[01] Bedanand Chaudhary, Retired from Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Lalitpur, Nepal. [02] Prakash Paneru, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Lalitpur, Nepal. [03] Dil Raj Yadav, Agriculture Research Station, Dhanusha, Nepal. [04] Biswash Raj Bastola, National Rice Research Program, Dhanusha, Nepal. [05] Dev Kumar Saphi, National Rice Research Program, Dhanusha, Nepal. [06] Ram Babu Das, National Rice Research Program, Dhanusha, Nepal. [07] Renuka Shrestha, Agronomy Division, Lalitpur, Nepal. [08] Mahesh Kumar Gathala, CIMMYT, Dhaka, Bangladesh. [09] Thakur Prasad Tiwari, CIMMYT, Dhaka, Bangladesh. [10] Ujjawal Kumar Singh Kushwaha, National Plant Breeding and Genetics Research Center, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Lalitpur, Nepal.

On-farm trials were conducted at five locations in Dhanusha, Nepal during 2015-2016 to evaluate performance of tillage and crop establishment methods on yield and economics in rice-wheat system. Four tillage and crop establishment methods; conventional tilled transplanted rice followed by conventional tilled wheat (CTPTR-CTW), conventional tilled transplanted rice followed by zero tilled wheat (CTPTR-ZTW), un-puddled transplanted rice followed by zero tilled wheat (UPTR-ZTW), zero tilled direct seeded rice followed by zero tilled wheat (ZTDSR-ZTW) were evaluated. Tillage and crop establishment methods significantly influenced days to heading, days to maturity and number of effective tillers per m² in rice and wheat. However, the tillage and crop establishment methods did not differ significantly for grain yield (t ha^-1) in both crops. Rice plants grown using ZTDSR matured 7-9 days earlier as compared to CTPTR allowing early planting of wheat. The highest rice yield was obtained in CTPTR-ZTW and ZTDSR-ZTW and the lowest in CTTPR-CTW. Rice yield was 14.3% higher in CTPTR-ZTW and ZTDSR-ZTW than CTTPR-CTW but wheat yield was comparable in both conventional and zero tilled plots. ZTDSR- ZTW had the highest net return of US $ 827.5 ha^-1 and benefit cost ratio of 2.01. UPTR-ZTW also gave higher net return of US $ 579.17 ha^-1 compared to CTPTR-CTW, which had net return of US $ 297.5 ha^-1. The results showed that ZTDSR-ZTW produced higher farm benefits with the lower investment without penalty in crop yield. Thus, conservation agriculture (CA) practice could be a sustainable and economic option for rice-wheat system against CTPTR-CTW. However, future works are needed to identify varietal options for sustainable CA and impellent awareness activities to promote the practice. The technology has a good prospect to improve livelihoods of the people by conserving natural resources, mitigating labor shortage issues and maintaining environment friendly.

On-farm Trials, Rice-Wheat System, Tillage and Crop Establishments, Conservation Agriculture, Reduced Production Cost, Higher Benefits

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