EFFECT OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PRACTICES ON YIELD

Rapeseed-mustard crop in India are grown in diverse agro-climatic conditions ranging from north-eastern/north western hills to down south under irrigated/rainfed, timely/late sown, saline soils and mixed cropping. This crop accounts for nearly one-third of the oil produced in India, making it the country’s key edible oilseed crop.The experiment consisting three tillage practices; furrow irrigated raised beds (FIRB), zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT) in main plots, and six mustard based cropping systems; soybean-mustard, cluster bean-mustard, green gram-mustard, maize-mustard, sesame-mustard and pearl millet-mustard in sub plots. Indian mustard-based cropping systems varied in the response to the various parameters. Plant height, plant dry weight, stem girth, primary and secondary branches per plant, main shoot length and siliqua on main shoot, seed yield (3069 kg/ha) and seed & seed wall weight, fodder yield (6627 kg/ha), biological yield (9810 kg/ha), test weight and oil content were recorded highest in pearl millet-mustard, sesame-mustard, green gram-mustard, soybean-mustard, maize-mustard, cluster bean-mustard cropping systems.