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Laser land leveling has been increasingly adopted in the irrigated rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system in the state of Haryana (India), located in the north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains. Still, many farmers have applied it to only a fraction of their land. In this study, we used data collected from 621 farm households in Haryana and applied a double-hurdle model for assessing the factors that determine the adoption and intensity of laser-leveling technology. The results show that large land holders are more likely to laser level their farm land; however, we found a negative association between land holdings and the proportion of laser-leveled land. Information about technology through farmer-to-farmer communication and through private traders, participation in agricultural training and membership in local agricultural institutions increased both the likelihood and the intensity of adoption. Our findings call for a closer collaboration among the various stakeholders, specifically to promote farmer-to-farmer communication through increased participation in local institutions and increase the rate of adoption of laser leveling technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CASI management options were evaluated for two years in five rice-based cropping systems across the EGP. • The yield and water productivity of crops and cropping systems was quantified in 433 participatory on-farm trials. • CASI practices increase the yields of both maize and wheat crops by an average of 5%, and improve the water productivity of rice-maize and rice-wheat systems by an average of 9%. • Partial CASI options provide lesser, but valuable, benefits to yields and water productivity in rice-based cropping systems. In the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) region of South Asia cropping systems are predominantly rice-based and comprise rice and non-rice crops (e.g. maize, wheat, lentil, mungbean, jute) in rotation. There are large gaps between potential crop yields and those achieved in farmers' fields, primarily due to poor crop and soil management practices. Increasing climate variability and injudicious use of natural resources, particularly water and soil, mean that cropping systems have little resilience and are showing signs of being unsustainable. We hypothesized that replacing traditional crop rotations, grown under conventional tillage (CT) and with full residue removal, with crops grown under zero tillage (ZT) and with partial or full residue retention would improve both crop and cropping system yields, and reduce crop water demand, thus increasing the water productivity of cropping systems across the EGP. We evaluated four tillage-and-crop-establishment scenarios in three major cropping systems (rice-wheat, RW; rice-maize, RM; rice-lentil, RL) across eight districts of the EGP in 433 farmers' fields between 2015 and 2017. We compared farmers' traditional crop establishment practices (T1) against three scenarios based on the principles of conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification (CASI) and comprising a "partial CASI" option (T2: only non-rice crops grown under CASI management) and two "full CASI" options in which both crops were grown under CASI management; in T3 rice was direct seeded rice (DSR) and in T4 rice was transplanted without prior land preparation such as puddling (UPTR). Rice yields under all systems were not significantly different between CT (PTR) and CASI (ZTDSR and UTPR) but there was a significant yield gain of around 5% in both full and partial CASI on the yield of wheat and maize in the RW and RM systems. There were significant spatial trends in rice yields across all cropping systems. Total in-crop water (irrigation plus rainfall) usage was similar for the rainfed PTR, DSR and UTPR in all cropping systems as rice was primarily a rainfed crop grown during the wet season, however CASI practices reduced the required irrigation water, and thus the total in-crop water, to the dry season wheat or maize (but not to lentil) crops, compared to CT. This resulted in increased irrigation water productivity (greater than 27%) and total water productivity (greater than 26%) in both the wheat and maize crops. In the RW and RM systems irrigation water productivity was increased by over 25% and total water productivity by around 10%. These results indicate that the uptake of full or partial CASI practices, particularly in RM and RW systems, can lead to improvements in both cropping system and water productivity for smallholder farmers in the EGP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification participatory research. • Reduced both labor use and production costs by 40%. • Increased gross margins by up to 25%. • Reduced drudgery for women and youth who do the majority of menial, laborious tasks. • Results applicable for a wide range of smallholder farming communities. The Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia is a region of high rural poverty and low agronomic productivity, with crops grown using traditional management practices which are labor-intensive and uneconomical. Poor agronomic productivity is largely caused by unintentional, inefficient management practices which are exacerbated by labor shortages caused by increased migration away from rural areas as households require additional income from remittances. These labor shortages increase the cost of hiring labor, further contributing to low gross margins from cropping systems. The climates, soils and available water across the region indicate that, with improved management practices, this region has the potential to produce high yields for low production costs and labor requirements, ensuring high gross margins for smallholder farmers. We conducted on-farm participatory trials to compare the performance of traditional and improved conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification management practices to understand which used less labor, had lower production costs and returned higher gross margins to smallholder farmers. Our study showed that compared to traditional management practices, conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices reduced both labor use and total cropping system production costs by around 40% and increased gross margins by up to 25%. Trials were conducted on over 400 farms and thus our results are both statistically rigorous and representative of a range of common crop production management across the Eastern Gangetic Plains. These results show there is potential to increase livelihoods and reduce the impact of labor shortages for smallholder farmers living in diverse climatic, edaphic and social circumstances across the region. They have broader applications in labor-constrained smallholder cropping systems throughout South Asia and worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]