Farmers in India and Pakistan reap the benefits of sowing without tillage

Zero-tillage is spreading slowly but surely among farmers in India and Pakistan due to its cost savings and improved yields, according to two recent CIMMYT studies carried out in collaboration with Indian and Pakistani partners.

Since the mid-1980s, researchers, farmers, extension specialists, machinery importers, and local machinery manufacturers have been working to adapt resource-conserving practices to South Asia’s rice-wheat cropping system. CIMMYT, working with the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, has made important contributions to these initiatives. Recent evidence suggests these practices are beginning to take root.

“Adoption of zero-tillage for wheat has taken off in Punjab in Pakistan since 2000,” says Umar Farooq, agricultural economist with the Social Sciences Division of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council in Islamabad. “More farmers are using the zero-tillage seeder, which allows them to plant wheat seed into unplowed fields with a single pass of the tractor.”

When the farmer sows wheat seed directly into the soil without plowing, the crop comes up amid stubble from the previous monsoon rice crop. This means the soil's natural structure, network of organisms and root channels, and water capture and retention capacity are conserved or improved. In the 1980s surveys showed that conventional tillage for wheat required an average eight tractor passes to accomplish plowing, harrowing, planking, and seeding. With the zero-tillage (ZT) drill, farmers save on average 7 tractor hours and 35 liters of diesel, which also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, machinery wear, and overall labor.

Production benefits
In addition to diesel and cost savings, farmers in Haryana, India improved their wheat yields by 4% —some 200 kg per hectare, according to Olaf Erenstein, economist with CIMMYT-India. “With zero-tillage, wheat can be sown early and before the pre-monsoon hot season, which leads to better wheat yields,” he says.

“The rapid diffusion and widespread acceptance of ZT in Haryana has been driven by the combination of improved yields and cost savings,” says Erenstein, who co-authored two in-depth studies surveying ZT drill manufacturers, rice-wheat farmers, and several villages in Haryana and in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The studies were funded by the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, a project that works with stakeholders to manage water resources.

In general, land preparation, weeding, and irrigation cost less in ZT plots. Farmers in Haryana spent an average USD 576 for ZT plots, whereas costs for a conventionally-tilled plot were USD 619—a savings of USD 43.

In Punjab, Pakistan, farmers using ZT had an average 8.3 hectares of wheat per household under the practice and saved an average 288 liters of diesel, 57 tractor hours, and USD 374 per season. “Farmers surveyed in Punjab were also near unanimous that they spend less time cultivating wheat after adopting ZT,” says Farooq, who co-authored the Pakistan study. This free time can be spent on leisure or alternative productive pursuits.

Water crisis looming
The rice-wheat cropping system of the Indo-Gangetic Plains covers 13.5 million hectares in South Asia. Over the past 30 years, cereal production has increased faster than population growth, thanks to the expansion of cropped area, more double cropping, and increased use of fertilizers, irrigation, and improved varieties.

“Industrial growth and urban sprawl mean the cropped area can no longer expand to meet increasing food demand,” says Peter R. Hobbs, adjunct International Professor in the department of crops and soil sciences at Cornell University. “Competition for water from domestic and industrial sources has also increased dramatically and water for agriculture must be used more efficiently to produce higher yields.” As a CIMMYT wheat agronomist in Pakistan and South Asia and along with former RWC facilitator, Raj Gupta, Hobbs was instrumental in promoting resource-conserving practices in the region.

On zero-tilled plots, wheat can use the residual soil moisture from rice paddies and water covers the field more quickly, saving water and fuel for pumping. Farmers who used ZT in Haryana saved 340 cubic meters of irrigation water per hectare per season, spent 6.4 fewer hours per hectare irrigating fields, used more than 13% less water, and had enhanced wheat yields.

“The next step is to move beyond the wheat crop,” says Erenstein. “Now we need to help farmers adopt the use resource-conserving practices like zero-tillage and raised beds for rice, to keep improving the sustainability of rice-wheat systems.”

For more information: Olaf Erenstein, agricultural economist (o.erenstein@cgiar.org)

Below are several success stories from CIMMYT’s involvement in the testing and promotion of resource-conserving practices in South Asia:

Bachelors take note: Reduce your tillage

Innovation in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains: Calling at the door of the poor

Zero-tillage: Averting dry wells and depleted soils in South Asia