Advances in agronomic management of rice-mustard cropping system: A review

In India, the rice-based cropping system is a predominant food production system accompanied by rice as the primary food crop. However, the cereal-based cropping system has low productivity besides highly nutrient exhaustive contributing in the declining of soil fertility. Hence, crops that can improve the fertility status i.e legumes and oilseeds should be incorporated in the cropping system. The adoption of rice-mustard cropping system plays a vital role in meeting the demand of edible oil while reducing disparity between production and consumption for oilseeds and their import. The Kharif-Rabi rotation efficiently utilizes water resources wherein rice, a crop with high water requirement, cultivated during the monsoon and while mustard, a crop with relatively better tolerance to drought, make use of residual soil moisture in winter. This comprehensive review examines the advance agronomic management practices such as rice based cropping systems, importance of rice-mustard cropping system, varietal development, land preparation, seed priming, seed rate, nutrient, irrigation and weed management etc. which influence the productivity and sustainability of rice-mustard cropping system.