Long Term Zero Tillage with Residue Retention Enhances Boosts Yield, Improves Energy Efficiency and Mitigates Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Western Indo-Gangetic Rice -Wheat Cropping Systems of the Western Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Ved Chaudhary¹Chetankumar Prakash Sawant^1*Ajita Gupta¹Rahul Gautam¹Abhijit Khadatkar¹Ajit Pralhad Magar¹Goraksha C Wakchaure²Vijay Kumar¹Rahul Chaudhary³

• ¹Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ICAR), Bhopal, India
• ²ICAR - National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Pune, India
• ³Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, India

The rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India is a dominant food production model, but its conventional management practices viz., puddled transplanted rice (PTR) and conventionally tilled wheat (CTW) are highly energy-intensive, leading to excessive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lower energy use efficiency (EUE), and soil degradation. This 15-year field study, using a split-split plot design, evaluated the impact of various crop establishment methods on crop productivity, energy use, carbon indices and GHG emissions under RWCS. Conservation agriculture (CA) based practices such as zero till direct seeded rice (ZTDSR), dry seeded rice (DSDSR), and zero till wheat (ZTW) and wheat sown with a turbo happy seeder with residue retention (THSW+R) were compared with conventional systems. The results showed that ZTDSR and THSW+R significantly reduced total input energy, fossil fuel use, and irrigation water demand, resulting in 14–21% energy savings compared to PTR-CTW systems. ZTDSR-THSW+R emerged as the most energy efficient combination, recording the highest EUE (13.6) and the lowest system specific energy of grain (9.5 MJ kg-1), while reducing global warming potential by over 50%. Despite slightly lower rice yields under ZTDSR, system productivity remained comparable due to superior wheat performance. Carbon output (8907 kg C ha-1) and carbon efficiency ratio (11.43) were higher under CA based treatments for wheat due to greater biomass returns and reduced carbon inputs (2293 kg C ha-1). Overall, integrating zero till and residue management practices in RWCS enhances energy efficiency, improves sustainability metrics, and reduces environmental footprints. These findings support a transition from conventional to CA based systems for climate resilient, resource efficient agriculture in the IGP and similar agro climatic zones.