Dhanda Sachin, Yadav Ashok, Yadav Dharam Bir, Chauhan Bhagirath Singh
Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States.
Department of Agronomy, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU), Hisar, India.
Front Plant Sci. 2022 Feb 22;13:832683. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.832683. eCollection 2022.
The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the backbone of Indian farming, especially in the north-western region. But continuous adoption of the RWCS in northwest India has resulted in major challenges and stagnation in the productivity of this system. Additionally, the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are also facing similar challenges for sustainable production of the RWCS. Several emerging problems, such as the exhausting nutrient pool in soil, deteriorating soil health, groundwater depletion, escalating production cost, labor scarcity, environmental pollution due to crop residue burning and enhanced greenhouse gas emissions, climatic vulnerabilities, and herbicide resistance in weed species, are a few major threats to its sustainability. To address these challenges, a wide range of sustainable intensification technologies have been developed to reduce the irrigation and labor requirements, tillage intensity, and straw burning. Awareness and capacity building of the stakeholders and policy matching/advocacy need to be prioritized to adopt time- and need-based strategies at the ground level to combat these challenges. This review summarizes the current status and challenges of the RWCS in the northwest region of the country and also focuses on the precision management options for achieving high productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
稻麦种植系统（RWCS）是印度农业的支柱，尤其是在西北地区。但在印度西北部持续采用稻麦种植系统已导致该系统面临重大挑战且生产力停滞不前。此外，巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和孟加拉国的印度河—恒河平原在稻麦种植系统的可持续生产方面也面临类似挑战。一些新出现的问题，如土壤养分库枯竭、土壤健康恶化、地下水枯竭、生产成本上升、劳动力短缺、作物秸秆焚烧造成的环境污染以及温室气体排放增加、气候脆弱性以及杂草物种的抗除草剂能力，是对其可持续性的一些主要威胁。为应对这些挑战，已开发出一系列可持续集约化技术，以减少灌溉和劳动力需求、耕作强度以及秸秆焚烧。需要优先提高利益相关者的认识和能力建设，并进行政策匹配/宣传，以便在实地层面采用基于时间和需求的战略来应对这些挑战。本综述总结了该国西北地区稻麦种植系统的现状和挑战，并着重介绍了实现高产、盈利和可持续性的精准管理方案。
