On-farm assessment of conservation tillage for wheat planting in rice-wheat cropping system

A farmer's participatory field experiment was conducted during two consecutive Rabi seasons of 2015–16 and 2016–17 at farmer's fields in Badkisarari village of Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh on clay loam soils to validate zero-till sowing of wheat crop in rice-wheat cropping system for realizing higher yield. Zero till sown wheat had significantly lesser weed dry biomass per unit area as compared to wheat sown in conventional and reduced tillage besides advancement of sowing by 20–25 days over conventional and reduced tillage sowing of wheat crop. The population of Phalaris minor, Avena ludoviciana, Avena fatua, Chenopodium album, Melilotus indica and Anagallis arvensis was reduced significantly under zero tillage as compared to conventional tillage. Excellent suppression in weed density and weed dry weight with higher levels of weed control efficiency and yield were obtained with zero till sown wheat. Zero tillage was also found better in terms of lesser cost of cultivation, higher net returns and B:C ratio.