Table 1.
Details of scenario treatments with drivers of change, crop rotation, tillage, crop establishment methods, residue management, and level of conservation agriculture practices adopted.
| Parameter | Scenario 1 | Scenario 2 | Scenario 3 | Scenario 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario description | Business-as-usual | Reduced tillage, opportunistic diversification, and precision resource management | Zero tillage for all crops, opportunistic diversification, and precision resource management | Zero tillage for all crops, strategic diversification, and precision resource management |
| Drivers of change | None | Rising production cost and input-use inefficiencies | As in Scenario 2 + rising scarcity of labor, water, energy, and environmental protection | Same as Scenario 3 + diversification to arrest groundwater decline |
| Goal and approach | Maintaining current productivity and input-use efficiency using current farmers' practice | Optimizing productivity and profitability and input-use efficiencies by using low-risk and proven opportunities for sustainable crop intensification and best management practices (BMPs) | Optimizing productivity and profitability and input-use efficiencies by crop intensification and BMPs using CA-based practices | Optimizing productivity and profitability and input-use efficiencies by crop intensification, diversification, and BMPs using CA-based practices |
| Crop rotation | Rice-wheat-fallow | Rice-wheat-mungbean | Rice-wheat-mungbean | Maize-wheat-mungbean |
| Cropping intensity | 200% | 300% | 300% | 300% |
| Tillage | Conventional tillage: Rice-puddling; wheat- conventional | Mixed tillage: Rice-puddling; wheat and mungbean-ZT | Zero tillage: Rice, wheat, and mungbean: ZT | Zero tillage: Maize, wheat, and mungbean: ZT |
| Crop establishment methods | Rice: transplanting; wheat: broadcast | Rice: transplanting; wheat: drill-seeded; mungbean: drill-seeded except in years 2 and 3 | Rice and wheat: direct drill-seeded; mungbean: drill-seeded except in years 2 and 3 | Maize and wheat: direct drill-seeded; mungbean: drill-seeded except in years 2 and 3 |
| Crop residue recycling in five years (Mg ha−1) | Residue removed; only small stubbles incorporated into soil | 59 Mg ha−1 either retained on soil surface or incorporated | 55 Mg ha−1 retained on soil surface as mulch | 70 Mg ha−1 retained on soil surface as mulch |
| Level of CA | None | Partial CA | Full CA | Full CA |