AGRONOMIC AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF PERMANENT RAISED BEDS, NO TILLAGE AND STRAW MULCHING FOR AN IRRIGATED MAIZE-WHEAT SYSTEM IN NORTHWEST INDIA

SUMMARY No-tillage and raised beds are widely used for different crops in developed countries. A field experiment was conducted on an irrigated maize-wheat system to study the effect of field layout, tillage and straw mulch on crop performance, water use efficiency and economics for five years (2003–2008) in northwest India. Straw mulch reduced the maximum soil temperature at seed depth by about 3 °C compared to the no mulch. During the wheat...