Present address: 1 HRM Unit, ICAR, KAB-II, New Delhi; 2 ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Research Centre, Kota; 3 ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan; 4 ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan; 5 ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. *Corresponding author e-mail: nkjjp1971@gmail.com. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 91 (12): 1812–7, December 2021/Article Energetics and profitability of peanut (Arachis hypogaea)-based cropping systems as influenced with conservation agricultural practices N K JAIN 1 *, R A JAT 2 , R S YADAV 3 , H N MEENA 4 and K PRAJAPAT 5 ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh, Gujarat 362 001, India Received: 03 March 2021; Accepted: 12 August 2021 ABSTRACT Increasing energy use efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions from agriculture are major challenges to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). An experiment, comprising 14 treatments, viz. sole peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), peanut-fallow-sesbania, peanut-fallow-green gram (GG), peanut-conventional tilled wheat (CTW), peanut-CTW-sesbania, peanut-CTW-GG, peanut-CTW-wheat straw incorporation (WSI), peanut-zero tilled wheat (ZTW), peanut-ZTW-sesbania, peanut-ZTW-GG, peanut-ZTW-WSI, peanut+pigeonpea, peanut+pigeonpea- sesbania and peanut+pigeonpea-GG was laid out in randomized block design with three replications for five consecutive years (2011–12 to 2015–16) at Junagadh, Gujarat, at fixed site to study the influence of conservation agricultural practices on energetics and profitability of peanut-based cropping systems. Green manuring with sesbania significantly improved the pod yield of peanut (12.8%) and seed yield of pigeonpea (8.9%). Zero tillage (ZT) improved wheat yield by 4.8% over Conventional tillage (CT). The energy requirement of peanut+pigeonpea intercropping was 16.7% lower than peanut–wheat cropping system irrespective of GM and WSI. Peanut–ZT wheat with sesbania green manure recorded highest energy output (251.2 × 10 3 MJ/ha) and net energy (201.0 × 10 3 MJ/ha). This cropping system also fetched the highest system productivity (4551 kg/ha), and system profitability (` 125.7 × 10 3 /ha) followed by peanut–ZT wheat (INR 120.6/ha × 10 3 /ha). Therefore, peanut–ZT wheat–green manuring (sesbania/greengram) cropping system was found as productive, economical and energy efficient which might be promoted to intensify the sole peanut cropping in Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Keywords: Energetics, Green manuring, Profitability, System productivity, Zero-tillage Energy is an important and valuable input used in various forms, viz. mechanical, chemical, seeds and electrical, for agriculture production systems (Singh and Ahlawat 2015). Most of the farming practices rely upon energy derived from burning of fossil fuels which is the source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission to environment (Ashoka et al. 2017). The rising cost of fossil fuels has emphasized to conserve energy particularly in the country like India, which is facing energy crisis caused by fuel shortage and continuous rising prices of diesel. Globally, peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is the fourth most important source of edible oil and third most important source of protein (Anonymous 2015). Due to uprooting of peanut, soil gets loosened but still the farmers ploughed field 2-3 times to cultivate succeeding rabi crops under irrigated conditions that increases the cost of cultivation. To reduce variable cost of cultivation, conservation agriculture (CA) systems, viz. crop residue retention at the surface, adopting zero tillage, and use of green manure crops in rotations have gained importance in the recent years as field preparation and crop establishment utilizes about 25–30% of total energy (Prashanth 2013, Choudhary et al. 2017). In irrigated areas, cultivation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) without disturbing the soil, can be an alternate to minimize cost of cultivation and obtaining at par or even higher yield under zero tillage than under conventionally grown wheat. Residue retention is an important component of conservation agriculture and is a challenge where crop straw and fodder are used for animal feed (IARI 2012). Since the other organic manures are available in very limited quantity, therefore, green manuring remains the only economical alternative. Cultivation of more than one crop in a rotation can enhance the productivity and profitability but at the same time may escalate energy inputs. Therefore, energy input-output analysis and economic auditing are indispensable for effective management and utilization of scarce resources for improved agricultural production. Since very limited information is available on effect of CA 112 https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v91i12.120813