कृषि में शून्य-जुताई (zero-tillage) का/के क्या लाभ है/हैं ?
- 1.पिछली फ़सल के अवशेषों को जलाए बिना गेहूँ की बुआई संभव है ।
- 2.चावल की नई पौध की नर्सरी बनाए बिना, धान के बीजों का नम मृदा में सीधे रोपण संभव है ।
- 3.मृदा में कार्बन पृथक्करण संभव है ।
नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए :
Read this question in English
What is/are the advantage/advantages of zero tillage in agriculture?
1. Sowing of wheat is possible without burning the residue of previous crop.
2. Without the need for nursery of rice saplings, direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is possible.
3. Carbon sequestration in the soil is possible.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 3 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (d) 1, 2 और 3
Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (d). Statement 3 says carbon sequestration 'is possible', which is the standard claim for no-till with residue retention — FAO's own account is that such systems accumulate more carbon in the soil and turn it into a net sink; the IPCC's caution that the evidence for net sequestration from no-till alone is not compelling qualifies the size of the gain, not the possibility. Statements 1 and 2 describe zero-till wheat sown through paddy stubble and no-till direct-seeded rice, both established practices. In the exam, read 'is possible' as a soft claim: one documented mechanism is enough.
Zero tillage means sowing the next crop directly into undisturbed soil without ploughing. All three are its advantages: wheat can be sown straight through paddy stubble without burning it, paddy can be direct-seeded without raising a nursery, and the undisturbed, residue-covered soil accumulates organic carbon.
- ✓ 1. Zero-till drills such as the Happy Seeder sow wheat straight through paddy stubble, so the residue need not be burnt; the Government promotes them for in-situ crop residue management in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
- ✓ 2. Direct seeding of rice into unpuddled, untilled soil skips the nursery and transplanting; trials in the Indo-Gangetic Plains found yields equal to puddled transplanting with 35–40 per cent less irrigation water.
- ✓ 3. Leaving the soil unploughed with residue on the surface slows the breakdown of organic matter; FAO notes that systems based on high residue addition and no tillage accumulate more carbon in the soil than plough-based tillage, turning the soil into a net carbon sink. It also cuts erosion and nutrient loss.
Remember · Zero tillage means sowing without ploughing: it lets farmers skip stubble burning and the rice nursery, cuts soil erosion, and builds up carbon in the soil.
Sources
- Economic Survey 2019-20 (Vol 2), Ch 7: Agriculture and Food Management ↗ “Government has given massive thrust to promoting latest agricultural machineries, like laser leveller, happy seeder technology, combine harvesters and small equipment like power weeders.”
- ICAR, Indian Farming 71(12), 'Happy seeder – A game changer technology' ↗ · reference work “It allows farmers to sow wheat immediately after their paddy is harvested without burning paddy residue for land preparation.”
- Dhaliwal et al., Plants 2021, 'Removal of Biomass and Nutrients by Weeds and Direct-Seeded Rice under Conservation Agriculture' (PMC) ↗ “Crop establishment steps include preparation of nursery bed, rice seedling raising and uprooting followed by the transplantation into the main field … Under DSR-ZT, rice was sown in a single operation using zero-till-fertilizer cum seed drill at 20-cm row spacing.”
- Modern Concepts of Tillage, TNAU Agritech Portal (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) ↗ · reference work “Zero tillage is an extreme form of minimum tillage. Primary tillage is completely avoided and secondary tillage is restricted to seedbed preparation in the row zone only.”
- IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, Chapter 4: Land Degradation ↗ “Reduced tillage (or no-tillage) is an important strategy for reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss by wind and water”
- FAO, Conservation Agriculture: Benefits of CA ↗ “Systems, based on high crop residue addition and no tillage, accumulate more carbon in the soil, compared to the loss into the atmosphere resulting from plough-based tillage.”
- FAO AGRIS record: Bhushan, Ladha et al. (2007), Saving of Water and Labor in a Rice–Wheat System with No-Tillage and Direct Seeding Technologies ↗ “The yields of rice in the conventional puddled transplanting and direct-seeding on puddled or nonpuddled (no-tillage) flat bed systems were equal.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·