Diversification
Diversification or crop rotation is considered an essential component of the conservation agriculture for achieving higher diversity in plant production. Growing diverse crops in sequence not only maintain the higher soil microbial diversity but also help to explore the different soil layers and recycle the nutrients that have been leached down to deeper layers. Crop rotation of different crops having different rooting patterns in combination with minimum- or zero-tillage promotes an extensive network of root channels and macro-pores in the soil, which helps in water infiltration to deeper soil layers.
The beneficial effects of crop rotation are intensification of cropping systems with increased number of crops per year, double cropping, and addition of cover crops. Diversification/efficient crop rotation can increase soil C storage and can contribute to a great extent to sustain agricultural production.
The crops which can be grown under conservation agriculture in irrigated lowland/medium land during kharif and and rabi are described below along with their package of practices.