Productivity and Economics of Rice-Wheat Cropping System as Affected by Methods of Sowing and Tillage Practices in the Eastern Plains

The field experiments were conducted during the years  2011- 2014 at farmers’ fields in the villages viz. Simra, Mahangupur and Azadnagar of Phulwarisharif Block of Patna district to evaluate the performance of rice-wheat cropping system under different sowing methods and different tillage scenario. Four sowing methods in rice viz. zero- till- drill rice(ZT), unpuddled mechanical transplanted rice (MT), direct wet sowing and puddled transplanting whereas, in wheat three methods of sowings viz. zero- till- drill, manual line sowing and sowing with Turbo Happy seeder were carried out and compared for yield and economics of the treatment. Unpuddled Mechanical transplanting (MT) followed by manual sowing of wheat recorded least bulk density (1.51gcm-3) at 0-15 cm of soil depth. Unpuddled mechanical transplanted rice recorded highest output: input ratio of 2.4 with a grain yield of 49.2q/ha. After harvesting of rice crop, wheat grown in plots of MT rice and ZT, produced significantly higher yield i.e. 48.2 and 44.6 q/ha with an output: input ratio of 2.0 and 2.1 respectively. Wheat crop sown by Turbo Happy seeder performed the best and produced significantly higher grain yield (43.8q/ha) over other methods of sowing due to mulching effect.  ZT rice and MT rice saved 81 and 72 percent of sowing cost and 96 and 94 percent in terms of time taken in sowing/ transplanting on hectare basis, respectively. Sowing of wheat through Zero- till- drill and Turbo Happy seeder also curtailed the overall cost of cultivation by Rs. 9,800 and Rs. 8,800/ha, respectively