What are the major reasons for declining rice and wheat yield in the cropping system ? How crop diversification is helpful to stabilise the yield of the crops in the system ?
Approach · directive: “what are the major reasons / how”
What it asks · Give the causes of stagnating and declining rice and wheat yields in the rice-wheat cropping system, and explain how diversifying crops can steady yields.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Explain the major reasons for declining rice and wheat yields in the rice-wheat cropping system
- Explain how crop diversification helps stabilise yields in the system
Open with · The rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plains fed India after the Green Revolution, but decades of the same two crops have brought yield stagnation and rising costs.
Cover
- Soil: loss of organic carbon and micronutrients, imbalance of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, salinity and waterlogging reduce response to fertiliser.
- Water: falling groundwater levels and free or cheap power make paddy cultivation costly and unsustainable in Punjab and Haryana.
- Pests and disease: monoculture builds up pests, weeds and resistance; residue burning harms soil life and air quality.
- Climate stress: heat during grain filling in wheat and erratic monsoons reduce yields; new high-yielding varieties have come slowly.
- Policy bias: assured procurement and support prices for rice and wheat discourage other crops.
- Diversification: pulses, oilseeds, maize and vegetables in rotation fix nitrogen, break pest cycles, improve soil structure and cut water use.
- Diversification: mixed crops spread weather and price risk and add income; success needs price support, procurement and markets for alternative crops.
Close with · Shifting part of the rice-wheat area to pulses, oilseeds and horticulture, with supportive prices and markets, can restore soil and water health and steady yields.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 336 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
The rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plains delivered the Green Revolution, but four decades of the same two cereals on the same fields have brought yield stagnation and rising input costs, most sharply in Punjab and Haryana.
Why yields are declining
- Soil fatigue: continuous cereal cropping mines nutrients; organic carbon and micronutrients such as zinc fall, and nitrogen used far out of proportion to phosphorus and potash lowers the response to fertiliser.
- Water: flooded paddy draws heavily on groundwater and free power encourages over-pumping, so water tables fall while canal tracts suffer waterlogging and salinity.
- Biotic stress: monoculture builds up pests and diseases and has produced herbicide-resistant Phalaris minor in wheat; stubble burning destroys soil life and fouls the air.
- Climate: terminal heat during grain filling cuts wheat yields, and an erratic monsoon delays paddy transplanting, which squeezes the wheat sowing window.
- Technology plateau: the yield potential of Green Revolution varieties is largely exhausted and new varieties reach farmers slowly.
- Policy lock-in: assured procurement at minimum support prices for rice and wheat makes every other crop the riskier choice.
How diversification stabilises yields
- Soil renewal: pulses in rotation fix nitrogen and add organic matter; deep-rooted crops improve soil structure, so cereal yields recover in the following season.
- Breaking cycles: a change of crop interrupts pest, disease and weed cycles and reduces pesticide use.
- Water balance: maize, pulses and oilseeds need far less water than paddy, easing groundwater decline and keeping the system viable.
- Risk spreading: a mix of crops and horticulture spreads weather and price risk and adds income, so one failed crop no longer sinks the farm.
- Policy support: the Crop Diversification Programme, run under RKVY since 2013-14 in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, helps shift paddy area to maize, pulses, oilseeds and agroforestry; it works only where procurement and markets exist for these crops.
Moving part of the rice-wheat area to pulses, oilseeds and horticulture, backed by prices and markets, can restore soil and water health and steady yields across the whole system.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.