Abstract
The rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the backbone of Indian farming, especially in the north-western region. But continuous adoption of the RWCS in northwest India has resulted in major challenges and stagnation in the productivity of this system. Additionally, the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are also facing similar challenges for sustainable production of the RWCS. Several emerging problems, such as the exhausting nutrient pool in soil, deteriorating soil health, groundwater depletion, escalating production cost, labor scarcity, environmental pollution due to crop residue burning and enhanced greenhouse gas emissions, climatic vulnerabilities, and herbicide resistance in weed species, are a few major threats to its sustainability. To address these challenges, a wide range of sustainable intensification technologies have been developed to reduce the irrigation and labor requirements, tillage intensity, and straw burning. Awareness and capacity building of the stakeholders and policy matching/advocacy need to be prioritized to adopt time- and need-based strategies at the ground level to combat these challenges. This review summarizes the current status and challenges of the RWCS in the northwest region of the country and also focuses on the precision management options for achieving high productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
Highlights
The rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system (RWCS) plays a vital role in global food security as it provides staple foods to the world’s population (Lalik et al, 2014; Banjara et al, 2021a)
More than 85% of the rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) practiced in South Asia is distributed in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP; Banjara et al, 2021b)
P. minor has evolved with multiple resistance to three modes of herbicidal action, namely, acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase), acetolactate synthase (ALS), and photosystem II (PS II) inhibitors (Chhokar and Sharma, 2008; Yadav et al, 2016)
Summary
The rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system (RWCS) plays a vital role in global food security as it provides staple foods to the world’s population (Lalik et al, 2014; Banjara et al, 2021a). The RWCS in north-western India is rapidly becoming unsustainable mainly due to rising production cost, depletion/degradation of natural resources, and declining input use efficiencies coupled with changing climate and other socio-economic conditions. Rice and wheat are the exhaustive cereal crops that lead to a heavy depletion of soil nutrients, and the problem is further aggravated when farmers burn the rice crop residue left in their fields after mechanized harvesting. This review mainly focuses on the importance of the RWCS in northwest India and prevailing and emerging concerns related to continuous adoption of this cropping system vis-a-vis alternate sustainable intensification technologies along with precision management options for achieving higher productivity, farm income, and sustainability
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