Productivity and profitability of rice–wheat sequence under conservation tillage

Field experiment was conducted during 2009–10 and 2010–11 at Agronomical Research Farm of Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi with four tillage management (zero till rice and zero till wheat; zero till rice and conventional till wheat; conventional till rice and zero till wheat and conventional till rice and conventional till wheat) in main plot and three methods of weed control practices viz., weedy check, recommended herbicides butachlor 1.5 kg/ha pre-emergence + 2,4-D 0.5 kg/ha post-emergence for rice and isoproturon 0.75 kg/ha + 2,4-D 0.5 kg/ha post-emergence for wheat and two hand weeding (20 and 40 DAS for rice and 25 and 50 DAS for wheat) in sub plot to assess the productivity and profitability of rice -wheat (cropping system under conservation tillage. Direct seeded rice–wheat sequence with conventional tillage produced maximum rice equivalent yield 7.44 t/ha (for 3.1 t/ha rice and 3.6 t/ha wheat) and net return (58,206/ha). Among weed control, rice-wheat either with butachlor 1.5 kg/ha pre-emergence + 2,4-D 0.5 kg/ha post-emergence in rice and isoproturon 0.75 kg/ha + 2,4-D 0.5 kg/ha post-emergence in wheat or, with two hand weeding in both crops produced maximum rice equivalent yield (7.4 t/ha and 7.8 t/ha) and net return (62,258/ha and 60,498/ha)