Research Projects

The rice-wheat cropping system in India, which covers approximately 10.5 million hectares, faces challenges such as declining soil organic carbon, increasing deficiencies of major and micro-nutrients, poor crop residue management, soil microbial load deterioration, over-exploitation of groundwater resources, and greenhouse gas emissions. The persistent use of conventional tillage practices has led to soil erosion, degraded soil resources, depleted carbon pools, and deteriorated soil aggregation. Conventional agriculture must be reoriented towards climate smart practices. The research project aims to evaluate carbon dynamics, GHG emissions, and deep soil carbon sequestration in diversified cropping systems under conservation and conventional agriculture. It also assesses soil biological functions and yield sustainability and resource-use-efficiency in diversified systems, focusing on adaptation and mitigation, carbon sequestration, crop diversification, profitability, resource-use-efficiency, sustainable yield, and soil health. The project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these issues and their potential solutions for improving soil health and productivity.