Establishing crops and managing nutrients for sustainable production in eastern India's rice (Oryza sativa)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) system

Abstract

The traditional rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system has decreased total factor productivity, input-
use efficiency, and profitability in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP). In order to assess the effects of crop
establishment and nutrient management on production sustainability in a rice-wheat cropping system, a three-year (2020–
2022) field experiment was carried out in the farmers' fields in Merha village of Katoriya, Banka, Bihar, on sandy clay
loam soil. The split-plot design of the experiments was used, and they were repeated three times. Crop establishment
techniques used in the main-plot treatment included: (i) broadcasting, which involves manually spreading paddy seed; (ii)
dry seeding, which involves drilling seed on moist soil; (iii) drum-seeding, which involves planting dry seed using a drum
seeder on moist soil; and (iv) wet-seeding, which involves spreading sprouted seeds on puddle soil with variety Sabour
Ardhjal during the rainy (kharif) season; (ii) furrow irrigated raised-bed method; (iii) ZT-drill; and (iv) seed-cum-ferti-
drill machine for wheat variety HD 2967 during the winter (rabi) season. Four nutrient management treatments were
applied to the sub-plots: (i) Farmers' practice (130:40:10 kg NPK/ha); (ii) 100% RDF (120:60:40 kg NPK/ha); (iii) Soil-
test-based nutrient management (100% chemical fertilizer-125:75:40 kg NPK/ha); (iv) Soil-test-based nutrient
management (75% chemical fertilizer-94:56:30 kg NPK/ha+25% FYM-6.2 t/ha) in wheat. According to our findings, the
wet seeding paddy-ZT drill wheat system outperformed the broadcasting techniques of rice and wheat in terms of total
system production and profitability by 44 and 155.5%, respectively. When comparing the soil-test-based nutrient
management production system to the farmers' methods, system productivity increased by 28.8%. Therefore, in the eastern
Indo-Gangetic Plains of eastern India, crops may be cultivated using wet seeding paddy-ZT drill wheat with soil-test-
based nutrient management techniques to improve system productivity and profitability.