Bed planting for resource conservation, diversification and sustainability of wheat based cropping system

Abstract

Sustainability of rice-wheat cropping system has been at threat mainly due to declining groundwater levels, soil organic matter content and macro and micro-nutrient availability, increased soil salinization, incidence of diseases and pests. In recent past a number of resource conservation technologies (RCTs), like zero-tillage, bed planting, laser leveling, intercropping of high value crops in the systems, have been introduced in the rice-wheat cropping system in India.
Among them bed planting technique holds potential for efficient resource conservation, diversification as well as for sustainability of rice-wheat cropping system. The reported experimental results indicated that bed planting technique not only save the resources like water (20-40%), nutrients (25% N) and labour but also facilitates the greater diversification and intensification of the rice-wheat cropping systems. Adoption of this system also increased the production of cereals (6-37%), pulses (15-34 %) and oilseeds (20%) over flat planting.
This system of planting also offers opportunity for intercropping viz. wheat + sugarcane, wheat + mentha, maize + mung bean/ urd bean etc. that provides higher productivity and income from the system. In this paper importance of bed planting technique in conservation of natural resources and  diversification /intensification of rice-wheat cropping system has been described.

 

DOI:10.25174/2249-4065/2017/62285