Intensive tillage operations, indiscriminate use of irrigation water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
and crop biomass burning have made the conventional rice–wheat (RW) system highly energyintensive
and inefficient. In the recent past, portfolios of climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAP)
have been promoted as a potential alternative to improve the energy efficiency in conventional
RW system. Therefore, to evaluate the energy input–output relation, energy flow and economic
efficiency in various combinations of crop management options, a 3-year (2014–2017) on-farm study
was conducted at Karnal, India. Various portfolio of management practices; Sc1-Business as usual
(BAU) or Conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-Reduce tillage (RT) with
residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/Zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT
with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, Sc6-Sc5 + Nutrient expert were investigated. Present
study results revealed that net energy, energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 11–18,
31–51 and 29–53% higher under CSAP (mean of Sc4, Sc5 and Sc6) in RW system than Sc1, respectively.
However, renewable and non-renewable energy inputs were 14 and 33% higher in Sc1 compared to
CSAP (4028 and 49,547 MJ ha−
1), respectively, it showed that BAU practices mostly dependents on
non-renewable energy sources whereas CSAP dependents on renewable energy sources. Similarly, the
adoption of CSAP improved the biomass yield, net farm income and economic efficiency by 6–9, 18–23
and 42–58%, respectively compared to Sc1. Overall, the adoption of CSAP could be a viable alternative
for improving energy use efficiency, farm profitability and eco-efficiency in the RW system.
