The continuous rice–wheat cropping system in South Asia has caused irreversible environmental damage, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the region’s agricultural systems. To address this issue, farm experiments were conducted for two successive years (2019–20 and 2020–21) to assess the impact of different cropping systems under conservation agriculture (CA) practices on the yield, productivity, and profitability of wheat. Results showed that the highest grain yield of wheat was observed in scenarios Sc6, Sc4, and Sc2, which involved full CA permanent-bed soybean (PB)–permanent-bed wheat (PB)–permanent-bed summer moong (PB), full CA permanent-bed maize (PB)–permanent-bed wheat (PB)–permanent-bed summer moong (PB), and partial CA puddled transplanted rice–Happy Seeder wheat–zero-till summer moong (ZT). Additionally, the highest irrigation water productivity (IWP), wheat grain macronutrient uptake, net return, and benefit–cost ratio (B:C ratio) were recorded under Sc6, full CA permanent-bed soybean (PB)–permanent-bed wheat (PB)–permanent-bed summer moong (PB) compared to farmers’ practice puddled transplanted rice (PTR)–conventional-till wheat–summer moong (Sc1) during both years. The system productivity also increased in scenarios Sc2, Sc4, and Sc6 (by 9.72%, 9.65%, and 14.14% in the first year and 10.68%, 14.14%, and 15.55% in the second year) compared to Sc1—farmers’ practice puddled transplanted rice (PTR)–conventional-till wheat–summer moong, Sc3—farmers’ practice fresh-bed maize (FB)–conventional-till wheat–summer moong, and Sc5–farmers’ practice fresh-bed soybean (FB)–conventional-till wheat (CT)–summer moong. The findings suggest that the conservation agriculture soybean–wheat–summer moong (Sc6) on permanent-bed cropping systems with inclusion legumes can be a potential option to enhance yield attributes, productivity, and profitability, as well as the sustainability of natural resources in the region while decreasing environmental footprints.

Wheat lodging remains a major constraint to sustainable wheat production because it reduces grain yield and quality, increases harvesting losses and lowers production efficiency. The widespread cultivation of high-yielding cultivars, intensive nitrogen fertilization, higher planting densities, expansion of irrigated agriculture, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events have collectively increased lodging susceptibility, making effective management an important priority. Lodging is a complex phenomenon governed by interactions among plant architecture, stem mechanical properties, root anchorage, crop management practices and environmental conditions. Consequently, improving lodging resistance requires an integrated approach that combines physiological understanding with practical agronomic interventions. This review synthesizes recent advances in the structural, physiological, biochemical and agronomic mechanisms underlying lodging resistance in wheat. Particular emphasis is placed on stem biomechanics, basal internode characteristics, cell wall composition, lignin and cellulose deposition, root system architecture, and genetic factors that collectively determine plant stability. The review further examines the influence of major agronomic practices, including nitrogen management, plant population, sowing time, irrigation scheduling and cultivar selection, on lodging risk under diverse production environments. In addition, the physiological responses, field performance, practical applications and limitations of commonly used plant growth regulators, including chlormequat chloride, trinexapac-ethyl, paclobutrazol, uniconazole and ethephon, are critically evaluated in relation to their roles in improving stem strength and reducing lodging. The available evidence indicates that no single strategy provides consistent lodging control across all production systems. Instead, durable improvement in lodging resistance depends on integrating genetic improvement, balanced crop nutrition, optimized agronomic management, and judicious use of plant growth regulators according to local environmental conditions. The review also highlights emerging opportunities offered by precision agriculture, high-throughput phenotyping, advanced spray technologies, and improved understanding of stem biomechanics and root anchorage. Together, these advances provide a framework for developing sustainable, climate-resilient lodging management strategies that enhance wheat productivity, crop stability and resource-use efficiency, while also highlighting key research priorities for future investigation.

Introduction: Late sowing constrains grain yield formation in wheat by shortening the duration of post-anthesis assimilate accumulation and limiting the effective utilization of source-derived assimilates during grain filling. Optimizing nitrogen nutrition and growth regulation could help maintain physiological activity, sink development and grain productivity under late-sown conditions. Methods: This two-year field study evaluated the effects of nitrogen fertilization and mepiquat chloride application on physiological responses, assimilate partitioning and grain yield of late-sown wheat in north-western India. Nitrogen treatments comprised 100% (M1), 125% (M2) and 150% (M3) of the recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN), while growth regulation treatments included an untreated control (S1), mepiquat chloride at 750 ppm at maximum tillering (S2), flag leaf (S3) and both stages (S4), and 1000 ppm at maximum tillering (S5), flag leaf (S6) and both stages (S7). Results: Nitrogen fertilization significantly increased grain yield compared with 100% RDN (M1), while 125% RDN (M2) and 150% RDN (M3) produced statistically comparable grain yields during both years. Grain yield under M2 was 48.1 and 49.1 q ha ^-1 , compared with 43.7 and 45.7 q ha ^-1 under M1, representing increases of 10.1 and 7.4%, respectively, whereas M3 recorded 50.4 and 51.9 q ha ^-1 , corresponding to increases of 15.3 and 13.6%, respectively, over M1 during 2023–24 and 2024–25. Among growth regulation treatments, dual-stage application of mepiquat chloride at 750 ppm (S4) recorded grain yields of 50.2 and 51.8 q ha ^-1 during 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively, and remained statistically comparable with the corresponding 1000 ppm treatment (S7). S4 also increased harvest index by 11.7-13.2% compared with the untreated control (S1), with values similar to S7 in both years. Discussion: Higher nitrogen supply and dual-stage mepiquat chloride application were associated with improved physiological activity, sink capacity and assimilate partitioning toward grains during grain filling. These findings indicate that appropriate nitrogen management and dual-stage mepiquat chloride application can help sustain wheat productivity under delayed sowing.