Assessment of Management Practices for Improving Productivity, Profitability, and Energy-Carbon-Water Use Efficiency of Intensive Rice-toria-Sweet Corn System in Eastern India

One of the primary factors contributing to the low productivity of the rice-based cropping systems in Eastern India is the imbalanced use of fertilizers and the improper timing of post-rice crops within the cropping window. Smart practices that boost system productivity and profitability and reduce energy-carbon-water footprints are crucial in changing climate. Therefore, the present study was carried out to identify the most energy-carbon-water efficient production practices having higher productivity and profitability for a rice-based cropping system in Eastern India. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with four replications. In the main plots, six treatments comprising different nitrogen (N) management options (100% soil test-based N, 75% soil test-based N + green manuring and 50% soil test-based N + green manuring) and two rice cultivars (manaswini and hasanta) were allocated. The sub-plots consisted of three different crop establishment strategies (zero tillage, conventional tillage and furrow-irrigated raised bed) for the post-rice crops. The 75% soil test-based N with green manuring, among the N management options, provided the highest system yield and profitability, registering 12.9 and 24.1% increases over 100% soil test-based N, respectively. Among crop establishment methods, zero tillage (ZT) and furrow-irrigated raised bed (FIRB) gave similar system yields and net returns. In comparison to conventional tillage (CT), ZT produced 10.7 and 24.9% greater system productivity and profitability, respectively, while FIRB produced 13.2 and 24.8% higher yields and net returns. Both ZT and FIRB had higher energy use efficiency (18.1 and 19.5%, respectively) and carbon efficiency (9.7 and 9.1%, respectively) than the CT. The FIRB led to a 5.7% saving in system water requirements and 20.2% higher system water productivity as compared to the CT. The study concluded that 75% soil test-based N with green manuring and ZT or FIRB in post-rice crops could be the best suitable practices for the rice-toria-sweet corn system for higher system yield and net returns with low energy-carbon-water footprints under changing climate in the long run.