Background: The rice-wheat cropping system is the prevailing agricultural method in the North-Western states of India, namely in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The practice of open burning of rice residue is frequently employed for expedient land preparation, but it has significant adverse impacts on both the environment and human health. These include the emission of greenhouse gases, loss of nutrients, elevated concentrations of particulate matter (PM), and disruption of the biological cycle. This research aims to investigate the implementation of effective management strategies in the rice-wheat cropping system, namely via the use of tillage-based crop cultivation techniques, stubble retention, and integration approaches. The objective is to enhance soil health features in order to augment crop yield and improve its attributes. Results: The research was carried out using a split plot experimental design, consisting of three replications. The main plot consisted of four different cultivation methods, while the subplot included three genotypes of both rice and wheat. The research demonstrates the enhanced efficacy of residue application is significantly augmenting soil nutrient concentrations compared to standard tillage practices (P < 0.05). This was accomplished by an analysis of soil nutrient levels, namely nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and organic carbon (OC), at a depth of 0–15 cm. The implementation of natural farming, zero tillage, and reduced tillage practices resulted in decreases in rice grain yields of 34.0%, 16.1%, and 10.8%, respectively, as compared to conventional tillage methods. Similarly, the implementation of natural farming, zero tillage, and reduced tillage resulted in reductions in wheat grain yields of 59.4%, 10.9%, and 4.6% respectively, in comparison to conventional tillage practices. Conclusion: Regarding the individual crop genotypes investigated, it was continuously observed that Him Palam Lal Dhan 1 and HPW 368 displayed considerably greater grain yields for both rice and wheat during the two-year experimental period. Furthermore, when considering different cultivation methods, conventional tillage emerged as the most effective approach for obtaining higher productivity in both rice and wheat. Additionally, Him Palam Lal Dhan 1 and HPW 368 exhibited superior performance in terms of various crucial yield components for rice (such as panicle density, grains per panicle, panicle weight, and test weight) and wheat (including effective tiller density, grains per spike, spike weight, and 1000-grain weight).

An importance of tillage, inorganic and organic nutrient sources in the mustard - soybean cropping system lies in their ability to enhance soil fertility, improve nutrient availability, optimize crop growth and yield, and promote sustainable agricultural practices. Any cropping system’s sustainability could be increased by implementing better management techniques like zero and reduced tillage with residue retention and better nutrient sources. A field experiment was conducted for four consecutive seasons (Winter 2019 to Rainy 2021) to compare the two enhanced management practices, zero and reduced tillage to conventional tillage across four levels of nutrient sources: 75 and 100% recommended dose of nitrogen through FYM and 75 and 100% recommended dose of fertilizers through urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potash in a two years experiment. Experiment results were evaluated in terms of nutrient status, profitability and productivity of Mustard-Soybean cropping system. The results show a substantial improvement in yield, nutrient status, and overall yield performance of mustard and soybean when using the full recommended dose of fertilizers combined with reduced tillage and mulching, compared to other treatment methods. The implementation of reduced tillage practices recorded significantly higher yield of mustard and soybean over conventional and zero tillage. System productivity and profitability i.e. mustard equivalent yield, productivity, gross returns, net returns, profitability and B: C (benefit: cost) was found to be improved with reduced tillage and 100% recommended dose of fertilizer under reduced tillage practices. To enhance cropping system productivity in various sub-humid regions worldwide, farmers can adopt reduced tillage techniques combined with the full recommended dose of fertilizers (100% RDF).

Spatial and temporal rainfall variability under rain-fed scenarios has a greater influence on the sustainability of a cropping system and food security. A rainfall analysis was conducted on a monthly, annual, and seasonal basis across selected agro-climatic zones (I, II, and III) of Himachal Pradesh. The results indicated that South–West (SW) monsoon (July–October) rainfall contributed to 84% of zone-I, 76% for zone-II, and 47% for zone-III of the total annual rainfall. The mean annual precipitation concentration index (PCI) value reflected irregular monthly precipitation distribution (PCI > 20) for zone-II and zone-III, whereas moderate precipitation distribution value of PCI = 11–15 was for zone-I indicated less variability in rainfall. The Sen’s slope estimator revealed that the rainfall decreased at a rate of − 8.021 mm/year, − 6.830 mm/year, and − 5.050 mm/year in zone-I, zone-II, and zone-III, respectively. The water balance study showed that peak surplus water availability observed a shift from July to August month corresponding with peak rainfall during the SW monsoon in recent decades for all agro-climatic zones. During 1986–2020, low-hill regions (zone-I) experienced water surplus during monsoon season and deficit during winter season, while the mid-hill regions (zone-II) experienced water deficits during monsoon season and surplus during winter season. Therefore, the erratic rainfall pattern and shift of available water balance have an impact on agricultural productivity by shortening the cropping calendar and time duration between the two crops. Thus, findings can be used to develop agronomic management strategies for sustainable crop management.

Introduction: The increasing need for food, which results from fast population growth, requires agricultural methods that can produce more crops while protecting soil health. Biochar has become an effective soil enhancer that boosts soil fertility and nutrient retention while increasing crop productivity. Methods: The study examined the effects of nutrient management with biochar on the growth performance of direct-seeded rice in the Bagamoyo irrigation project during the cropping period of 2025. The split-plot design was used with three replicates and a split-plot ANOVA and linear mixed effect models to assess the integration of biochar and NPK from maize straw in three rice varieties (TXD 306, TANRICE 1, and KHAODUCKMALL) under multi-season conditions, with a p<0.05 mean separation and a Tukey HSD. Results: The study results demonstrate that biochar application constituted the only element that produced a statistically significant impact on crop height at harvest level measurement (p = 0.0135), while all other factors, including variety and their interactions, showed no significant impact. The two most important factors for sample discrimination were Fe and Zn, while TN and K followed behind. The PCA results showed that PC1 explained most of the variation through its strong links to Fe and Zn and TN, while PC2 showed primary connections to P and K and Mn. The biplot showed three distinct clusters, which scientists identified with 95 confidence with confidence ellipses. The 50% biochar plus 50% NPK treatment outperformed the control and sole fertilizer treatments because it produced taller plants, although the varieties showed minor differences in their plant response. Discussion: The study results show that biochar combined with mineral fertilizer produced greater tiller manure yields when compared to the control treatment. The results demonstrate that combining biochar with inorganic fertilizers enhances rice growth and productivity in drought-prone direct-seeding conditions while also improving soil fertility management.