Fig.1 Opportunities of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in intensive rice-based system.
Newswise — A research team has reviewed the potential benefits of integrating legumes into Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices within rice-based systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (EIGP), highlighting its significant impact on enhancing crop productivity and sustainability. This review addresses key challenges such as soil degradation, water scarcity, and climate change impacts. By improving soil health, facilitating nutrient cycling, and reducing external inputs, legume-based crop rotation promotes resilient and sustainable agriculture. Future applications could include further field research to optimize these systems, thereby ultimately contributing to food and nutritional security in the region.
The rice-based cropping systems in the EIGP are crucial for food security and livelihoods but are increasingly threatened by soil degradation, water scarcity, and the impacts of climate change. While current research highlights the importance of these systems, they face significant challenges, including declining crop productivity and soil health due to intensive cereal-based rotations. Concerning the challenges raised in continuous cereal-based rotations under conventional cultivation techniques, crop diversification with legumes in CA may be an efficient strategy to increase crop productivity while protecting soil and the environment.
To address these issues, a review article (DOI: 10.48130/TIA-2023-0003) published in Technology in Agronomy on 27 March 2023, explores the role of legume crops in Conservation Agriculture as a strategy to enhance productivity and sustainability in rice-based systems.
In this paper, researchers review the production constraints and opportunities for CA in rice-based systems of the EIGP, highlighting key challenges such as soil degradation, high input costs, and stagnating crop yields due to mismanagement of natural resources. Despite these issues, CA presents significant opportunities to enhance productivity, sustainability, and food security. This review discusses the potential of CA techniques, such as minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and crop diversification, particularly with legume crops, to reverse soil degradation and improve crop yields. Furthermore, the researchers emphasize the role of mechanization, especially the adoption of two-wheel tractors for smallholder farms, in reducing production costs and improving farm profitability. This review also highlights the environmental benefits of CA, including minimize the cost of production and greenhouse gas emissions and improved resilience to climate change in the IGP. However, the researchers have identified the necessity for further studies to evaluate the impact of legumes in CA, particularly in diverse agro-ecological zones of EIGP. The review suggests that the inclusion of legumes in rice-based cropping systems under CA could be vital for ensuring sustainable agriculture, enhancing soil health, and combating hunger and food insecurity in the region.
According to the study's lead researcher, Akbar Hossain, “This review suggests further sustainability improvements can be achieved through future field research focused on the inclusion of legume crops in the diverse rice-based systems under CA.”
In summary, legumes are vital for enhancing crop productivity and sustainability in rice-based systems of the EIGP through CA. This review highlights their benefits, including improved soil health, nitrogen fixation, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The future field research focus should be on optimizing legume integration in CA practices to address challenges like soil degradation and climate change, ultimately supporting food security and sustainable agriculture in the region.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/TIA-2023-0003
About Technology in Agronomy
Technology in Agronomy (e-ISSN 2835-9445) is an open access, online-only academic journal sharing worldwide research in breakthrough technologies and applied sciences in agronomy. Technology in Agronomy publishes original research articles, reviews, opinions, methods, editorials, letters, and perspectives in all aspects of applied sciences and technology related to production agriculture, including (but not limited to): agronomy, crop science, soil science, precision agriculture, and agroecology.
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