Intensification Of Cropping Systems Research Articles

Coastal Salinity Management and Cropping System Intensification through Conservation Agriculture in the Ganges Delta

Soil salinity is the major constraint for cropping system intensification in the coastal region of the Ganges Delta. Salts build up on the soil surface, as well as in the crop root zone, due to the capillary rise in underground brackish water, hampering the growth and development of crops and resulting in mortality and low yields. We studied, for three years (2020–2021 to 2022–2023), the effect of conservation agricultural practices (zero tillage planting, crop residue recycling, and crop rotations) on the major soil properties (soil salinity and organic carbon status), crop performance (yield and economics), and water footprint. Conservation agricultural practices significantly reduce soil salinity, build soil organic carbon, reduce water footprint, and increase the profitability of cropping systems compared to tillage-intensive conventional practices. Under conventional agriculture, the sole cropping of rice is more profitable than double and triple cropping systems.

Qualitative Evaluation of Cropping System Intensification in Coastal Saline Zone of West Bengal, India

Qualitative Evaluation of Cropping System Intensification in Coastal Saline Zone of West Bengal, India

Do rotations and intercrops matter? Opportunities for intensification and diversification of maize-based cropping systems in Zambia

ContextRealizing the double-edged goals of food security and crop diversification require knowledge of crop yield response to different agricultural practices and the extent to which such response is context dependent. This is particularly important in Southern Africa where cropping systems are dominated by maize and smallholders use few external inputs. ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the performance of cropping systems with different levels of legume diversification and intensification on maize productivity across the main agroecological zones and farming systems of Zambia, and (2) to establish the minimum land required to reach maize self-sufficiency at household level with the different cropping systems tested. MethodsSix maize-based cropping systems, comprising maize monocropping, maize-legume rotations and intercrops under ‘conventional’ tillage and conservation agriculture, were evaluated across 40 farms in contrasting agro-ecological zones and farming systems of Zambia. A household survey was conducted in the same communities hosting the on-farm trials to quantify the share of households with enough maize cultivated area to benefit from the tested cropping systems. ResultsMaize yield measured in the on-farm trials ranged, on average, between 3.6 and 5.4 t ha−1, which was greater than mean maize yields reported by farmers not hosting on-farm trials during the same growing seasons and in the same sites. Our results showed a clear positive effect of legume rotation on maize yield in Eastern province only, where cropping systems including groundnut as rotation crop yielded between 1.0 and 2.0 t ha−1 more maize than other cropping systems. Pigeon pea intercrops and Gliricidia hedgerows, crop residue management, and tillage practice had no significant effect on maize yield in any of the provinces. Finally, nearly 35, 50, and 70% of surveyed farms in Northern, Eastern, and Southern province would have enough land to achieve the same level of maize production obtained on their farm with the yields, and associated area requirements, of the maize-legume rotations tested in the on-farm trials. ConclusionLegume rotations can increase maize productivity on land abundant farms in high potential maize production areas of Southern Africa, whereas legume intercrops have benefits at cropping systems level and should be targeted to land constrained farms. SignificanceThe study contributes to better understand the niche for diversified maize-based cropping systems with legume rotations and intercrops in Southern Africa, along with their impacts on maize productivity at the field level and their land requirements at the farm level.

Submergence-tolerant rice varieties and mechanical transplanting for intensification of rice-rice cropping systems in Assam

Variable climate resulting in floods, and labor-intensive manual rice transplanting are the major challenges in rice cultivation in Assam, India. Our study aimed to improve rice-rice systems productivity through submergence-tolerant rice varieties (STRVs) and mechanical puddled transplanted rice (MTR). On-farm experiments were conducted in four rice seasons over two years (2018-19 and 2019-20) in 15 districts where rice-rice is the dominant cropping system. We evaluated best management practices (BMPs- a combination of STRVs and MTR) against farmers practice (FP-local popular varieties and manual puddled transplanted rice (PTR)). The study also carried out mixed model to assess the unequal distributions of treatments, 127 sites under BMPs and 392 sites under FP. Our results showed that BMPs increased rice grain yield by 25% (1.11–1.14 ​t ​ha−1) and net margin by 68–90% (290–320 USD ha−1) over FP across the seasons. The BMPs also had less variable cost by 59–67 USD ha−1 compared to FP. The adoption of BMPs in rice-rice system increased the system productivity by 2.25 ​t ​ha−1 and net margin by 610 USD ha−1. We conclude that rice-rice system productivity can be increased by adoption of BMPs in Assam. However, scaling of BMPs requires awareness and access to seeds of submergence-tolerant rice varieties and mechanical transplanters.

Sustainable intensification of sorghum-based cropping systems in semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa: The role of improved varieties, mineral fertilizer, and legume integration

ProblemSustainable intensification of cereal cropping systems can contribute to reducing food insecurity while mitigating biodiversity losses thanks to land sparing. Yet, intensifying crop production with more nutrient inputs often increases sensitivity to climate hazards and yields inter-annual variability. How different options for sustainable intensification interact and how they could help achieve greater and less variable yields is not well known for key cereal cropping systems of sub-Saharan Africa. ObjectiveHere, we aim to assess the impact on productivity and its interannual variation of three contrasted strategies of crop intensification, namely i) the integration of cowpea intercropped with sorghum or as sole crop, ii) improved varieties with high harvest index and greater nitrogen use efficiency, and iii) the use of more mineral fertilizer. MethodsWe did this assessment using a calibrated soil-crop model for a case study of sorghum-based cropping systems of semi-arid southern Mali, using a historical weather series from 1980 to 2010. ResultsWe found that the incremental combinations of two or three strategies helped increase productivity in terms of energy and protein. However, greater productivity went hand in hand with greater inter-annual variability. Intercropping sorghum with cowpea helped to reduce the inter-annual variability of productivity, but only when mineral fertilizer was not added. With mineral fertilizer input, sorghum contributed the largest share of the intercrop productivity, and sorghum yield was more variable from a year to another than cowpea yield. The overall productivity of intercropping sorghum with cowpea was always greater than having the two sole crops on separate plots. This was possible thanks to the facilitation of light, water and N acquisition by the two crops in the intercropping, regardless of the specificities of the growing season with regard to water and nitrogen stress. However, the variability of productivity was smaller for the cultivation of the two sole crops on separate plots, regardless of fertilizer input. ConclusionThe often-claimed benefit of intercropping on reducing the inter-annual variability of production does not hold when the three strategies are combined. ImplicationsOur results suggest that the integration of legumes does not help cushion farmers against the risk related to the intensification of cropping systems with more nutrients and improved seeds. Careful gross margin analysis that accounts for price variability and uncertainty would be required to refine this risk assessment for specific farm contexts. We discuss the implication of these findings in light of the current research agenda for the sustainable intensification of cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sustainable Cropping System Intensification in Arid Region of India: Fallow Replacement with Limited Duration Sorghum–Legume Intercropping Followed by Eruca sativa Mill. Grown on Conserved Soil Moisture

A field experiment was conducted to explore the possibilities of sustainable crop intensification in the fallow–Eruca sativa Mill. system in arid ecology by replacing fallow with short-duration sorghum–legume intercropping. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with two planting systems (bed and conventional) in main plots and a factorial combination of crop duration (50 and 60 days) and cropping systems (sole sorghum, sorghum + cowpea, sorghum + Sesbania in 2:2 ratio) in sub-plots. In the succeeding Eruca sativa crop, residuals and two gypsum levels (0 and 250 kg ha−1) were tested. Bed planting practiced during both seasons did not improve the system productivity to significant levels. Extending the duration of fallow replacement crops from 50 to 60 days significantly increased their forage yield, overall system productivity by 25–34%, and system net returns by 15.9–21.5%. Amongst the intercropping systems, the sorghum + Sesbania system added 10–13 tonnes ha−1Sesbania biomass to the soil, resulting in higher soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, dehydrogenase activity, and residual soil moisture, which increased the yield of the succeeding Eruca sativa crop by 8.8–15% compared to the residual of sole sorghum. However, it could not compensate for the yield loss due to the utilization of 50% of the area for growing the green manure crop. The sorghum + cowpea intercropping–Eruca sativa system was found to be the optimum combination with a system productivity of 1.27–1.87 Mg ha−1Eruca sativa seed equivalent. The productivity of Eruca sativa further improved by 9.5–23.7% due to the soil application of gypsum @ 250 kg ha−1. When averaged over treatments, fallow replacement during the rainy season reduced the available soil moisture at the sowing of Eruca sativa by 8.3–22.8% and subsequently its yield by 16.5–30.4% compared to the fallow–Eruca sativa system. However, with this production penalty, an additional rainy-season fodder crop was successfully grown, which improved the system productivity by 57.7–82.8%, net returns by 31.2–57.3%, and rainfall use efficiency from 0.21 to 36 USD/mm−1 ha−1. Hence, it may be concluded that short-duration fodder crops may be taken as fallow replacement crops for higher system productivity and rainfall use efficiency.

Elucidating the interactive impact of tillage, residue retention and system intensification on pearl millet yield stability and biofortification under rainfed agro-ecosystems.

Micronutrient malnutrition and suboptimal yields pose significant challenges in rainfed cropping systems worldwide. To address these issues, the implementation of climate-smart management strategies such as conservation agriculture (CA) and system intensification of millet cropping systems is crucial. In this study, we investigated the effects of different system intensification options, residue management, and contrasting tillage practices on pearl millet yield stability, biofortification, and the fatty acid profile of the pearl millet. ZT systems with intercropping of legumes (cluster bean, cowpea, and chickpea) significantly increased productivity (7-12.5%), micronutrient biofortification [Fe (12.5%), Zn (4.9-12.2%), Mn (3.1-6.7%), and Cu (8.3-16.7%)], protein content (2.2-9.9%), oil content (1.3%), and fatty acid profile of pearl millet grains compared to conventional tillage (CT)-based systems with sole cropping. The interactive effect of tillage, residue retention, and system intensification analyzed using GGE statistical analysis revealed that the best combination for achieving stable yields and micronutrient fortification was residue retention in both (wet and dry) seasons coupled with a ZT pearl millet + cowpea-mustard (both with and without barley intercropping) system. In conclusion, ZT combined with residue recycling and legume intercropping can be recommended as an effective approach to achieve stable yield levels and enhance the biofortification of pearl millet in rainfed agroecosystems of South Asia.

Effect of deficit saline irrigation, tillage and rice straw mulch in wheat‐sorghum cropping system on yield and nutritive value of rainfed forage sorghum in salt‐affected soils

AbstractSoil and groundwater salinity associated with limited rainfall are the challenges for checking salinity build‐up in semi‐arid regions. This field experiment was conducted to test the impact of deficit saline irrigation (DSI) (in winter) with mulching and tillage on salinity build‐up, yield and nutritive value of rainfed‐forage sorghum. Tillage (reduced, conventional and zero), saline water (8.0 dS m−1) irrigation (100%, 80% and 60% of water requirement [WR] in wheat) and mulch were allocated following split factorial layout. DSI with mulching produced at par wheat and sorghum yield compared with 100WR irrigation with harvested rainwater. Mulching improved wheat grain yield and the soil water content by ~13% throughout the cropping season. Forage sorghum yield was increased by DSI and mulching in the previous season compared with irrigation with 100WR saline water. Reduced tillage declined the neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) with an increase in cell soluble constituents. DSI and mulching also increased the digestible nutrient, crude protein (CP), ash and reduced ADF of sorghum. Soil salinity showed a negative correlation with CP, positive correlation with ADF, ADL and cellulose. Therefore, it is recommended that DSI and reduced tillage with mulching can be a reliable option for productive use of saline soils and water by cropping system intensification. These results also showed the potential for achieving 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals as well as targets of land degradation neutrality in salt‐affected soils by savings irrigation, doubling cropping intensity and preventing salinity build‐up.

Crop establishment and diversification strategies for intensification of rice-based cropping systems in rice-fallow areas in Odisha

Context or problemIn the Indian state of Odisha, rice-based system productivity is poor due to: (i) low rice yield in the monsoon (wet) season (2–4 t ha−1 compared to 6–8 t ha−1 in Punjab or Haryana); and (ii) limited cropping during the post-monsoon (dry) season (59% of the wet season rice area is left fallow in the dry season). ObjectiveOur study identifies strategies for increasing rice-based system productivity through: (i) alternative crop establishment methods in the wet season (Dry-Direct Seeded Rice or DSR, and mechanical puddled transplanted rice or PTR-M) to traditional methods such as broadcasting followed by post-emergence tillage (locally known as beushening) and manual random puddled transplanted rice (PTR-R); (ii) to identify rice-fallow areas suitable for pulse and oilseed cultivation in the dry season; and (iii) to evaluate the performance of short-duration pulses (green gram, Vigna radiata; black gram, Vigna mungo), and oilseeds (Brassica rapa var. toria, Helianthus annuus) in rice-fallow areas in the dry season. MethodsOn-farm experiments were conducted between 2017 and 2019 in three districts of Odisha (Bhadrak, Cuttack and Mayurbhanj) to evaluate DSR compared to beushening and PTR-R; and PTR-M compared to PTR-R and manual line puddled transplanted rice (PTR-L) in the wet season. The data from Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Sentinel-1satellite sensors was used to identify rice-fallow areas, and the daily SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) L-band soil moisture was used for mapping suitable rice-fallow areas for growing pulses and oilseeds. Short duration crops were evaluated in suitable rice-fallow areas. ResultsIn the wet season, DSR (range −4 to + 53%) had a significant effect on rice yield over beushening. Similarly, PTR-M consistently increased rice yield by 16–26% over PTR-R, and by 5–23% over PTR-L. In the dry season, pulse crops (green gram and black gram) performed well compared to Indian mustard under rainfed cultivation. However, under irrigated conditions, dry-season rice yield was more productive than the rice equivalent yield of green gram, black gram and sunflower. We found that 1.03 M ha (i.e., ∼50%) of total rice-fallow areas of 2.1 M ha were suitable for growing short duration green gram and black gram in the dry season. ConclusionsWe conclude that system productivity and cropping intensity can be increased by adoption of DSR and PTR-M in the wet season, and growing of green gram and black gram in the dry season. ImplicationsOdisha state can potentially produce an additional 0.67 million tonnes pulses if suitable rice-fallow areas are brought under green gram and black gram cultivation in the dry the season.

Sustainable Intensification of Cropping Systems under Conservation Agriculture Practices: Impact on Yield, Productivity and Profitability of Wheat

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.

Rice-based Cropping System Intensification in the Coastal Saline area of Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects

The coastal zone environment of Bangladesh is characterised geographically by river deltas and estuaries, where tidal and riverine flooding and varying salinity levels affect agriculture and livelihoods. In this area, the land and agricultural productivity is very low because of several constraints, particularly waterlogging, high salinity of soil and water, freshwater scarcity for crop irrigation and natural disaster. In this review, the objectives are to focus on the limiting factors for crop intensifying and highlighting the opportunities to increase coastal agriculture while enhancing farmer’s livelihoods. Some recent studies demonstrated many opportunities for increasing cropping systems that have not yet been exploited extensively. Rainwater or low saline river water storing in the internal canal can fulfil the water requirement for dry season rice and non-rice crops, thereby increasing growth and yield. Early establishment of “Rabi” crops (non-rice) can utilize maximum low-saline soil water and escape high salinity/drought or heat/storms at later period of the growing stages, but this early sown Rabi crops needs early harvest of Aman rice around 15-30 days earlier than farmer practices. Moreover, early sowing by zero tilled dibbling (such as sunflower, maize, wheat, and potato) in wet soils results in higher yield potential. Using rice straw mulch ~5 t ha-1 has been shown to be highly beneficial for ameliorating soil constraints. A recent study revealed that straw mulch application on soil surface increased soil water and soil solute potential in the upper root zone, reduced soil salinity, soil strength, and cracking which attributed to higher yield. Considering the successful dry season crop establishment and yield potential requires early drainage to remove excess soil water and a drainage system that mitigates waterlogging from heavy rainfall events during the growing season. We expect this review will facilitate the future research planning and execution in this vulnerable coastal environment. Bangladesh Rice J. 25 (2) : 31-43, 2021

Cropping system intensification for smallholder farmers in coastal zone of West Bengal, India: A socio-economic evaluation

IntroductionIt is estimated that five out of six farms in the world are operating less than two hectares of land, called smallholder farmers, and they are producing over one third of the global food. Cropping system intensification research and interventions at farmers' fields could be one of the ways to improve the prevailing cropping systems. Understanding socio-economic issues are important for the successful implementation of improved or new cropping systems and for increasing farmers' income in the coastal zone of the Ganges delta. A socio-economic evaluation study was carried out to understand how far the suggested cropping options were feasible to smallholder farmers in the coastal zone; quantify the benefits due to the adoption of new cropping systems; how far those options were socio-economically suitable for the targeted smallholder farmers; and to identify the key factors that might be affecting the out-scaling of the evolved options to a larger group of farmers.MethodsBaseline and endline surveys were conducted with 90 farmers before and after the demonstration of various cropping systems at farmers' fields. Techno-economic suitability of new crops and management options were evaluated through accounting benefits of adoption and identifying various constraints in adoption. Behavioral analysis was carried out to identify factors affecting large-scale adoption of the new/improved cropping systems evolved.Results and discussionThe socio-economic survey quantified the increase in cropping intensity higher than the baseline level (123–142%) and reduced the rabi (winter/dry) season fallow area by 30–35%. The study identified farmers' preferred interventions were low-cost drip irrigation and mulching, zero-tillage (ZT) potato with straw mulching, improving soil quality with lime and green manuring, and vegetable-based cropping systems interventions. Although the economics of the evolved cropping systems were favorable, however, availability of freshwater stored in ponds/canals, and income from on and off-farm were the most important factors determining the adoption of new systems on a larger scale.

Sustainability assessment of cropping systems: A field-based approach on family farms. Application to maize cultivation in Southeast Asia

Maize cropping has often become the only way for many family farmers in Southeast Asia to rapidly obtain a cash income. However, the intensification of maize-based cropping systems is raising concerns about its environmental sustainability. This study contributed to field-based approaches for ex post sustainability assessment of current cropping systems on farms and for the design of more sustainable prototypes, in conditions where the information required for estimating sustainability indicators are not readily available. A 3-year regional agronomic diagnosis was combined with a multicriteria assessment and a prototyping procedure. The latter aimed to increase the performances on the indicators that showed critical levels on current systems. A local diversity of maize fields in Laos was used to test the approach. We defined and used indicators representing farmers’ socio-economic objectives and risks for the environment. Sustainability indicators were calculated using data extracted from farm surveys, direct measurements in fields managed by the farmers and crop modelling. Our analysis showed that the most frequent weaknesses in all current maize-based cropping systems were (i) low land and labour productivity, (ii) high susceptibility to weed infestation, (iii) high risk of herbicide leaching, (iv) risk of soil fertility depletion, (v) risk of soil erosion. None of the current cropping systems performed well simultaneously on both indicators of land/labour productivity and control of herbicide leaching. These sustainability issues mainly resulted from difficulties in mastering mechanised crop establishment. Taking the current cropping system as a starting point, prototypes with successful crop establishment thanks to well mastered mechanisation would significantly improve the following sustainability indicators: control of herbicide leaching (improved by 130–340%), yield (multiplied by 1.3–2.3), gross margin (multiplied by 1.3–2.2), weed control (improved by 180–430%) and labour productivity (multiplied by 1.4–3.4). However, it would increase erosion (erosion control divided by 1.6–7) and seasonal cash outflow would increase (multiplied by 1.1–2). Overall, improving crop establishment would increase sustainability (overall sustainability score multiplied by 1.1–1.6). Our results suggest that providing farmers with enhanced capacity to master crop establishment would not solve all sustainability issues of maize cultivation, but at least help avoid a catastrophic overuse of herbicides in that context.

Can green manure contribute to sustainable intensification of rainfed rice production in Madagascar?

Green manure can be a source of nutrients for crops to spare some of the mineral fertilizer required for sustainable intensification of agriculture in smallholder context. We explored with a calibrated model the potential of legume green manure to help spare mineral fertilizer for sustainable intensification of rainfed rice production in Madagascar highlands. This study builds on a two-year rice experiment with rice and green manure as previous crop. The experiment investigated the response of rainfed rice growth to the incorporation into the soil of i) rice residue only (C:N ratio of 44.9) and ii) mucuna + crotalaria green manures (C:N ratio of 18.7). Two levels of fertilizer were investigated: manure only (5 t DM ha −1 ) (F1) and manure (5 t DM ha −1 ) in combination with mineral fertilizer (136 kg N ha −1 ) (F2). The crop model STICS was calibrated against observed soil water and soil mineral N, plant N uptake, aboveground biomass and grain yield to reproduce the impact of residue type and fertilizer input on mineralization of organic N in soil and in crop residue, crop growth and grain yield. The calibrated crop model was then used to explore rice response to mineral N fertilizer, with or without green manure, for the historical climate (1994–2018). Relative Root Mean Square Error (rRMSE) of model simulations fell within the observed relative variation in grain yield due to treatment effect. With green manure, mineral N available for rice increased compared with the situation without green manure, leading to greater agronomic use efficiency of N fertilizer. Green manure helped spare mineral fertilizer to achieve a reference yield set at 75 % of potential yield. This reference yield (3.67 t ha −1 on average across years) was reached with 40 kg N ha −1 with 6 t ha −1 of green manure, and 100 kg N ha −1 without green manure. The analysis of rice yield inter-annual variability indicated that (i) N leaching increased with total seasonal rainfall, which undermined the benefits of green manure on rice productivity in wetter years, and (ii) the increase in rice productivity allowed by the green manure did not fully compensate the rice yield foregone with the cultivation of the green manure. The calibrated model can be a useful tool to explore additional management strategies that will help maximize the benefit of green manure for sustainable intensification of rice-based cropping systems, especially in low-input cropping systems. • Impacts of green manure incorporation into the soil was assessed using modeling approach. • Rice response to mineral N fertilizer and green manure was evaluated with historical climate. • N available for crop increased with the use of green manure. • Green manure helped spare mineral fertilizer to achieve potential yield. • Benefits of green manure is undermined in wet years partly due to N leaching.

Impact of cropping system diversification on productivity and resource use efficiencies of smallholder farmers in south-central Bangladesh: a multi-criteria analysis

Diversification of smallholder rice-based cropping systems has the potential to increase cropping system intensity and boost food security. However, impacts on resource use efficiencies (e.g., nutrients, energy, and labor) remain poorly understood, highlighting the need to quantify synergies and trade-offs among different sustainability indicators under on-farm conditions. In southern coastal Bangladesh, aman season rice is characterized by low inputs and low productivity. We evaluated the farm-level impacts of cropping system intensification (adding irrigated boro season rice) and diversification (adding chili, groundnut, mungbean, or lathyrus) on seven performance indicators (rice equivalent yield, energy efficiency, partial nitrogen productivity, partial potassium productivity, partial greenhouse gas footprint, benefit-cost ratio, and hired labor energy productivity) based on a comprehensive survey of 501 households. Indicators were combined into a multi-criteria performance index, and their scope for improvement was calculated by comparing an individual farmer’s performance to top-performing farmers (highest 20%). Results indicate that the baseline system (single-crop aman season rice) was the least productive, while double cropped systems increased rice equivalent yield 72–217%. Despite gains in productivity, higher cropping intensity reduced resource use efficiencies due to higher inputs of fertilizer and energy, which also increased production costs, particularly for boro season rice. However, trade-offs were smaller for diversified systems including legumes, largely owing to lower N fertilizer inputs. Aman season rice had the highest multi-criteria performance index, followed by systems with mungbean and lathyrus, indicating the latter are promising options to boost food production and profitability without compromising sustainability. Large gaps between individual and top-performing farmers existed for each indicator, suggesting significant scope for improvement. By targeting indicators contributing most to the multi-criteria performance index (partial nitrogen productivity, energy efficiency, hired labor energy productivity), results suggest further sustainability gains can be achieved through future field research studies focused on optimizing management within diversified systems.

Cropping System Intensification: An Approach to Increase Yield, Water Productivity, and Profitability in North-West Bangladesh

Water productivity improvement is getting the prime concern to sustain irrigated rice production in the water-scarce areas of Bangladesh under changing climate. Besides, profitable cropping pattern selection is one of the major indicators of commercial agriculture. The study was conducted at Mithapukur and Pirganj Upazilas of Rangpur district during 2018–2020 to evaluate the water saving and profitability of three crop cropping patterns over two crops pattern. The experiment involved two improved patterns, T. Aman-Mustard-Boro (CP1) and T. Aman-Potato-Boro (CP2), and one locally popular pattern, T. Aman-Fallow-Boro (CP3). Irrigation management involved supplemental irrigation for T. Aman rice, irrigation application after disappearing standing water for Boro rice, and two irrigations at critical stages of potato and mustard. Both CP1 and CP2 received higher rainfall than CP3 because the delayed transplanting of Boro rice captured more rainfall. The improved patterns of CP1 and CP2 saved 22–40% of irrigation water compared with CP3. Among the patterns, CP2 achieved the highest rice equivalent yield (REY) of 21.1–33.6 t·ha−1 due to excellent potato production. Similarly, CP2 provided the highest irrigation water productivity because of higher REY as well as less irrigation requirement. Both CP1 and CP2 patterns returned a higher gross margin than CP3. The findings indicated that the inclusion of potato and mustard in the T. Aman-Fallow-Boro cropping pattern saved irrigation water as well as increased production and economic benefit. Adoption of these water-efficient cropping patterns may reduce groundwater irrigation in the water-scarce areas of Bangladesh.

Evaluation of suitable rice (Oryza sativa) based cropping systems under rainfed medium land situation of Assam for enhancing farmers income and soil health

Rice is the predominant kharif crop grown in low and medium land situation of Assam. As the monocropping of rice is practiced by most of the farmers, the cropping intensity of the state is not upto the mark. In recent years, the farmers of the state have started growing different rabi pulses and oilseeds in sequence which helps in increasing the cropping intensity of the state as well as the farmers income. Diversification and intensification of rice-based cropping systems with remunerative and efficient crops like pulses, oilseeds and vegetables has great scope to generate maximum profit and soil health. Therefore, this study was conducted during 2016–17 and 2017–18 at farmers field to assessed 6 rice-based cropping sequences under rainfed medium land situation for their productivity, profitability and soil health. The treatments consisted of 6 rice-based cropping sequences viz. rice - rapeseed - fallow; rice - rapeseedblackgram; rice - garden pea -blackgram; rice -lentil -blackgram; rice - garden pea– Sesbania and rice - lentil-Sesbania. The results revealed that the performance of individual crops contributing the components of different cropping sequences were more or less identical in both the years of experimentation. The higher land utilization Index (92.33), employment generation (265 man days), relative equivalent yield (117.29 q/ha)), production efficiency (39.90 kg/ha), rain water productivity (8.14(kg/ha/mm), nutrientuse productivity (50.70 kg/ha/kg of nutrients applied), sustainable yield index (0.64) alongwith economic parameters like gross return (134.89103 Rs/ha), net return (66.27103 Rs/ha), benefit:cost ratio (2.16), economic efficiency (236.09 Rs/ha/day) and relative economic efficiency (149.38%) were calculated based on standard formula. The higher Soil organic carbon (0.71 & 0.64% in 0–15 and 15–30 cm depth), available Nitrogen (278.12 kg/ha), Phosphorous (36.08 kg/ha) and Potash (158.18 kg/ha) content after completion of the experiment were recorded under the sequences diversified with pulses. So, it can be concluded from the present investigation that, rice-garden pea –black gram and ricegarden pea-sesbania (GM) were found to be suitable rice-based cropping sequences in respect of farmers income is concerned. But the rice-based cropping sequences diversified with food legumes and green manuring crop contributed to more soil organic carbon and NPK status of soil.

Association Mapping for Yield Attributing Traits and Yellow Mosaic Disease Resistance in Mung Bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek

Mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] is an important short-duration grain legume widely known for its nutritional, soil ameliorative, and cropping system intensification properties. This study aims at evaluating genetic diversity among mung bean genotypes and detecting genomic regions associated with various yield attributing traits and yellow mosaic disease (YMD) resistance by association mapping. A panel of 80 cultivars and advanced breeding lines was evaluated for 10 yield-related and YMD resistance traits during kharif (monsoon) and summer seasons of 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. A total of 164 genome-wide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were initially screened, out of which 89 were found polymorphic which generated 317 polymorphic alleles with an average of 3.56 alleles per SSR locus. The number of alleles at each locus varied from 2 to 7. The population genetic structure analysis grouped different genotypes in three major clusters and three genetically distinct subpopulations (SPs) (i.e., SP-1, SP-2, and SP-3) with one admixture subpopulation (SP-4). Both cluster and population genetic structure analysis categorized the advanced mung bean genotypes in a single group/SP and the released varieties in other groups/SPs, suggesting that the studied genotypes may have common ancestral history at some level. The population genetic structure was also in agreement with the genetic diversity analysis. The estimate of the average degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD) present at the genome level in 80 mung bean genotypes unveiled significant LD blocks. Over the four seasons, 10 marker-trait associations were observed significant for YMD and four seed yield (SY)-related traits viz., days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, and number of pods per plant using the mixed linear model (MLM) method. These associations may be useful for marker-assisted mung bean yield improvement programs and YMD resistance.

Grass–Legume Mixtures Show Potential to Increase Above- and Belowground Biomass Production for Andean Forage-Based Fallows

Soils of the Andean highlands are under threat from cropping system intensification. Improved forage-based fallows offer great promise to address this issue, but research is needed to better understand the potential of species mixtures vs. monocultures to support multiple farmer objectives, especially forage production and soil conservation. We used a pot study to quantify above- and belowground biomass production as well as the total N uptake of grass–legume pairs between five grasses: (1) oat (Avena sativa), (2) ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), (3) festulolium (Lolium × Festuca genera), (4) brome grass (Bromus catharticus), and (5) orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), and four legumes: (1) vetch (Vicia dasycarpa), (2) red clover (Trifolium pratense), (3) black medic (Medicago lupulina), and (4) alfalfa (Medicago sativa) relative to the performance of each species in monoculture within two soils from the central Peruvian Andes. Grass–legume bicultures demonstrated significant overyielding, producing 65% and 28% more total dry biomass and total N uptake on average than monocultures. Aboveground biomass of bicultures was significantly influenced by the species of legume present, while belowground biomass was more affected by the grass species in the mixture. When evaluating the growth of each species separately, our findings indicate that overyielding was driven more by the enhanced growth of grasses relative to legumes. Our findings indicate that combining key functional groups (e.g., grass and legume, annual and perennial) offers great promise for developing improved fallows for supporting soil health and productivity in Andean agroecosystems.

Manure matters: prospects for regional banana-livestock integration for sustainable intensification in South-West Uganda

ABSTRACT In South-West Uganda, manure is highly valued for sustaining yields of East African Highland Banana, but it is in short supply. As a result, banana growers import manure from rangelands up to 50 km away. We aimed to explore the potential of this regional banana-livestock integration to meet crop nutrient requirements for sustainable intensification of banana cropping systems. We used a mixed-methods approach supported by detailed data collection. Multiple spatial levels were integrated: field-level modelling to determine long-term nutrient requirements, a household-level survey to characterize farmer practices, and a regional-level spatial analysis to map banana production and manure source areas. For median to 90th percentile banana yields (37-52 t FW/ha/year), minimum K requirements were 118–228 kg/ha/year. To supply this with manure, 10.5–20.5 t DM manure/ha/year would be needed, requiring 47–91 tropical livestock units and 27–52 ha of rangeland, far more than what is potentially available currently. However, using only manure to satisfy potassium requirements increases the risk of N losses due to nutrient imbalances likely to result from large manure applications. For sustainable intensification, manure supplemented with K-based fertilizers is a better option than manure alone, as it is more cost-effective and reduces potential N losses.