Enhancing Sustainability and Productivity of Rice–Wheat-Green Gram Cropping System through Alternative Tillage and Crop Establishment Approaches in North-Bihar

Abstract

The conventional paddy-wheat-green gram cropping system in the North-Bihar, area experienced issues such as diminishing yield, water constraint, and uneven fertilizer usage. Researchers wanted to boost sustainability and productivity by testing alternative tillage and crop establishment (TCE) practices within this cropping pattern. The research was conducted out at the Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) the village in the Muzaffarpur region of Bihar. The purpose was to compare five distinct (TCE) utilization in the present rice–wheat-green gram cropping system. The study indicated that the TCE technique designated SN 5 (ZTDSR-HSZTW-HSG) resulted in the greatest yields across all crops, with 15–18% greater rice yield, 20–25% higher wheat yield, and 20–22% higher green gram yield compared to other TCE methods. Additionally, SN 5 produced 20.2% larger net returns employing a conservation agriculture (CA)-based system compared to the conventional technique. These results suggest that CA-based TCE outperformed conventional approaches in terms of net returns and overall efficiency.