Citation: Korav, S.; Rajanna, G.A.; Yadav, D.B.; Paramesha, V.; Mehta, C.M.; Jha, P.K.; Singh, S.; Singh, S. Impacts of Mechanized Crop Residue Management on Rice-Wheat Cropping System—A Review. Sustainability 2022, 14, 15641. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su142315641 Academic Editor: Mariolina Gullì Received: 20 October 2022 Accepted: 21 November 2022 Published: 24 November 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Impacts of Mechanized Crop Residue Management on Rice-Wheat Cropping System—A Review Santosh Korav 1 , Gandhamanagenahalli A. Rajanna 2, * , Dharam Bir Yadav 3 , Venkatesh Paramesha 4 , Chandra Mohan Mehta 1 , Prakash Kumar Jha 5 , Surendra Singh 6 and Shikha Singh 7 1 Department of Agronomy, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University (Phagwara), Phagwara 144411, India 2 ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh 362001, India 3 RRS Bawal, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Hisar 125004, India 4 Department of Natural Resource Management, ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Old Goa 403402, India 5 Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA 6 Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, Oregon State University, Adams, OR 97810, USA 7 Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University, Hermiston, OR 97838, USA * Correspondence: rajanna.ga6@gmail.com Abstract: Residue management has become a new challenge for Indian agriculture and agricultural growth, as well as environmental preservation. The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is predomi- nantly followed cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP), resulting in generating a large volume of agricultural residue. Annually, India produces 620 MT of crop residue, with rice and wheat accounting for 234 MT of the surplus and 30% of the total. Farmers are resorting to burning crop residue due to the short window between paddy harvest and seeding of rabi season crops, namely wheat, potato, and vegetables, for speedy field preparation. Burning of residues pollutes the environment, thus having adverse effects on human and animal health, as well as resulted in a loss of plant important elements. This problem is particularly prevalent in rice-wheat-dominant states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. If we may use in situ management as residue retention after chopper and spreader, sowing wheat with Happy seeder/zero drill/special drill with full residue load, full residue, or full residue load incorporation with conventional tillage, burning is not the sole approach for residue management. In addition, off-farm residues generated are being utilized for animal feed and raw materials for industries. While there are regional variations in many mechanization drivers and needs, a wide range of mechanization components can be transported to new places to fit local conditions. This article focuses on innovations, methods, and tactics that are relevant to various mechanization systems in particular geographical areas. This article also stresses the need for a thorough analysis of the amount of residue generated, residue utilization using modern mechanical equipment, and their positive and negative effects on crop yield and yield attributes, weed diversity, soil physic-chemical, biological properties, beneficial, and harmful nematode populations in the IGP, which will aid researchers and policymakers in farming research priorities and policy for ensuring sustainability in RWCS. Keywords: in situ management; microbial community; residue generation; residue burning; soil health; weed diversity 1. Introduction Global rice cultivation, which annually generates a billion tons of straw residue, feeds around half of the world’s population. Most farmers choose burning despite available alternatives and its well-known negative effects on the environment, human health, and soil quality because they do not have enough time before planting the next crop, and because it is cheaper, easier to manage, and reduces weeds in the succeeding crops. Likely, Sustainability 2022, 14, 15641. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315641 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability