IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v309y2024ics0360544224029062.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of conservation agriculture and weed management on carbon footprint, energy efficiency, and sustainability in maize-wheat cropping systems

Author

Listed:
  • Kumar, Sachin
  • Rana, Surinder Singh
  • Abdelrahman, Kamal
  • Uddin, Md Galal
  • Fnais, Mohammed S.
  • Abioui, Mohamed

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of conservation agriculture (CA) and weed management practices on the productivity, profitability, energy use, and carbon sustainability of a maize-wheat cropping system. Fifteen treatment combinations, incorporating five tillage methods (conventional-till maize and wheat [CT-CT], conventional-till maize and zero-till wheat [CT-ZT], zero-till maize and zero-till wheat [ZT-ZT], zero-till maize and zero-till plus residue in wheat [ZT-ZTR], and zero-till plus residue maize and wheat [ZTR-ZTR]) and three weed management practices (recommended herbicide [H-H], integrated weed management [IWM-IWM], and hand weeding [HW-HW]), were tested in a strip plot design. The results showed that ZTR-ZTR significantly increased system productivity (6.90 Mg ha−1), net returns, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR; 2.69), compared to CT. However, CT systems had 173 % higher energy use efficiency (EUE) and 170 % higher energy intensity (EI) than CA systems. CA-based treatments used about 15 % direct renewable energy and 85 % indirect renewable energy, while CT systems used 15–20 % direct non-renewable energy and 85–86 % indirect non-renewable energy. Among weed management practices, recommended herbicides (H-H) led to the highest productivity (6.71 Mg ha−1), EUE (9.80), net returns (3003 US$ ha−1), and BCR (3.08), but also higher carbon footprints. This underscores the balance between productivity, energy efficiency, and carbon in agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Sachin & Rana, Surinder Singh & Abdelrahman, Kamal & Uddin, Md Galal & Fnais, Mohammed S. & Abioui, Mohamed, 2024. "Impact of conservation agriculture and weed management on carbon footprint, energy efficiency, and sustainability in maize-wheat cropping systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:309:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224029062
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224029062
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133131?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Weisberger & Virginia Nichols & Matt Liebman, 2019. "Does diversifying crop rotations suppress weeds? A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Tek Maraseni & Guangnan Chen & Thomas Banhazi & Jochen Bundschuh & Talal Yusaf, 2015. "An Assessment of Direct on-Farm Energy Use for High Value Grain Crops Grown under Different Farming Practices in Australia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Saad, A.A. & Das, T.K. & Rana, D.S. & Sharma, A.R. & Bhattacharyya, Ranjan & Lal, Krishan, 2016. "Energy auditing of a maize–wheat–greengram cropping system under conventional and conservation agriculture in irrigated north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 293-305.
    4. Choudhary, Mukesh & Rana, K.S. & Bana, R.S. & Ghasal, P.C. & Choudhary, G.L. & Jakhar, Praveen & Verma, R.K., 2017. "Energy budgeting and carbon footprint of pearl millet – mustard cropping system under conventional and conservation agriculture in rainfed semi-arid agro-ecosystem," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1052-1058.
    5. Himanshu Pathak & Yash S. Saharawat & Mahesh Gathala & Jagdish K. Ladha, 2011. "Impact of resource‐conserving technologies on productivity and greenhouse gas emissions in the rice‐wheat system," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 1(3), pages 261-277, September.
    6. David Tilman & Kenneth G. Cassman & Pamela A. Matson & Rosamond Naylor & Stephen Polasky, 2002. "Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6898), pages 671-677, August.
    7. Tabatabaeefar, A. & Emamzadeh, H. & Varnamkhasti, M. Ghasemi & Rahimizadeh, R. & Karimi, M., 2009. "Comparison of energy of tillage systems in wheat production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 41-45.
    8. Jat, H.S. & Jat, R.D. & Nanwal, R.K. & Lohan, Shiv Kumar & Yadav, A.K. & Poonia, Tanuja & Sharma, P.C. & Jat, M.L., 2020. "Energy use efficiency of crop residue management for sustainable energy and agriculture conservation in NW India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1372-1382.
    9. Gathala, Mahesh K. & Laing, Alison M. & Tiwari, T.P. & Timsina, J. & Islam, Md. S. & Chowdhury, A.K. & Chattopadhyay, C. & Singh, A.K. & Bhatt, B.P. & Shrestha, R. & Barma, N.C.D. & Rana, D.S. & Jacks, 2020. "Enabling smallholder farmers to sustainably improve their food, energy and water nexus while achieving environmental and economic benefits," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Raghavendra Madar & Yudh Vir Singh & Mahesh Chand Meena & Tapas Kumar Das & Venkatesh Paramesh & Fahed A. Al-Mana & Mohamed A. Mattar & Hosam O. Elansary, 2020. "Residue and Potassium Management Strategies to Improve Crop Productivity, Potassium Mobilization, and Assimilation under Zero-Till Maize–Wheat Cropping System," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    11. Parihar, C.M. & Jat, S.L. & Singh, A.K. & Majumdar, K. & Jat, M.L. & Saharawat, Y.S. & Pradhan, S. & Kuri, B.R., 2017. "Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 245-256.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Parihar, C.M. & Meena, B.R. & Nayak, Hari Sankar & Patra, K. & Sena, D.R. & Singh, Raj & Jat, S.L. & Sharma, D.K. & Mahala, D.M. & Patra, S. & Rupesh, & Rathi, N. & Choudhary, M. & Jat, M.L. & Abdalla, 2022. "Co-implementation of precision nutrient management in long-term conservation agriculture-based systems: A step towards sustainable energy-water-food nexus," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    2. Jat, H.S. & Jat, R.D. & Nanwal, R.K. & Lohan, Shiv Kumar & Yadav, A.K. & Poonia, Tanuja & Sharma, P.C. & Jat, M.L., 2020. "Energy use efficiency of crop residue management for sustainable energy and agriculture conservation in NW India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1372-1382.
    3. Muhammad N. Ashraf & Muhammad H. Mahmood & Muhammad Sultan & Redmond R. Shamshiri & Sobhy M. Ibrahim, 2021. "Investigation of Energy Consumption and Associated CO 2 Emissions for Wheat–Rice Crop Rotation Farming," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Meena, Ram Swaroop & Pradhan, Gourisankar & Kumar, Sandeep & Lal, Rattan, 2023. "Using industrial wastes for rice-wheat cropping and food-energy-carbon-water-economic nexus to the sustainable food system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Bhunia, Snehasish & Karmakar, Subrata & Bhattacharjee, Suvendu & Roy, Kingshuk & Kanthal, Sahely & Pramanick, Mahadev & Baishya, Aniket & Mandal, Biswapati, 2021. "Optimization of energy consumption using data envelopment analysis (DEA) in rice-wheat-green gram cropping system under conservation tillage practices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    6. Muhammad N. Ashraf & Muhammad H. Mahmood & Muhammad Sultan & Narges Banaeian & Muhammad Usman & Sobhy M. Ibrahim & Muhammad U. B. U. Butt & Muhammad Waseem & Imran Ali & Aamir Shakoor & Zahid M. Khan, 2020. "Investigation of Input and Output Energy for Wheat Production: A Comprehensive Study for Tehsil Mailsi (Pakistan)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Wang, Donglin & Feng, Hao & Li, Yi & Zhang, Tibin & Dyck, Miles & Wu, Feng, 2019. "Energy input-output, water use efficiency and economics of winter wheat under gravel mulching in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 354-366.
    8. Pritpal Singh & Gurdeep Singh & G. P. S. Sodhi, 2022. "Data envelopment analysis based optimization for improving net ecosystem carbon and energy budget in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivation: methods and a case study of north-western India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 2079-2119, February.
    9. Kumar, Adarsh & Rana, K.S. & Choudhary, Anil K. & Bana, R.S. & Sharma, V.K. & Prasad, Shiv & Gupta, Gaurendra & Choudhary, Mukesh & Pradhan, Amaresh & Rajpoot, Sudhir K. & Kumar, Abhishek & Kumar, Ami, 2021. "Energy budgeting and carbon footprints of zero-tilled pigeonpea–wheat cropping system under sole or dual crop basis residue mulching and Zn-fertilization in a semi-arid agro-ecology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    10. Feng, Meiqing & Chen, Yaning & Duan, Weili & Fang, Gonghuan & li, Zhi & Jiao, Li & Sun, Fan & Li, Yupeng & Hou, Yifeng, 2022. "Comprehensive evaluation of the water-energy-food nexus in the agricultural management of the Tarim River Basin, Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    11. Nisar, Shahida & Benbi, Dinesh Kumar & Toor, Amardeep Singh, 2021. "Energy budgeting and carbon footprints of three tillage systems in maize-wheat sequence of north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    12. Parihar, C.M. & Jat, S.L. & Singh, A.K. & Kumar, B. & Rathore, N.S. & Jat, M.L. & Saharawat, Y.S. & Kuri, B.R., 2018. "Energy auditing of long-term conservation agriculture based irrigated intensive maize systems in semi-arid tropics of India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 289-302.
    13. Kumar, Ashok & Singh, Dilip & Mahapatra, S.K., 2022. "Energy and carbon budgeting of the pearl millet-wheat cropping system for environmentally sustainable agricultural land use planning in the rainfed semi-arid agro-ecosystem of Aravalli foothills," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    14. Saljnikov, Elmira & Saljnikov, Aleksandar & Rahimgalieva, Saule & Cakmak, Dragan & Kresovic, Mirjana & Mrvic, Vesna & Dzhalankuzov, Temirbolat, 2014. "Impact of energy saving cultivations on soil parameters in northern Kazakhstan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 35-41.
    15. Dutta, S. K & Laing, Alison M. & Kumar, S. & Gathala, Mahesh K. & Singh, Ajoy K. & Gaydon, D.S. & Poulton, P., 2020. "Improved water management practices improve cropping system profitability and smallholder farmers’ incomes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    16. Singh, Ranbir & Singh, Ajay & Sheoran, Parvender & Fagodiya, R.K. & Rai, Arvind Kumar & Chandra, Priyanka & Rani, Sonia & Yadav, Rajender Kumar & Sharma, P.C., 2022. "Energy efficiency and carbon footprints of rice-wheat system under long-term tillage and residue management practices in western Indo-Gangetic Plains in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    17. Ershadfath, Farnaz & Shahnazari, Ali & Sarjaz, Mahmoud Raeini & Moghadasi, Omid Ali & Soheilifard, Farshad & Andaryani, Soghra & Khosravi, Rezvan & Ebrahimi, Raheleh & Hashemi, Fatemeh & Trolle, Denni, 2024. "Water-energy-food-greenhouse gas nexus: An approach to solutions for water scarcity in agriculture of a semi-arid region," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    18. Singh, Pritpal & Singh, Gurdeep & Sodhi, G.P.S. & Sharma, Sandeep, 2021. "Energy optimization in wheat establishment following rice residue management with Happy Seeder technology for reduced carbon footprints in north-western India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    19. Darius Juknevičius & Zita Kriaučiūnienė & Algirdas Jasinskas & Egidijus Šarauskis, 2020. "Analysis of Changes in Soil Organic Carbon, Energy Consumption and Environmental Impact Using Bio-Products in the Production of Winter Wheat and Oilseed Rape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-15, October.
    20. Yuan, Shen & Peng, Shaobing & Wang, Dong & Man, Jianguo, 2018. "Evaluation of the energy budget and energy use efficiency in wheat production under various crop management practices in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 184-191.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:309:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224029062. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.