Inadequate nutrient management is one of the major challenges for sustainable soybean production in semi-arid climatic conditions. Hence, a 3-year (2015–2017) field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of foliar application of macro- and micronutrients on the growth, productivity, and profitability of soybean. Eight foliar nutrient sprays at the pod initiation stage—water spray (WS), 2% urea solution, 2% di-ammonium phosphate solution (DAP_2%), 0.5% muriate of potash solution (MOP_0.5%), 2% solution of 19:19:19 nitrogen phosphorus and potassium (NPK_2%), and a 0.5% solution each of molybdenum (Mo_0.5%), boron (B_0.5%), chelated-zinc (Zn _0.5%) and no-foliar nutrition (NFN)—were compared with a basal-applied recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF: 30 kg N, 75 kg P, and 40 kg K ha⁻¹) in a randomized block design (RBD), replicated three times. Foliar-applied chelated Zn@0.5% (Zn_0.5%) at the pod initiation stage resulted in more pods per plants. In addition to Zn_0.5%, urea_2%, NPK_2%, and B_0.5% significantly improved the pods per plant over treatment by no-foliar nutrition (NFN). The RDF-supplied soybean subsequently sprayed with Zn_0.5% produced the highest seed yield, which was 18.5–37.8% higher than that of NFN treatment Yield improvement due to the application of B_0.5%, DAP_2%, and urea_2% varied between 19.2–23.7, 16.6–20.4 and 18.6–20%, respectively. Foliar nutrition showed the largest net returns from Zn_0.5%. The water-use efficiency (WUE) and production efficiency increased by 18.4–37.6 and 34.9–37.5%, respectively, due to Zn_0.5% over the efficiencies from NFN treatment. Monetary efficiency (ME) gains due to Zn_0.5% were 24% higher, while ME efficiency gains due to urea_2%, NPK_2%, and B_0.5% varied between 15–16%. Thus, this study suggested that the foliar application of 0.5% Zn and B, urea, NPK fertilizer, and DAP at 2%, along with RDF. is a profitable nutrient management option for quality soybean production in a semiarid region. However, nutrient partitioning, changes in soil chemical and biological indicators, and environmental aspects need critical examination in future studies.

Yield limitation and widespread sulphur (S) deficiency in pearl-millet-nurturing dryland soils has emerged as a serious threat to crop productivity and quality. Among diverse pathways to tackle moisture and nutrient stress in rainfed ecologies, conservation agriculture (CA) and foliar nutrition have the greatest potential due to their economic and environmentally friendly nature. Therefore, to understand ammonium thiosulphate (ATS)-mediated foliar S nutrition effects on yield, protein content, mineral biofortification, and sulphur economy of rainfed pearl millet under diverse crop establishment systems, a field study was undertaken. The results highlighted that pearl millet grain and protein yield was significantly higher under no-tillage +3 t/ha crop residue mulching (NTCRM) as compared to no-tillage without mulch (NoTill) and conventional tillage (ConvTill), whereas the stover yield under NTCRM and ConvTill remained at par. Likewise, grain and stover yield in foliar S application using ATS 10 mL/L_twice was 19.5% and 13.2% greater over no S application. The sulphur management strategy of foliar-applied ATS 10 mL/L_twice resulted in significant improvement in grain protein content, protein yield, micronutrient fortification, and net returns (₹ 54.6 × 1000) over the control. Overall, ATS-mediated foliar S nutrition can be an alternate pathway to S management in pearl millet for yield enhancement, micronutrient biofortification and grain protein content increase under ConvTill, as well as under the new NTCRM systems.

Chenopodium album L. and Chenopodium murale L. are two principal weed species, causing substantial damage to numerous winter crops across the globe. For sustainable and resource-efficient management strategies, it is important to understand weeds’ germination behaviour under diverse conditions. For the germination investigations, seeds of both species were incubated for 15 days under different temperatures (10–30 °C), salinity (0–260 mM NaCl), osmotic stress (0–1 MPa), pH (4–10), and heating magnitudes (50–200 °C). The results indicate that the germination rates of C. album and C. murale were 54–95% and 63–97%, respectively, under a temperature range of 10 to 30 °C. The salinity levels for a 50% reduction in the maximum germination (GR₅₀) for C. album and C. murale were 139.9 and 146.3 mM NaCl, respectively. Regarding osmotic stress levels, the GR₅₀ values for C. album and C. murale were 0.44 and 0.43 MPa, respectively. The two species showed >95% germination with exposure to an initial temperature of 75 °C for 5 min; however, seeds exposed to 100 °C and higher temperatures did not show any germination. Furthermore, a drastic reduction in germination was observed when the pH was less than 6.0 and greater than 8.0. The study generated information on the germination biology of two major weed species under diverse ecological scenarios, which may be useful in developing efficient weed management tactics for similar species in future agri-food systems.

Rice-based cropping systems (RBCS) are a kingpin of global food security and rice fallow is one of the largest (>14 m ha) RBCS. A three-year study was carried out to develop sustainable intensification options and efficient nutrient management protocols of RBCS with greater water and energy productivity and more profits. Rice-lentil, rice-linseed and rice-rapeseed systems were tested in a split-plot design with nutrient management practices involving fertilizer levels (50%, 75% and 100% recommended fertilizer dose; RDF), green manuring with Sesbania (SGM) and rice residue incorporation (RRI). The results indicated that SGM produced significantly better rice productivity, enhanced 6.4–22.7% yield of succeeding crops and increased profits by ~20%. Application of 75 or 100% of RDF produced 24.5–30.3% higher grain yield of rabi crops. System intensification resulted in an additional rice equivalent yield (REY) of ~1–1.6 t ha⁻¹. SGM consumed relatively more energy (76,793 MJ ha⁻¹) but at the same time, resulted in higher energy output (182,657 MJ ha⁻¹), net energy (105,864 MJ ha⁻¹), energy intensity (1.68 MJ INR⁻¹) and human energy profitability (787) than the RRI. However, RRI recorded a higher energy ratio (2.42), energy productivity (0.082 kg MJ⁻¹) and energy profitability (1.42 kg MJ⁻¹). The rice-linseed cropping system resulted in greater system productivity, higher energy output (186,305 MJ ha⁻¹) and net energy (112,029 MJ ha⁻¹) than other systems. Overall, considering energy productivity, resource-use efficiency and profits, a rice-linseed system coupled with SGM and 75% RDF may be recommended as a sustainable intensification option in RBCS.

Little mallow (Malva parviflora L.) is a notorious weed that causes substantial yield losses in winter crops. For effective weed management and seed testing, a deeper understanding of seed dormancy, germination behavior, and dormancy-breaking methods is necessary. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of seed treatments, i.e., mechanical scarification, acid scarification, hot water treatment, and different germinating temperatures, i.e., 15 °C, 20 °C, or alternating 15–20 °C (16/8 h), on the seed dormancy in M.parviflora. A large proportion of M. parviflora seeds were physically dormant, with just 10.90% germination. Seed treatments had a significant influence on seed germination, seedling dry weight, vigor index, and water absorption (p ≤ 0.01). Among the various treatments, mechanical scarification enhanced germination by 32%, the vigor index by 487% and water uptake by 34%, and decreased percent hard seeds by 34%. Among the various germination temperatures, alternating 15–20 °C temperatures (16/8 h) gave the most significant result for germination and the lowest percent hard seeds. The findings of this study will serve as a valuable reference for seed testing and the development of suitable weed control strategies for M. parviflora.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a crucial cereal crop globally, serving as a staple food for a vast population. Its productivity faces challenges such as nutrient imbalance and terminal heat stress exacerbated by climate change, particularly in regions like the North-Eastern Plain Zone of India. To address these issues, a study was conducted during the rabi season of 2021–2022 in Jharkhand, India, aiming to examine the impacts of irrigation regimes and nano-urea-based nitrogen management practices on wheat. Employing a split-plot design with three replications, the experiment assessed three irrigation regimes and five nitrogen management practices. Results revealed that irrigation regimes registered non-significant effects on crop growth parameters like plant height, LAI (leaf area index), root dry weight, flag leaf area and tillers/m2 , which might be due to frequent rain up to the flowering stage during the crop growth period. Higher levels of nitrogen in commercial urea significantly increased plant height, LAI, flag leaf area, recovered root dry weight and dry matter accumulation. However, nano-urea spray at 45 DAS helped crop plants positively to increase all growth parameters more compared to nano-urea spray at 60 DAS. All growth attributes with 50% RDN+2-nano-urea spray were statistically at par with 50% RDN+1 nano-urea spray up to 40 DAS, but after the flowering stage, it was statistically similar with 100% RDN. The maximum tillers/m2 was found under 100% RDN, followed by 75% RDN+ one nano-urea spray and 50% RDN+2 nano-urea spray. Thus, 3- irrigations at CRI, flowering and milk stage and 100% RDN (120 kg N/ha) were found sufficient for enhancing the growth parameters of wheat.