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

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) 2024-11, Vol.309, p.133131, Article 133131
• Main Authors: Kumar, Sachin, Rana, Surinder Singh, Abdelrahman, Kamal, Uddin, Md Galal, Fnais, Mohammed S., Abioui, Mohamed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conventional tillage; Crop rotation; Energy utilization; Environmental pollution; GHGs emission; Soil organic carbon
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133131

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. •CA (ZTR-ZTR) showed 103% higher productivity, 107% profitability, and 108% carbon sequestration vs. conventional practices (CT-CT).•CA system increased productivity by 118%, profitability by 114%, and carbon sequestration by 113% compared to zero tillage (ZT-ZT).•Recommended herbicides (H-H) improved system productivity by 111%, energy efficiency by 106%, and benefit-cost ratio by 118% vs. IWM practices.•Residue incorporation improved soil organic carbon and sequestration vs. no residue and conventional practices.