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Low crop yields due to constant monocropping systems and deteriorating soil health in a smallholder farmers’ field of Indo-Gangetic plains of India have led to a quest for sustainable production practices with greater resource use efficiencies. The aim of the study was to elucidate the short term effects of conservation agricultural systems on productivity, soil health and carbon sequestration rate of soils in three different diversified cropping systems. The treatments consisted of two different tillage systems (conventional and reduced tillage), two mulch levels (no and straw mulch) and two levels of fertility (100 and 75% RDF) were compared in three rice-based cropping systems (rice-wheat; rice-vegetable pea-greengram; and rice-potato-maize sequences) for two years on an experimental field (clay loam) located at Norman E Borlaug Crop Research Center, Pantnagar, India. The resource conservation technologies (RCT) i.e. reduced tillage, mulch, and 100% RDF had recorded 2.5 and 3.0% higher system productivity and relative production efficiency in rice-vegetablepea-greengram and rice-potato-maize sequences, respectively in two consecutive years. Conservation tillage had sequestered three times higher carbon than conventional tillage while mulching acted four times higher than non-mulched condition in agricultural soils. Even though cropping system not significant significantly influenced on carbon sequestration, rice-vegetablepea-greengram sequence had recorded higher carbon sequestration rate and higher soil organic carbon stock noted in surface plough sole layer than any other cropping systems. Therefore, our results suggested that Indo-Gangetic farmers should consider adopting resource conservation practices together in indogangetic area because of benefits to soil health, carbon sequestration and system productivity.

This study was conducted to evaluate soil fertility status in the fourteen major tasar sericulture adopting villages in Purulia District, West Bengal. For this, a total of 160 surface soil samples (0-30 cm) were collected from dominant tasar sericulture villages along with the details regarding farmer’s name, soil type, host plants details, etc. The collected samples were air dried, sieved and analysed for various soil fertility parameters such as pH, EC, organic carbon, macro and micronutrients. The data on various parameters were categorized into low, medium and high classes based on soil fertility ratings and nutrient index was calculated. Results revealed that soil reaction in the study area varied from strongly acidic to moderately acidic with saline free soil. The available nitrogen was low level in all the tasar host plant growing regions. In all the study regions, medium range of available phosphorus, potassium and sulphur was observed. All the micronutrients were high in the study villages. Regard NIV, all the macronutrients except nitrogen showed medium nutrient index in most places. Fertility rate of available micro nutrients were high index in all the tasar growing villages.

The Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) is an environmentally susceptible, communally momentous and economically tactical sphere of India where landscape, ground water and soil fertility are threatened by climate change. An increasing water scarcity for rice in the irrigated IGP is urging farmers to espouse water saving technologies such micro irrigation. Rice growing with drip irrigation may substantially reduce irrigation water requirement of rice. In order to make assessment of drip irrigation in rice, a field experiment was carried out at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand in 2017. Rice was established by Direct Seeding in conventional and drip irrigation treatments. The treatments were laid with drip irrigation at 50, 75 and 100% CPE on each 2 and 4 days interval. Two conventional irrigation practices (i.e. absolute control and farmers’ practice) were also included in the study. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with four replications. Compared with farmers practice, (transplanted and flooded) drip irrigation at 100% CPE on two days interval produced taller shoots and higher yield attributes of rice crop. Rice grown in drip irrigation was found more grain yield than farmers’ practice. Among drip irrigation, 100% CPE on 2 days gap (T5) recorded 45% higher grain yield (5800 kg ha-1) than farmers practice. Similarly, T5 treatment was higher content and uptake of nutrient. However, treatments T3 (50% CPE on 2 days gap) followed by T7 (75% CPE on 4 days interval) had higher water use efficiency. Result, further revealed that fertilizer use efficiency of T5 treatment was found to be higher (23.2 kg grain per kg fertilizer applied). Hence, rice is scheduled with drip irrigation at a tune of 100% CPE on 2 days interval can benefit over sustaining the direct seeded basmati rice productivity. However, there is a demand to examine these benefits of drip irrigation in rice in relation to the viability of adoption by farmers.