10³ ha⁻¹) for application of NPK+Zn. The mean marginal returns across the locations was in order of N alone > NK > FFM > NPK > NP > NPK+Zn.

The advancement of effective nutrient management strategies has been instrumental in enhancing crop productivity and economic viability. Thus, we investigated the effect of green manure and organic amendments at varying nitrogen levels in rice and their residual effect on wheat crops. A two-year research study (2018–2019 and 2019–2020) was conducted at two distinct locations: Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana and a Research Station in Dyal Bharang, Amritsar. The experimental design employed was a split-plot design. The main plot treatments consisted of four treatments (green manuring, farmyard manure, poultry manure, and no organic amendment (control)) and four subplot treatments (No N control, 50 kg N ha⁻¹, 75 kg N ha⁻¹, and 100 kg N ha⁻¹), replicated four times in the rice crop, and its residual effect was studied in wheat. The study found that applying organic amendments at different nitrogen levels significantly increased rice–wheat productivity, growth, yield qualities, nutrient uptake, and efficiency (p < 0.05). Poultry manure increased rice grain yield more than other modifications. It significantly increased grain yield by 67.3% and 61.4% over the control in both years of the research. Poultry manure (41.9 kg, 60.0%) increased AE (kg grain kg⁻¹ N uptake) and ANR (%) compared to control due to higher total N (177.4 kg ha⁻¹), P (31.6 kg ha⁻¹), and K (179.6 kg ha⁻¹). Grain production was positively correlated with total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) intake (r = 0.992**, 0.931**, and 0.984**, respectively). Total N uptake was positively correlated with P and K uptake (r = 0.963** and 0.991**, respectively). Poultry manure improved soil health by increasing total microbial count and alkaline phosphatase activity. In the subsequent wheat crop, rice grown with poultry manure yielded 24.3 and 24.4 percent more than no organic amendment control in rabi 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. The findings suggest that poultry manure and 100 kg N ha⁻¹ or 75 kg N ha⁻¹ afforded equivalent yields. This shows that even less nitrogen may be enough to boost rice and wheat yields.

Sustaining agricultural systems dominated by small and vulnerable resource-poor farms that are subject to climatic aberrations is a major challenge for most Asian countries. In this context, the role of agriculture requires immediate attention in northwestern India where marginal farmers with less than a meagre 1 hectare of land represent about 67% of the population. Research based on prototype farms is being promoted in the redesign of current farming practices to help give these farmers sustainable livelihoods. We hypothesize that integrating innovative cropping systems into smallholder marginal farms could help to achieve these objectives. The study presented here describes a modelling approach for the ex-ante assessment of the current farming practices of marginal households in terms of economic, environmental, and nutritional indicators in comparison with those of experimental research farms in order to delineate an alternative scope of flexibility to optimize farming practices. We used the FarmDESIGN model to evaluate farmers’ realities, with a focus on marginal farms (marginal poor farmers (MPFs)) and marginal diversified farmers (MDF) with the objective of enhancing profit, soil organic matter balance, and nutritional system yield in terms of dietary energy and reducing pesticide usage. Introducing prototype cropping systems in up to 33% of the farm area, combined with rearrangements of the existing crops, provided ample opportunity to improve farm performance. The improvements were greater when prototype cropping systems were added, and MPFs could benefit greatly from improvements in soil organic matter balance when considering the current negative organic matter balance of most farms. We conclude that the model-based approach of evaluating the potential of new cropping systems, along with the fine tuning of alternative combinations, will support the enhanced adaptability of innovative cropping practices, which will help to improve the livelihoods of marginal farmers.

The present studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of different nutrient management practices under two tillage options in wheat. The experiments were laid out in split-plot design with a combination of two varieties (WH 1105 and HD 2967) and two tillage options (Conventional and No tillage) in the main plot and six precision nutrient management practices [absolute control, site-specific nutrient management with Nutrient Expert for wheat (SSNM-NE)(170 kg nitrogen (N)/ha), SSNM NE+GreenSeeker (GS)(153/158 N kg/ha), N-120(120 kg N/ha) before irrigation, N(120)after irrigation and N Rich (180 kg N/ha)] in subplot replicated thrice. The grain yield and quality characters in no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) were similar but agronomic efficiency was higher in NT. Both the varieties (WH 1105 and HD 2967) gave similar grain yield and quality. Wheat variety WH 1105 recorded significantly higher sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation (SDS) and gluten index. The treatment SSNM NE+GS had resulted in 107.1% higher grain yield than no nitrogen control but similar to enriched N plot (180 kg N/ha). The grain protein, SDS and gluten index in need-based nutrient management (SSNM+GS) treatment were found to be similar as recorded in SSNM-NE (170 kgN/ha) and N enriched plot (180 kg N ha(-1)). The agronomic efficiency and recovery efficiency in SSNM+GS were also better than SSNM NE.