Smallholder Production Systems Research Articles

English

This study was done to determine the influence of herd mortality on off-take rates through face to face interviews of 308 smallholder cattle producers from Dr RSM District Municipality, North West. Most deaths were caused by diseases (50%) and drought (34%). Producer’s gender had no influence on herd performance and off-take even though extension ward with higher proportion of women had higher mortality and lower off-take rates. The sale of steers decreased significantly (P<0.05) as the death of adult animals as well as that of the overall herd increased. Herd off-take also declined as mortality of suckling calves as well as that for overall herd, increased. Herd mortality logically reduces stock and therefore suppresses sales. It is recommended that herd mortality should be monitored through animal recording to improve the competitiveness of small-holder production systems.   Key words: Adult mortality rates, causes of death, cattle producers.

Seroprevalence of Ehrlichia ruminantium antibodies and its associated risk factors in indigenous goats of South Africa

The present study investigated the seroprevalence of antibodies to Ehrlichia ruminantium and the associated risk factors in goats from five different farming provinces of South Africa. Sera collected from 686 goats of the commercial meat type (n=179), mohair type (n=9), non-descript indigenous goats from Eastern Cape (n=56), KwaZulu-Natal (n=209), Limpopo (n=111), North West (n=61) and Northern Cape (n=11) provinces and a feral Tankwa goat (n=50) were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to antigens of E. ruminantium using the indirect fluorescent-antibody test (IFAT). Fifty two percent of these goats had ticks. The overall seroprevalence of antibodies to E. ruminantium was 64.87% (445/686) with the highest seroprevalence reported for Limpopo (95.50%) and lowest for Northern Cape (20.29%). Highest seroprevalence for antibodies to E. ruminantium was observed in goats from endemic regions (76.09%), and from smallholder production systems (89.54%). High seroprevalence was also observed in non-descript indigenous goats (85.04%), adult goat (69.62%), in does (67.46%) and goats infested with ticks (85.79%). The logistic model showed a gradient of increasing risk for commercial meat type Savanna (OR=3.681; CI=1.335–10.149) and non-descript indigenous (OR=3.466; CI=1.57–7.645) compared to Boer goats and for goats from the smallholder production system (OR=2.582; CI=1.182–5.639) and those with ticks (OR=3.587; CI=2.105–6.112). Results from this study showed that E. ruminantium infections were prevalent but were widely and unevenly distributed throughout South Africa. Findings from the study facilitate identification and mapping of risk areas for heartwater and its endeminicity in South Africa and should be taken into consideration for future disease control strategies and local goat improvement programs.

Socio-economic Aspects of Goat Production in a Rural Agro-pastoral System of Uganda

A study was conducted to document the socio-economic aspects of goat production in Teso region, Uganda. Data was collected by using a questionnaire administered to 114 purposively selected goat owners. Majority (87%) of de fecto household heads were male. About 41.2% of the farmers were aged ≥51 years. The average number of goats per household was 9.2 (range 3-31). Most farmers (63.2%) owned ≤5 acres of land. Indigenous goats were mainly acquired by buying (85%) while exotic goats and their crosses were acquired from government programs (34%). Goats have a number of roles, though mainly kept as a source of cash income (98.2%), followed by socio-cultural values (69.3%). A large percentage of farmers (67%) earned ≤US $40 p.a from goat production. The biggest problem in marketing of goats was high taxation. Majority of goat owners were men (84.86%) but a few cases (average 15.14%) of women that owned goats independently were also reported. Women and children participated less in decision making, although they were responsible for many goat production related activities. In conclusion, goat production can play an important role in improving rural livelihoods. Commercialisation, especially targeting women and youths would be desirable for improved profitability of smallholder production systems.

English

The importance of cassava to the livelihoods of many millions of poor people has made the commodity a target for interventions. The potential of the crop is large because it offers the cheap source of food calories and the highest yield per unit area. It also has multiple roles as famine reserve, food and cash crop, industrial raw material and livestock feed. The objectives of this paper were to describe the traditional cassava trade networks involving the rural (supply) and urban (demand) markets, assess the degree of market integration for traditional cassava products and suggest policy approaches to increase market efficiency. The data was collected in 60 urban markets that were surveyed. About 500 rural markets were also surveyed with key information on the movement of different cassava commodities from the rural market to each urban destination (demand) market. Market integration between rural supply and one urban demand market for the cassava-based products of gari and chips were analyzed. The results showed that eight cassava-based products are traded in two basic (dry and wet) forms in Nigeria. The Kano-Katsina-Maradi axis is a major cassava cross border trade route in West Africa. Gari and chips (flour) are the most important products traded across borders. Improving local cassava production in the south and central regions of Nigeria will therefore help create wealth and also help to reduce risks arising from cyclical drought in the Sahelian countries. The price system can be expected to respond to exogenous shocks and return to equilibrium but market information is not efficient in traditional cassava products markets. A dual policy approach is therefore recommended to encourage additional cassava production for industrial purposes and at the same time support existing smallholder production systems through the introduction of improved inputs. Key words: Market efficiency, market channels, agriculture, price system.

Is cross-breeding of cattle beneficial for the environment? The case of mixed farming systems in Central Java, Indonesia

SummaryCross-breeding with European beef breeds has become a standard approach for the intensification of smallholder cattle production in Indonesia. This study assessed the environmental impact of cross-breeding, in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) and land use. We sampled 90 local Ongole and 162 cross-bred (Simmental × Ongole) cattle farms in four study areas. Expressed per kilogram of live weight of young stock produced, GWP (26.9 kg CO2–equivalents) and land use (34.2 m2) of farms with Ongole breeding stock were not significantly different from the GWP (28.9 kg CO2–equivalents) and land use (37.4 m2) of cross-bred farms. Cross-bred young stock grew faster, but in general cross-bred cattle required more feed. In the current smallholder production system, the dominant cross-breeding practice of using Simmental semen on Ongole andF1cross-bred cows does not result in lower greenhouse gas emissions or land use per kilogram of live weight produced compared with farms with Ongole cows. The advantage from the faster growth of cross-breds is counteracted by the higher emissions from feed production for cross-breds.

Rural African women’s accessibility to resources for food production in the north west region of Cameroon

Globalization has made agriculture more competitive in a way that access to and control of farm resources is extremely important. This study examines rural women’s access to farm resources in arable small-scale food production in the North West Region of Cameroon. Using a multistage sampling technique a total of 1,120 rural women farmers were surveyed in order to capture their socioeconomic characteristics and access to arable land, agricultural inputs, agricultural extension information and source of finance and involvement in food production in smallholder production systems. All data collected was subjected to descriptive statistics. The results showed that rural women have access to arable land through their families but they do not control arable land. They have access to agricultural inputs but lack rural feeder roads and access to agricultural extension information and/or services. Rural women farmers lack finances and mostly access finance for arable agriculture from traditional social groups and their husbands to solve additional constraints of poor soils, pests and diseases. The rural women are involved in major crop production activities (land preparation (ploughing/ridging), sowing, weeding, harvesting and storage) which necessitate access to and control of farm resources but have limited access to resources in order to be efficient and competitive. Because of limited control of farm resources, they are not involved in decision-making, which usually translates into lateness in carrying out farm operations and consequently low yields. Access to land resources by rural women is controlled by cultural and technical factors. Boosting crop production will require that efforts are made socially and technically to remove the afore-mentioned barriers in the acquisition of farm resources. Therefore, agricultural production policies and programs should establish direct linkage between agricultural extension information and/or services, and rural women farmers, and provide incentives to rural women involved in arable small-scale agricultural production in order to maintain a steady growth rate of food production.

Productive and income contributions of sheep, goat, and cattle, and different diversification schemes in smallholder production systems of Northern Patagonia, Argentina.

Wool production oriented sheep keeping is the most important rural activity in Patagonia, Argentina, followed by goat and at a lower extent cattle production. The existing perception on the smallholder production systems from most decision makers (e.g., policy) is that they are marginal, with low productivity and have negative returns. Since the Argentinean economic scenario has changed drastically in the last decade, the aim of this study was to analyze the economic and productive contribution of different livestock species in smallholdings. The results showed that the post-1990's economic scenario turned most smallholder livestock systems to have positive economic performance, but there were still productive restrictions that limited to fully benefit from these favorable circumstances. Goats were the most profitable livestock due to their higher productive performance, followed by sheep and cattle, with poorer performances. A strong cooperation between the intervention programs and research institutions is recommended to overcome the current production bottlenecks, by focusing on cattle and sheep production systems.

Small farmers and sustainability: Institutional barriers to investment and innovation in the Malaysian palm oil industry in Sabah

The Malaysian palm oil industry is well known for the social, environmental and sustainability challenges associated with its rapid growth over the past ten years. Technologies exist to reduce the conflict between national development aims of economic uplift for the rural poor, on the one hand, and ecological conservation, on the other hand, by raising yields and incomes from areas already under cultivation. But the uptake of these technologies has been slow, particularly in the smallholder sector.In this paper we explore the societal and institutional challenges that influence the investment and innovation decisions of micro and small enterprise (MSE) palm oil smallholders in Sabah, Malaysia. Based on interviews with 38 smallholders, we identify a number of factors that reduce the smallholders' propensity to invest in more sustainable practices. We discuss why more effective practices and innovations are not being adopted using the concepts of, firstly, institutional logics to explore the internal dynamics of smallholder production systems, including attitudes to sustainability and innovation; and, secondly, institutional context to explore the pressures the smallholders face, including problems of access to land, labour, capital, knowledge and technical resources. These factors include limited access to global market information, corruption and uncertainties of legal title, weak economic status and social exclusion. In discussing these factors we seek to contribute to wider theoretical debates about the factors that block innovation and investment in business improvements in marginal regions and in marginalised groups.

Analysis of pig breeding management and trait preferences in smallholder production systems in Kenya

SummaryData on breeding management, breed and trait preference for pigs were collected from smallholder farmers in Kiambu and Kakamega Counties of Kenya. The production systems evaluated were semi-intensive and extensive and depicted varying pig production intensities, production objectives, pig performances as well as farmers’ breed and trait preferences. The perception of the importance of traits was evaluated to obtain a more balanced objective view on production and/or breeding objectives. The data collected were analysed through computation of indices, which represented a weighted average of all rankings of a particular trait. In the semi-intensive system, preference for performance traits such as size, growth rate and body weight, scored the same index (0.181), followed by the reproduction trait – prolificacy (0.161). In the extensive system, the indices for these traits were 0.187, 0.183, 0.163 and 0.106, respectively. Spearman's non-parametric rank correlations were calculated for ranking of traits of economic importance to indicate the directional effects and plausible trade-offs between traits. In the semi-intensive system, correlations were moderate between growth rate and both size and weight. In the extensive system, correlations were moderate for growth rate with both size and body weight. Appropriate breeds that suit the divergent production systems need to be identified and utilized based on performance and adaptability to ensure efficient resource use.

Comparison of Production Performance and Tolerance to Helminthosis of Toggenburg and Norwegian Crossbred Goats Under Smallholder Production Systems in Tanzania

ABSTRACTThis study was carried out to compare the growth rate, lactation performance and tolerance to gastrointestinal nematode infection of Toggenburg and Norwegian breeds in Kongwa district, Tanzania with a semi-arid environment and Mvomero district with a sub-humid environment. Milk production of does, nematode eggs per gramme of faeces (EPG) and packed cell volume (PCV) were recorded for one year in 57 Toggenburg crosses and 72 Norwegian crosses raised by 107 small-scale farmers in the two districts. Kid body weights and mortality were recorded for 65 kids. Kid birth weights of Norwegian crosses (3.07 ± 0.13 kg) and Toggenburg crosses (2.91 ± 0.14) were not significantly different (P > 0.05). The growth rate of Norwegian crossbred kids from birth to one year (54.26 ± 4.33 g/day) was lower than that of Toggenburg crossbreds (61.50 ± 4.38 g/day). Toggenburg crossbred does produced slightly higher average daily milk yield (0.81 ± 0.08 l/day) compared to Norwegian crossbred does (0.64 ± 0.09 l/day). Norwe...

Productive characteristics and body measurements of alpine goats raised under smallholder production systems in central Serbia

The purpose of this study was to evaluate present level of productivity and determine linear body traits of Alpine goats raised in Serbia on smallholder farms. Data were collected from 22 smallholder farms located in Belgrade district, with total of 330 purebred Alpine does 2-9 years of age, 145 yearling does and 476 kids. Traits measured were: body weight of does, body weight of kids at birth, 30 days of age and at weaning (90-120 days), prolificacy of mature and yearling (primiparous) does, six linear body traits of does (wither height, body length, hearth girth, chest depth, chest width, pelvic width) and milk production (milk yield, milk fat and milk protein content). The analysis showed the average body weight of does to be 54.96 kg, while the average body weight of kids at birth, 30 days of age and weaning was 2.73 kg, 8.7 kg and 18.3 kg., respectively. Prolificacy was 144% in mature and 125% in yearling does. Measurements of linear body traits were: wither height 67.87 cm, body length 71.92 cm, hearth girth 81.79 cm, chest depth 32.93, chest width 21.49 cm and pelvic width 17.63 cm. Among dairy production traits, following results were obtained: lactation length 220.73 days, total milk yield 531.66 kg, milk fat content 3.33% and milk protein content 3.16%. It was concluded that the overall productivity of Alpine goats raised under smallholder production systems in Serbia is satisfying. Giving the fact that these animals are usually kept under poor conditions, many of these productive traits are very good.

Smallholder experiences with dairy cattle crossbreeding in the tropics: from introduction to impact

Crossbreeding of indigenous tropical and improved western dairy cattle breeds as tool to improve dairy cattle performance on smallholder farms has been widely advocated, criticised and yet applied. The government of Ethiopia supported this technology for decades but adoption rate is low. Constraints are documented but there is little information about farm level introduction and development of crossbreeding. A total 122 smallholders with mixed crop livestock farms and at least 8 years of successful crossbreeding were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire in two contexts in Amhara Regional state in north-western Ethiopia. Crossbreeding initiator was either uncoordinated government extension or a coordinated development project, also implemented with governmental support. Qualitative and quantitative data on farmers’ motivations, crossbreeding introduction, initiator support, breeding adaptation and impacts at farm level were analysed. Results show that even though motives vary between contexts the underlying reason to introduce crossbreeding was economic profit. To be able to introduce crossbreeding support of initiators (e.g. extension) and other farmers was essential. The crossbreeding introduction context had some influence. Governmental actors were the main source of support and supplier of exotic genetics but the farmer network acted as safety net filling gaps of government support. Breeding strategies focused on performance increase. A lack of basic understanding of crossbreeding has been identified. A surprising, probably biased, result was general satisfaction with initiator support and with breeding services. It was challenged by the high proportion of farmers unable to follow a breeding strategy due to insufficient bull and/or semen supply. Crossbreeding changed the smallholder production system to a high input – high output system. Except for crossbred adaptation problems, challenges were ranked context specific and influenced by the initiator. Farmers perceived crossbreeding as success and recommended it. We conclude that farmers can realize income increase with crossbreeding. The complexity of this technology, high initial investment and the need for support services and external production inputs are probable reasons why crossbreeding uptake is low. Improving the availability of semen and/or bulls must be the top priority for breeding service providers to enable farmers to follow a breeding strategy and reach a suitable and sustainable herd performance. Access to investment capital, input supply, strong technical support and market linkages are crucial for successful crossbreeding.

The significance of engendered indigenous knowledge systems in smallholder animal agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa

The subject of gender and animal agriculture has attracted attention in recent years, primarily from the need to addressing the gender divide and fulfilling the special needs of women in food production. Animal agriculture is severely constrained by the presence of a wide range of factors that affect both production and productivity of livestock, especially in the poor rural farming communities that don’t have the access to modern and/or conventional livestock management skills. Women in particular, face a number of interlinked constraints that reduce their sustainable contribution of indigenous knowledge to animal agriculture and food security. As a result of this scenario, enhancing animal agriculture; gender equality and utilization of indigenous knowledge as means of promoting food security and reduce poverty has been a challenge in Sub Saharan Africa. It is believed that within the small-holder livestock production systems which is characterized by a generally low input-output system, the sustainability of animal agriculture efforts need to consider indigenous knowledge system as a dominant factor in improving production. Identifying indigenous knowledge systems in animal agriculture that support women’s roles and effort as livestock owners, processors and users of livestock products while strengthening their decision-making power and capabilities, are key aspects in promoting women’s economic and social empowerment, and consequently provides a way to enable rural women to break the cycle of poverty. Women play an important role in animal agriculture through management, processing and marketing, acting as animal care providers, livestock feed gatherers, and animal birth attendants. They take care of milking of animals, although not all women control the sale of milk and its products. Raising awareness concerning the value of gendered indigenous knowledge related to the sustainable use and management of animal agriculture is crucial for alleviating food insecurity and enhancing rural development. The discussion attempt to explore the role of engendered indigenous knowledge systems as they relate to animal agriculture and their implications for improving animal agriculture and food security in Sub Saharan Africa.

Breeding objectives for pigs in Kenya. I: bio-economic model development and application to smallholder production systems.

A deterministic bio-economic model was developed and applied to evaluate biological and economic variables that characterize smallholder pig production systems in Kenya. Two pig production systems were considered namely, semi-intensive (SI) and extensive (EX). The input variables were categorized into biological variables including production and functional traits, nutritional variables, management variables and economic variables. The model factored the various sow physiological systems including gestation, farrowing, lactation, growth and development. The model was developed to evaluate a farrow to finish operation, but the results were customized to account for a farrow to weaner operation for a comparative analysis. The operations were defined as semi-intensive farrow to finish (SIFF), semi-intensive farrow to weaner (SIFW), extensive farrow to finish (EXFF) and extensive farrow to weaner (EXFW). In SI, the profits were the highest at KES. 74,268.20 per sow per year for SIFF against KES. 4026.12 for SIFW. The corresponding profits for EX were KES. 925.25 and KES. 626.73. Feed costs contributed the major part of the total costs accounting for 67.0, 50.7, 60.5 and 44.5% in the SIFF, SIFW, EXFF and EXFW operations, respectively. The bio-economic model developed could be extended with modifications for use in deriving economic values for breeding goal traits for pigs under smallholder production systems in other parts of the tropics.

Rumen Manipulation for Enhanced Feed Utilization and Improved Productivity Performance of Ruminants: A review

Feed resources are inadequate both in quality and quantity in most developing countries, like Ethiopia. Natural pasture, crop residues and agro-industrial by-products constitute the major proportions of feeds available to most ruminants under smallholder production systems. The rumen has been recognized as an essential fermentation ‘Chamber’. Up to 12% of gross energy, however, is lost in the form of methane from ruminants. Methane is also one of the major green house gasses. Methane is produced by bacteria species, collectively called methanogens. Reduction in methane production increases the efficiency of feed utilization in ruminant animals. Manipulation of ruminal fermentation processes for reducing methane production by ruminants to improve the production performance of ruminants is the current major target of many animal nutritionists. The methods to effectively reduce methane production in the reticulo-rumen include processing of feeds, altering the ration, supplementation of unsaturated fatty acids, defaunation, supplementation of organic acids, halogenated compounds, ionophores, microbial feed additives (probiotics), plant extracts and their secondary metabolites. All these have to be validated in vivo studies in specific dose(s) to make it economically viable.Keywords: Rumen, Fermentation, Methane, Plant Extracts, Ethiopia.

Effect of Certified Organic Production Systems on Poverty among Smallholder Farmers: Empirical Evidence from Kenya

This study evaluates the effect of certified organic production on poverty in smallholder production systems. Data was collected from cross sectional survey of local market-oriented peri-urban vegetable and rural honey producers in Kenya. Poverty was measured using the multidimensional poverty methodology and endogenous switching probit model used to assess the effect of certified organic production on multidimensional poverty. Findings were that certified producers were less likely to be multidimensional poor compared to their counterfactual case of not participating in organic certification schemes. Additionally, noncertified producers would be less likely to be poor if they were to participate in organic certification production.

Future opportunities and concerns in smallholder livestock production systems in Africa

Smallholder livestock production systems continue to play a key role in African agriculture. Although smallholder livestock production systems have had their own share of success, the truth of the matter is that more needs to be done to make them more vibrant, sustainable and reliable. With this in mind, achieving sustainable smallholder livestock production with emphasis on satisfying basic human needs, improving people’s standard of living, enhancing food security and reducing poverty pose a surmountable task in Africa. There are many measures which need to be explored with the aim of making the smallholder livestock systemsbecome driving forces of African economies. Some of the strategic steps that can be adopted for future viable smallholder livestock production systems include and not limited to the following: promotion of gender equality and equity in smallholder livestock production systems, and intensifying activities that support or encourage the utilization of indigenous livestock genetic resources in smallholder livestock production systems. This becomes crucial in the context of climate change and variability.The need to improve the diversity and response capacity of smallholder livestock production systems to enhance resilience is criticalTherefore, it is against this background that livestock species that remarkably possess distinctive qualities enabling them to excel efficiently in the context of the uncertainties of climatic variability need to be promoted to reduce vulnerability in smallholder livestock production systems. The use of adaptive genotypes such as the local animal genetic resources may sustain smallholder livestock production and enhance adaptive capacity of smallholder livestock production systems. The integration of micro livestock into the mainstream smallholder livestock production system also may play a pivotal role in complementing conventional smallholder livestock production systemsin enhancing food security and reducing poverty. Simultaneously, planning for women’s participation does, in fact, improve the likelihood that women contribute to smallholder livestock production and improve livestock productivity. The recognition of the role women play in smallholder livestock production systems is fundamental to agricultural and rural development in Africa. Thus improving the status of women within the household and at the community level would deliver significant improvements to smallholder livestock production systems and food security.

Factors Affecting Kenya Alpine Dairy Goat Milk Production in Nyeri Region

<p>In Kenya use of exotic dairy goats in breeding programmes for smallholder production systems has become popular, but information on the milk production is scarce. A study was carried out to assess the milk yield of dairy goats reared in high potential and semi arid areas of Nyeri County. This involved 190 smallholder farmers rearing Alphine dairy goats in Nyeri County and registered with Dairy Goat association of Kenya (DGAK). Which formed 100% sampling of the population under study. The grade, feeding practices and age of the dairy goats were evaluated. The dairy goat average milk production was 1.90 litres per day, with the appendix grade in Kieni East giving the highest production of 2.69 liters per day while foundation grade in Mukurweini gave the lowest, 0.98 litres per day. The higher milk production in Kieni East, which is a semi arid area, was noted to be due to good feeding practices where 43% of the farmers used concentrates during milking and also 48% supplemented the feed with minerals. In the high potential area of Mukurweini none of the farmers used mineral supplements with only 5% using concentrates during milking. The age of the dam significantly affected the average milk production, with the onset of production being the age of 2.0 years, reaching the peak at the age of 6.5 years. Kieni East, gave the highest production of 4.2 litres at the age of 6 years. The results demonstrated that the low-input farming conditions affected the Alphine goats milk production.</p>

Characterization of some indigenous breeds of chicken in Kalahandi and Nuapada Districts of Odisha

The present study was aimed to identify and characterize 3 different domestic breeds of chicken in 2 tribal dominant districts of Odisha. According to the colour pattern and local name these 3 breeds are named as Kabri, Chitri and Khairi which are found different from avian chicken breeds described so far in their phenotypic characters as well as in the performance traits. All these avian species studied in this investigation are raised in smallholder production system. The phenotypic traits like comb type, plumage colour, plumage pattern and information on body length, body girth, shank length, breast angle, keel length measurements etc. were studied. Attempt was also made to evaluate its performance traits like growth rate, body weight, egg production in these 3 breeds.

Seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice–wheat rotation of Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia: Yield trends and economic profitability

Water, energy and labour scarcity, increasing cost of production, diminishing farm profits and uncertain weather events are major challenges faced by the farmers under intensive tillage based conventional rice–wheat (RW) production system of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in South Asia. To address these challenges, conservation agriculture (CA) based crop management practices are being developed, adapted and promoted in the region. We evaluated agronomical productivity and economical profitability of various combinations of tillage, crop establishment and residue management practices in rice–wheat rotation of Eastern IGP of India: a smallholder, poorly resourced and most vulnerable regions for the climatic variability. The long-term trial was initiated in 2006 having 7 combinations of tillage, crop establishment and residue management in rice–wheat rotation. These consisted of conventional till puddled transplanted rice followed by conventional tilled wheat (CTR–CTW); CTR followed by zero tilled wheat (CTR–ZTW); direct seeded rice followed by wheat both on permanent raised beds (PBDSR–PBW); zero-till direct seeded rice followed by CTW (ZTDSR–CTW); ZTDSR followed by ZTW without residues (ZTDSR–ZTW); ZTDSR followed by ZTW with residues (ZTDSR–ZTW+R) and unpuddled transplanted rice followed by ZTW (UpTPR–ZTW). All these treatments were completely randomized and replicated thrice within a block.During the initial three years of experimentation, we recorded higher rice grain yield in conventional tillage based rice systems (i.e. CTR–CTW and CTR–ZTW) than in CA based systems (i.e. ZTDSR–ZTW, UpTPR–ZTW). During the fourth and fifth years, the rice yields under CT and CA were comparable whereas sixth year onwards, higher yields were recorded under CA based system than in CT based systems. However, the wheat yield was higher in CA based system right from second year onwards. We observed the lowest wheat yield in the system where preceding rice crop was grown with intensive tillage operations (CTR). RW system productivity was higher in almost all the CA based systems than in the CT based and mixture of CT and CA based systems from the second year onwards. The net returns were always higher in CA based systems than in CT based system although the significant differences were obvious only from fourth year onwards in rice and second year onwards in wheat as well as at the system level. The higher grain yields and economical advantage of CA was realized after 2–3 years as the adaptation of CA based component technologies evolved over the time. In medium term, we found CA based systems to be agronomically and economically superior to CT based systems for rice–wheat rotation in a smallholder production system of Eastern IGP of South Asia. Hence, CA based RW production system is one of the pathways for improving productivity, income and food security while sustaining the natural resources in smallholder production systems of Eastern IGP.