The demand for food, fiber, and shelter is increasing with the continuous increase in the World s population. The rapid industrialization, continuous tillage, and greater use of fossil fuels, fertilizers and pesticides are polluting our natural resources and environment. Food production is mainly dependant upon land and water resources. The rice-wheat system, one of the major cropping systems of the South Asia and parts of East Asia, requires special management.
Rice grows well on puddled compacted soil, whereas wheat grows best on well-drained soils.
The hardpan developed with puddling operation is important for water retention and weed control in rice, but compacted soil creates problems of waterlogging for wheat. In addition to this, the traditional land preparation after rice harvest results in later wheat sowing dates than optimum. Due to these management differences and traditional cultural cultivation practices, the productivity of the rice-wheat system is stagnating and its sustainability threatened. The introduction of new varieties and chemical fertilizes, during the green revolution of the 1960s, resulted in an astonishing increase in crop yields. Intensive cultivation, conventional soil management practices, and improper use of irrigation water resulted in deterioration of land and water resources leading to poor crop yields.