Context-dependent agricultural intensification pathways to increase rice production in India.

Yield gap analysis is used to characterize the untapped production potential of cropping systems. With emerging large-n agronomic datasets and data science methods, pathways for narrowing yield gaps can be identified that provide actionable insights into where and how cropping systems can be sustainably intensified. Here we characterize the contributing factors to rice yield gaps across seven Indian states, with a case study region used to assess the power of intervention targeting.

The fate of rice crop residues and context-dependent greenhouse gas emissions: Model-based insights from Eastern India.

Crop residue burning is a common practice in many parts of the world that causes air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regenerative practices that return residues to the soil offer a 'no burn' pathway for addressing air pollution while building soil organic carbon (SOC). Nevertheless, GHG emissions in rice-based agricultural systems are complex and difficult to anticipate, particularly in production contexts with highly variable hydrologic conditions.

Using microsatellite data to estimate the persistence of field-level yield gaps and their drivers in smallholder systems.

One way to meet growing food demand is to increase yields in regions that have large yield gaps, including smallholder systems. To do this, it is important to quantify yield gaps, their persistence, and their drivers at large spatio-temporal scales. Here we use microsatellite data to map field-level yields from 2014 to 2018 in Bihar, India and use these data to assess the magnitude, persistence, and drivers of yield gaps at the landscape scale.

Using Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Planet satellite data to map field-level tillage practices in smallholder systems.

Remote sensing can be used to map tillage practices at large spatial and temporal scales. However, detecting such management practices in smallholder systems is challenging given that the size of fields is smaller than historical readily-available satellite imagery. In this study we used newer, higher-resolution satellite data from Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Planet to map tillage practices in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains in India.

Large survey dataset of rice production practices applied by farmers on their largest farm plot during 2018 in India.

This dataset provides detailed information on rice production practices being applied by farmers during 2018 rainy season in India. Data was collected through computer-assisted personal interview of farmers using the digital platform Open Data Kit (ODK). The dataset,  = 8355, covers eight Indian states, viz.

Weed germinable seedbanks of rice-wheat systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains: Do tillage and edaphic factors explain community variation?

Zero tillage (ZT) is widely promoted throughout India's Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) because of its potential to increase wheat productivity and resilience to abiotic stresses. Weeds remain a major barrier to ZT adoption, yet it remains unclear how ZT will influence weed communities in the Eastern-IGP. The primary objective of this study was to characterise the composition of the germinable weed seedbank sampled just prior to the wheat phase of rice-wheat farms in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and examine whether adoption of ZT wheat has shifted weed community composition compared to conventional tillage (CT).

Outburst of pest populations in rice-based cropping systems under conservation agricultural practices in the middle Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia.

Conservation agriculture (CA), which encompasses minimum soil disturbance, residue retention either through crop residue, or cover crops and crop diversification-based crop management practices can modify the status of pest dynamics and activities under the changing climatic scenarios. CA has been advocated extensively to optimize the use of available resources, maintain the environmental quality, enhance crop productivity, and reduce the climate change impacts. Information related to the impacts of long-term CA-production systems under rice-based cropping systems on pest status is lacking, particularly in middle Indo-Gangetic Plains (MIGP).

Impact of conservation tillage in rice-based cropping systems on soil aggregation, carbon pools and nutrients.

Tillage intensive cropping practices have deteriorated soil physical quality and decreased soil organic carbon (SOC) levels in rice-growing areas of South Asia. Consequently, crop productivity has declined over the years demonstrating the need for sustainable alternatives. Given that, a field experiment was conducted for six years to assess the impact of four tillage based crop establishment treatments [puddled transplant rice followed by conventional tillage in wheat/maize (CTTPR-CT), non-puddled transplant rice followed by zero-tillage in wheat/maize (NPTPR-ZT), zero-till transplant rice followed by zero-tillage in wheat/maize (ZTTPR-ZT), zero-tillage direct seeded rice followed by zero-tillage in wheat/maize (ZTDSR-ZT)], two residue management treatments [residue removal, residue retention (~33%)], and two cropping systems [rice-wheat, rice-maize] on soil aggregation, carbon pools, nutrient availability, and crop productivity.