Environmentally sound alternative cropping systems for rice–wheat systems in North West India

Continuous cultivation of rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) in Indo-Gangetic Plains India is showing declining factor productivity coupled with many environmental problems. Diversifying the RWCS one friendly options for sustaining food production. Four crop rotations involving maize and sorghum summer, wheat/potato/mustard winter followed by short duration mung bean late spring were studied to identify most productive economic combination from 2017 2020. Ranking treatments Tukey’s test significance indicated that maize-potato-wheat (16.49 t ha?1 year?1) was best terms calculated wheat equivalent yield (WEY). Maize-wheat-mung sequence profitable having higher land use efficiency (LUE = 87.67%) net return (NR 1577.1 $ ha?1). The gross margin comparison revealed maize-based sequences earned returns (23.17%), (93.66%), B:C ratio (23.7%) than sorghum-based sequences. Soil health parameters improved under maize-mustard-mung system, which increased organic carbon content 28.65%, available N 34.91% saving 47.67% irrigation water. Adoption alternate instead rice–wheat, India, could be more sustainable, profitable, environment friendly.