Evaluation of climate-resilient and profitable cropping system under semi-arid agro-ecological conditions of Khanewal, Pakistan
Keywords:
Economic analysis, Land use efficiency, Profitability, Productivity, Sustainable agricultureAbstract
Cotton-Wheat cropping system has long been the prevailing agricultural practice in many irrigated regions of South Punjab, Pakistan. However, due to rising input costs and increasing climate variability, its profitability and sustainability have declined over time. In response to these challenges, this study was designed to identify high climate-resilient, more profitable and resource-efficient cropping systems as alternatives for better livelihood of the regional farming community. This study evaluated the economic and system performance of thirteen cropping systems involving wheat-, canola-, and berseem-based rotations under irrigated conditions. Key indicators were assessed to figure out system sustainability. These were: benefit-cost ratio, system profitability (PKR/ha/day), system productivity (kg/ha/day), land use efficiency (%), relative economic efficiency (%) and heat use efficiency (kg/ha/◦C). The results revealed substantial variation among different cropping systems. Among wheat-based systems, mungbean-wheat followed by sesame-wheat emerged as the most profitable and efficient, outperforming rice-wheat and maize-wheat. In canola-based systems cotton-canola showed relatively better results in terms of profitability and efficiency. For berseem-based systems, cotton-berseem and sesame-berseem proved to be highly profitable and resource-efficient. In terms of heat use efficiency, among the wheat-based systems, maize-wheat recorded the highest heat use efficiency. For canola-based systems, maize-canola exhibited the highest heat use efficiency. Similarly, among the berseem-based systems, maize-berseem again showed superior thermal efficiency. The data showed that mungbean wheat, sesame-wheat, cotton-canola and cotton-berseem are better cropping systems for the Khanewal, South Punjab region and are recommended as the most viable cropping systems in view of maximizing profitability and resource efficiency under changing climate scenario.
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