Economic assessment of conservation agricultural practices with special emphasis on happy seeder technology for rice wheat system in Punjab
Rice wheat cropping system is most popular among the farmers particularly in the IndoGangetic plains. Rice wheat monosystem leads to serious consequences that made sustainability of Punjab agriculture questionable. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been identified as the immediate as well as long term solution to achieve goals of sustaining productivity. For promoting CA, continuous research efforts resulted into machine called "Happy Seeder" Happy Seeder enables straw management without burning and its retention in the field enhances the soil fertility and crop productivity. Omitting cultivation operations of land preparation on account of zero till reduce the cost of cultivation. Therefore, the study attempts to examine the resource use patterns/efficiency on resource conserving agricultural practicesHappy Seeder Technology along with the cost/benefit scenario of conservation agriculture vis a vis traditional farming practices in the state. The results highlighted that the usage of Happy Seeder Technology enhanced both crop productivity as well as the profitability to the farmers along with being its water efficient technique.