Effect of different tillage and crop residue retention practices on growth and yield of foxtail millet and greengram under rainfed condition

Conservation agriculture (CA) offers a sustainable and productive approach to farming that can benefit farmers. CA practice, zero tillage along with improved planting method for in-situ soil water conservation (Ridge and Furrow) and residue retention practices with crop diversity of short-duration rainy-season crops (Foxtail millet and greengram) may be more viable approach to increase the biomass productivity and yield in semi-arid dryland areas. A two years experiment was carried out during 2022-23 and 2023-24 by implementing tillage and crop residue retention practices on foxtail millet and greengram system at Gungal Research Farm of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad. Plant height, leaf area index (LAI) and crop growth indices (Absolute growth rate and Crop growth rate) of foxtail and greengram was found statistically superior under Zero tillage with ridge and furrow (T₄) than Zero tillage (T₃). Retaining entire crop residue (S₃) resulted in significantly higher plant height, LAI and crop growth indices (absolute growth rate and crop growth rate) than no crop residue retention (S₁) during growth of foxtail and greengram. Yield of foxtail millet (859.2 kg ha^-1) and greengram (1256.8 kg ha^-1) was significantly higher under zero tillage with ridge and furrow (T₄) than conventional tillage (T₁) and zero tillage (T₃). Retention of entire residue as such on field (S₃) led to significantly higher yield of foxtail millet (823.7 kg ha^-1) and greengram (1176.8 kg ha^-1) than no residue (S₁). Innovative approach to zero tillage was zero tillage with ridge and furrow (for in-situ soil water conservation) and full crop residue retention in the field enhanced growth, productivity of rainfed foxtail millet and greengram during two years of experiment.