Effect of precise levelling, tillage and seed sowing methods of pearlmillet based cropping systems on productivity and soil quality in dryland area

Abstract

Pearlmillet (PM) - Indian mustard (IM) is a major cropping system of dryland areas having some provision for supplemental irrigation either from groundwater or seasonal canal water supplies. In India, quite for some time, the PM-IM cropping system has been showing signs of stress and decline in system productivity and profitability, primarily due to deteriorating soil quality associated with the inability of the PM-IM growers to return any crop residues back to the soil. The objective of research study conducted during 2014−17 could improve the soil quality, productivity of the system and make it more profitable was to find if shift from traditional to an innovative conservation agriculture (CA) farming system. The study was conducted on rainy season PM based four dry winter season crops involving an IM and three legume crops- chickpea (CP), fieldpea (FP) and lentil (L) under two methods of land levelling viz. conventional (CLL) and precision laser-assisted land levelling (PLL), and three tillage and seed sowing (TSS) methods- conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT) and permanent raised broad bed- furrow (PBBF). The results of PLL and PBBF seed sowing significantly enhanced the soil quality parameters, yield attributing characters, productivity of rainy and winter season crops and of the cropping systems, net returns and water use efficiency (WUE) as compared with the conventional practices. Improvement in soil quality parameters and performance of the cropping systems followed the order: PM-CP > PM-L > PM-FP > PM-IM. Research study showed that TSS method with PBBF with in conjunction PLL can further make this system more productive and economically profitable, uplift soil quality and save resources.