Impact of Conservation Agriculture on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity Under Rice-Fallow Ecology in Eastern India

Opportunity to utilize the carry-over residual soil moisture to produce the post rainy season crops in rice-fallow production systems was one of the basic strategies for improving the livelihood security of the farming community in Eastern India. As per recent estimates, ~22.3 M ha of suitable rice-fallow areas exist in the South Asia, with 88.3% in India, 0.5% in Pakistan, 1.1% in Sri Lanka, 8.7% in Bangladesh, 1.4% in Nepal and 0.02% in Bhutan. These fallow lands are suitable for crop intensification with a short-duration (≤3 months), low water-consuming grain legumes, i.e. chickpea; lentil; black gram and oilseeds, viz. safflower, linseed and safflower, to improve the smallholder farmer’s incomes and soil health. There is a great scope in converting theses rice-fallow lands into the productive agro-ecosystems through appropriate crop-based interventions involving the suitable varieties and appropriate resource conservation technologies (RCTs)/conservation agriculture (CA) practices. Pulses/oilseeds, i.e. chickpea, lentil, lathyrus, mustard, linseed and safflower—through rotation or relay with rice—are candidate crops for efficient utilization of conserved and scarce resources including soil moisture. Thus, it is inferred from rice-fallow production system that the efficient agronomic management of soil and land resources is crucial for augmenting the crop productivity and soil health as well as enhancing the output in prevalent rice fallow of Eastern India.