Impact of zero tillage technology in wheat and summer greengram cultivation in kymore plateau and Satpura hill regions of Madhya Pradesh

The Kymore Plateau and Satpura Hills region, which spans the districts of Sidhi, Rewa, Satna, Panna, Jabalpur, and Seoni, is a vertical strip that runs through the center of Madhya Pradesh. Medium to heavy cotton soils predominate in the area, while in the irrigated tracts, rice-wheat-greengram is the main cropping system. Conventional tillage techniques, such as preparing the seed bed for wheat by tillage with a cultivator and then breaking lumps with a rotavator, and preparing the seed bed for greengram by a similar procedure, further postpone the sowing by a further 12 to 15d. In 2019-20 and 2020-21, technology demonstrations on wheat and summer greengram were carried out with conventional and zero tillage while taking the aforementioned into account. ZT+R and CT-R plots showed grain yields of 51.99 and 48.77 q/ha, respectively, which were 41.55 and 32.78 per cent more than FP (36.73 q/ha). The cost of cultivation in ZT+R plots was found to be 0.63 per cent lower than in farmer's practices, but 9.57 per cent higher in CT-R. Wheat could have been sown 15-18 d earlier than with the CT-R method. With 10-12 d early sowing in ZT+R plots, greengram seed yield under ZT+R and CT-R fields was recorded to be 12.65 and 12.28 q/ha, with yield increases of 29.74 and 25.95 per cent over FP (9.75 q/ha). The cost for cultivating greengram was 0.38 perent higher in CT-R technology but 4.87 per cent lower in ZT+R technology than in FP. In the disseminated area of 6385 ha, zero tillage technique minimized 675.92 MT CO₂ emissions, which was predicted to be 76% less than that of CT-R. This resulted in fuel savings of 252207 liters and decreased environmental pollution. In addition to the previously mentioned, it saved the need for one irrigation in greengram and wheat, saving a total of 5.795 million cubic feet of water in the disseminated area, valued at 63.85 lakh.