Zero Tillage, Residue Retention and System-Intensification with Legumes for Enhanced Pearl Millet Productivity and Mineral Biofortification

Mukhtar Ahmad Faiz, Ram Swaroop Bana, Anil Kumar Choudhary, Alison M. Laing, Ruchi Bansal, Arti Bhatia, Ramesh Chand Bana, Yudh Vir Singh, Vipin Kumar, Shanti Devi Bamboriya, Rabindra Nath Padaria, Shanker Lal Khaswan and Jai Prakash Singh Dabas
Additional contact information
Mukhtar Ahmad Faiz: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Ram Swaroop Bana: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Anil Kumar Choudhary: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Alison M. Laing: CSIRO Agriculture & Food, St. Lucia, Brisbane 4067, Australia
Ruchi Bansal: Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR—National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi 110 012, India
Arti Bhatia: Division of Environmental Sciences, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Ramesh Chand Bana: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Yudh Vir Singh: Division of Microbiology, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Vipin Kumar: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Shanti Devi Bamboriya: Division of Agronomy, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Rabindra Nath Padaria: Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
Shanker Lal Khaswan: Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Karauli, Agricultural University Kota, Kota 322 230, India
Jai Prakash Singh Dabas: Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Pearl millet-based cropping systems with intensive tillage operations prior to sowing have limited sustainable productivity in the low-irrigation conditions of semi-arid farming ecologies, such as those in the north Indian plains. The adoption of improved management practices such as zero tillage with residue retention (ZTR) and diversification with the inclusion of summer pulse crops has the potential to improve cropping system sustainability. Therefore, an experiment was designed to compare two improved management practices, zero tillage (ZT) and ZTR, to conventional tillage (CT), across three pearl millet-based cropping systems: pearl millet–chickpea (PM–CP), PM–CP–mungbean (MB), and PM–CP–forage pearl millet in a two-year experiment. Experimental treatments were compared in terms of pearl millet productivity, mineral biofortification, and greenhouse gas emissions. Results showed a significant increase in pearl millet yield attributes, grain and stover productivity, nutrient uptake, and micronutrient biofortification in the PM–CP–MB cropping system under ZTR relative to other treatment combinations. On-farm evaluation at different locations also showed that the intensification of PM–CP system using summer crops enhanced pearl millet productivity across diverse tillage systems. Overall, zero tillage practices combined with diversified pearl millet-based cropping systems are likely to be management practices, which farmers can use to sustainably maintain or increase cropping system productivity in the various semi-arid areas of the world.

Keywords: on-farm adaptive research; pearl millet-based cropping systems; legume; proline content; nutrient uptake; conservation agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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