Review Reports - Effect of Crop Establishment Methods and Microbial Inoculations on Augmenting the Energy Efficiency and Nutritional Status of Rice and Wheat in Cropping System Mode

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In the content of the article (in the Introduction) and in its Abstract, I did not find a clearly formulated aim of the research / study. The authors generally wrote about what they did as part of the two-year experiment, however it would be more reasonable to formulate the purpose of the research / experiment. I prefer this approach so that in the scientific article the authors write exactly what the purpose of the research is, using the example statement: "The goal of the study / research was ...". Moreover, when formulating the research goal (s), it would be worth writing down what was the cognitive (scientific) goal and what was the utilitarian (useful) goal. If a scientific and useful goal is clearly defined, then in the Conclusions chapter it is easier to relate to it and state whether the set goals have been achieved and what are the prospects (scope) for further research to be carried out.

Before writing the research goal, it would be worth formulating the research problem. I think that a research problem can be formulated on the basis of the review of the state of knowledge presented in the Introduction to the article. I suggest that in the summary of the state of knowledge review simply write the sentence: "The research problem is ...". The research problem can be related to the presentation of a gap in the current state of knowledge, which then translates into the formulation of the research / study objective.

The authors used the acronym INR (in line: 48) twice in the article, but the full name of this abbreviation was nowhere to be found. Of course, it can be assumed that every reader should know what the abbreviation INR stands for, but in my opinion this is a wrong assumption. It would be useful to mention the full name of the acronym INR.

In addition to information on the amount of precipitation in the years of the experiments, it would also be worth providing data on the distribution of precipitation in the analyzed period. Did the precipitation distribution correspond to the requirements of the individual plant growth phases (development) included in the experiment?

I would like to ask, what were the areas (in square meters) of the experimental plots in the experiment? I couldn't find any information about this in the article.

In the study, the authors took into account the method of establishing crops called the system of wheat intensification (SWI). On the other hand, the information presented in Table 2 shows that the following sowing method was planned in this method: Dibbling of seeds (Manual). I admit that I do not like the combination of the word intensification (in the SWI method) with the use of manual work at the stage of introducing seeds into the soil. Intensification is associated with modernity and a modern approach to plant production technology, while manual methods of work do not fit in with the intensification of agricultural production, not only plant production, but also animal production. Therefore, I am not sure if the concept of the system of wheat intensification (SWI) is properly chosen in this case.

In Tables 3 and 4, the authors gave a lot of data - the results of the experiment related to energy analysis, but nowhere in the tables have I found the units in which the data were presented. I think that the units for individual data would be worth completing in the tables.

For example, Table 4 shows that most of the activities of the considered wheat production methods are carried out by hand, with a small share of technical equipment, mainly used during the cultivation and irrigation stages. Are such methods / technologies of rice and wheat production currently dominant in India? I think it would be worthwhile in the future (you can write about it in the Conclusions) to develop the issues of more and more modern methods of rice and wheat production with a high level of mechanization, i.e. with a large share of machines and tractors instead of manual work.

About technology. The authors use the concept of production method in the article, listing in Tables 3 and 4 the full set of tasks that lead to obtaining the final yield (rice / wheat). This set of tasks is called technology. In my opinion, it would be worthwhile for the Authors to use this concept in relation to the combined operations in the production of rice / wheat.

For example, Table 4 is entitled "Effect of crop establishment methods on different types of energy in wheat", while the contents of this table include a set of all tasks in wheat production technology, not just the crop establishment. Therefore, in my opinion, the title of Table 4 is not adequate to its content. The same remark applies to Table 3.

Manual work is included in Table 4 when presenting data for the ZTW (zero tillage wheat) method. I would like to ask what the manual work involved if the ZTW method does not include field preparation before sowing.

The authors take into account the production of rice and wheat in their research, providing numerous indicators characterizing the achieved production effects. Among these effects, however, I did not find information about the yields obtained in the production of rice and wheat by various methods. The authors only report protein yield (in kilograms per hectare) and energy consumption per ton of grain. And I would like to know what was the yield of the harvested grains of rice and wheat per one hectare in each cultivation method. I think this is just as important information in the analysis, in addition to considerations related to the input and energy balance.

The authors used the phrase "energy efficiency" in the title of the article, but also in its content. I think that in the content of the article it would be worth writing how the Authors understood the concept of efficiency, which may be a general and equally detailed concept - formulated on the basis of an appropriate formula.

Generally, in the considerations related to the analysis of energy consumption and its conversion, it would be worth providing more details. In practice, the considerations in the area of agricultural production take into account the forms of recorded, useful and cumulative energy, which was developed in detail in the article "Implementation of technical and technological progress in dairy production". The authors base their research on the level of useful energy. However, it would be worth writing in the Material and Methods chapter, how the data related to energy consumption was collected at the level of recorded energy. Detailed considerations in this area, including those related to the conversion of recorded energy into useful energy, can also be found in the publication "Application of granular and non-granular organic fertilizers in terms of energy, environmental and economic efficiency". In this way, the authors of the reviewed article could develop the topic of converting various forms of energy, which is the essence of the research presented in the article.

Author Response

Point-wise response to the comments of the reviewers on the manuscript entitled ‘Effect of crop establishment methods and microbial inoculations on augmenting the energy efficiency and nutritional status of rice and wheat in cropping system mode’:

S. No.	Comments	Response
	Reviewer 1:
1.	formulated aim of the research / study	The aim of study was mentioned in the abstract in first sentence (line no. 11-13)
2.	It would be more reasonable to formulate the purpose of the research / experiment. when formulating the research goal (s), it would be worth writing down what the cognitive (scientific) goal was and what was the utilitarian (useful) goal	The purpose of study was expressed in terms of scope and cognitive goal (line no. 60–63 and 80–84) and two objectives (utilitarian goals) (line no. – 90–95).
3.	Before writing the research goal, it would be worth formulating the research problem	The research problem is mentioned in line no. 87–90
4.	The authors used the acronym INR (in line: 48) twice in the article, but the full name of this abbreviation was nowhere to be found	Acronym is spell out at first place in article as pre suggestion (Line no.- 49)
5.	In addition to information on the amount of precipitation in the years of the experiments, it would also be worth providing data on the distribution of precipitation in the analyzed period.	The distribution of rainfall in both years is given as supplementary table 1 and 2. The details information about distribution of rainfall is mentioned in line no.- 107–115
6.	I would like to ask, what were the areas (in square meters) of the experimental plots in the experiment? I couldn't find any information about this in the article.	Area of main plot (line no.-128 and area of sub-plot (line no.- 132) is mentioned as per suggestion
7.	In the study, the authors took into account the method of establishing crops called the system of wheat intensification (SWI)	In system of wheat intensification (SWI), crop geometry (space available for each plant for spreading crop canopy) is taken care of and hence either dibbling or transplanting methods were used to insure crop geometry. The reduction in seed rate and use of manual work create changes in energy requirement as compared to other CEMs; Hence the manual work is used in the present study for SWI.
8.	In Tables 3 and 4, the authors gave a lot of data - the results of the experiment related to energy analysis, but nowhere in the tables have I found the units in which the data were presented. I think that the units for individual data would be worth completing in the tables.	The unit is mentioned in table as per suggestion
9.	Table 4 shows that most of the activities of the considered wheat production methods are carried out by hand, with a small share of technical equipment, mainly used during the cultivation and irrigation stages. Aare such methods / technologies of rice and wheat production currently dominant in India? I think it would be worthwhile in the future (you can write about it in the Conclusions) to develop the issues of more and more modern methods of rice and wheat production with a high level of mechanization, i.e. with a large share of machines and tractors instead of manual work.	The authors are agreeing with reviewer opinion. The operation such as harvesting the threshing where large labour work is involved can be automated with combine harvester. The future line of work is added for the same as per suggestion (line no.- 400–402).
10.	About technology. The authors use the concept of production method in the article, listing in Tables 3 and 4 the full set of tasks that lead to obtaining the final yield (rice / wheat). This set of tasks is called technology. In my opinion, it would be worthwhile for the Authors to use this concept in relation to the combined operations in the production of rice / wheat.	The authors are agree with reviewer’s opinion; while data presented in table 3 and 4 is to make it clear about the partitioning of energy input in both crops. Preparing the additional table with combined operations at system level will be just summation of energy in different form already resented in table 4 and 5 (new table number), hence not shown in the article.
11.	For example, Table 4 is entitled "Effect of crop establishment methods on different types of energy in wheat", while the contents of this table include a set of all tasks in wheat production technology, not just the crop establishment. Therefore, in my opinion, the title of Table 4 is not adequate to its content. The same remark applies to Table 3.	The title has been changed to “Partitioning of energy inputs in different form of energy in selected crop establishment methods of rice during first cycle of RWCS” for table 3 and “Partitioning of energy inputs in different form of energy in selected crop establishment methods of wheat during first cycle of RWCS” for table 4
12.	Manual work is included in Table 4 when presenting data for the ZTW (zero tillage wheat) method. I would like to ask what the manual work involved if the ZTW method does not include field preparation before sowing.	Reshaping of bunds and irrigation channels are the manual work in zero tillage wheat for this the manual work is required.
13.	The authors only report protein yield (in kilograms per hectare) and energy consumption per ton of grain. And I would like to know what was the yield of the harvested grains of rice and wheat per one hectare in each cultivation method	The information on grain yield is given in figure 3 and also expressed in results section (line no.- 273–275) and discussion section (line no.- 365–370
14.	The authors used the phrase "energy efficiency" in the title of the article, but also in its content. I think that in the content of the article it would be worth writing how the authors understood the concept of efficiency, which may be a general and equally detailed concept - formulated on the basis of an appropriate formula.	Information added in content (introduction) section of article (line no.- 60-65); In our study, energy required for production of one tones of grain yield, variation in input requirements under different CEMs and increasing net energy production is considered as parameters for determining the energy efficiency and data for these parameters are given in result section.
15.	However, it would be worth writing in the Material and Methods chapter, how the data related to energy consumption was collected at the level of recorded energy.	The details of energy equivalent used are mentioned in table 3; while different form of energy is calculated and presented in table 4 and 5
16.	The prospects (scope) for further research to be carried out.	Mentioned in line number 397–400

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The microorganisms most used in various cereal and vegetable crops for biostimulation, biofertilization and bipesticides are: bacteria belonging to the genera Azotobacter, Azolla, Rhizobium, Acetobacter, Pesudomona, Azospirillum, Bacillus, among others; while the most used fungi belong to the genera Trichoderma, Glomus, Penicillium, among others (Reyes-Ramirez, 2014; Creus, 2017). Of the characteristics that we can find in microorganisms, new developments that apply consortiums with beneficial microorganisms in seeds, roots and leaves that are complementary to conventional and organic production systems. This study makes a proposal related to energy efficiency and nutritional security in different types of crops in the study area. There is no more information if this consortium used is indigenous, which can make the processes more efficient, there is no discussion about it. Of the organic matter in each type of crop, only the texture composition is mentioned, it is possible if the data is attached, in addition to discussing it in the corresponding section.
If possible future research can focus on the evaluation and standardization of microbial consortia in other crops and farming systems under diverse ecologies. Furthermore, understanding the physiological and biochemical processes or mechanisms that are affected by microbial consortia in rice and wheat may be an innovative line of research work.

Author Response

Reviewer 2:

17.

No more information if this consortium used is indigenous, which can make the processes more efficient, there is no discussion about it.

The consortium used in this study was obtained from rhizosphere of rice and wheat of research farm of ICAR-IRRI, New Delhi, India and study present in this article is also from same area. The details of different microbes and their performance in laboratory and in pot experiment was published and also cited in article [Reference no.- 37 and 38]. The response of microbial consortia to applied treatments in terms of grain and protein yield as well as gross and net energy production is presented and discussed in article in result and discussion section

18.

If possible future research can focus on the evaluation and standardization of microbial consortia in other crops and farming systems under diverse ecologies.

Mentioned in line number 397–400

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for taking into account my comments contained in the review of the article and for the corrections made.