Green Manure-Based Nitrogen Management in Rice and Zero Tillage in Succeeding Toria and Sweet Corn Sustain System Yield and Soil Quality in Eastern India

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript, “Green manure-based nitrogen management in rice and zero tillage in succeeding toria and sweet corn sustain system yield and soil quality in eastern India,” investigated the effect of rice cultivars with green manure-based nitrogen management practices in combination with tillage methods on improving soil quality and enhancing nutrient uptake by crops. Overall, the paper is well written, with interesting results, comprehensive discussion and good conclusion. The paper started with a clear abstract and appropriate keywords that give readers a good point of view. However, there are some comments that the authors should consider, please see them below:

 

In the introduction section it is better to add some previous research on different types of manure on different crops. The introduction section should be comprehensive and evaluate different aspects that can be connected to the research, what’s the effect of animals manure on rice and other crops?! Here is a research work and you can use it here, its only one sample, add at least four or five previous research in this section. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143772

Line 132: Rewrite the latitude and longitude of the field.

Section 2.1: it is better the authors provide soil characteristics in the format of the Table.

Figure 1: The expression of “Lide cycle of crops” in not appropriate.

Table 1: add SD or SE for each factor

Author Response

"Please see the attachment."

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Summary. This study investigates the integration of green manure-based nitrogen management and zero-tillage methods in rice-based farming systems in eastern India. It evaluates the impact on system yield, nutrient uptake, and soil quality. The paper highlights the potential of these methods to enhance sustainability in intensive farming systems. Strengths include its detailed methodological approach and statistical rigor, including correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA), providing valuable insights into soil and crop management.

General Concept Comments. The topic is relevant to the field of sustainable agriculture, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. The study aligns with current concerns about environmental sustainability and soil health in intensive farming systems.
The hypothesis is clearly formulated, aiming to identify suitable nitrogen management and tillage methods. The objectives are well-defined but could benefit from additional emphasis on how the findings address global challenges in agricultural sustainability.
The split-plot design and multi-year experiment ensure reliability. The use of PCA to evaluate soil quality indicators is innovative but may require further clarification for broader accessibility.

Article-Specific Comments. The study presents a detailed experimental design and statistical methods. Considering both soil quality parameters and yield metrics ensures a comprehensive analysis.

There is no explanation for excluding alternative nitrogen application or tillage methods.
Limited discussion on the scalability of results to regions outside eastern India.

The hypotheses can be tested based on the described methods, though there is room for a more detailed sensitivity analysis regarding soil and climatic variables.

The report does not clarify whether temporal variations during microbial data collection were considered.

A baseline treatment without nitrogen application or tillage is missing for comparison.

Specific Comments. The focus could be expanded to include global significance (e.g., connections to similar systems in Africa or Southeast Asia). Indicate why the study focuses solely on Sesbania as a green manure (lines 44–127).

Clarify methods used for residue incorporation in zero-tillage systems (line 299).

Make conclusions about fungal populations more accessible to a broader audience (line 405).

Provide a more detailed contextualization of results within broader ecological and policy frameworks (lines 529 onward).

Table 1: Data interpretation could benefit from including percentage increases or decreases relative to baseline levels. Figure 3: Improve axis labels for better readability and consistency with other figures. Figures 4 and 5: Add detailed explanations of markers for statistical significance. While the data presentation is clear, some figures (e.g., PCA plots) would benefit from enhanced labeling for non-specialist interpretation. (Tables 1–7, Figures 1–10)

Author Response

"Please see the attachment."

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors of the manuscript agronomy-3440749 describe the effect of the management system for a no-tillage and green manuring rice-toria-sweet corn system.

The concern is related to the existence of the previous paper from the same group, Behera, S. D., Garnayak, L. M., Behera, B., Behera, B., Sarangi, S. K., Jena, J., ... & Dwibedi, S. K. (2024). Assessment of Management Practices for Improving Productivity, Profitability, and Energy-Carbon-Water Use Efficiency of Intensive Rice-toria-Sweet Corn System in Eastern India. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 24(4), 6598-6616, that report the same experiment. Below is a comparative table of this manuscript agronomy-3440749 and this paper.

Aim of the study
Considering these facts, the present study was conducted with hypothesis that suitable rice cultivar with green manure-based nitrogen management practices in combination with appropriate tillage method for post rice crops would avoid climatic stresses to post rice crops, ensure congenial weather conditions for crop growth, improve soil quality  and enhance nutrient uptake by crops.	Therefore, the study aimed to test the hypothesis that integrated nitrogen management, combined with appropriate rice cultivars and establishment methods, could (i) improve system productivity and profitability by better aligning crop growth with the cropping window, and (ii) decrease energy-carbon-water footprints and enhance their efficiencies by reducing input usage in the system.
Experiment details – Material and methods
The research experiment was carried out during Kharif (rainy/wet), Rabi (winter) and summer seasons for two consecutive years (2018-19 and 2019-20) at Bhubaneswar  (20°15′N latitude and 85°52′ E longitude), Odisha, India.	The field experiment was conducted at Bhubaneswar (20o15’N latitude and 85o52’E longitude with an elevation of 25.9 m above mean sea level), India during 2018-19 and 2019-20 to assess the productivity, profitability, and energy-carbon-water footprint of rice-toria-sweet corn system under integrated nitrogen management coupled with suitable cultivar for rice crop and establishment methods for the post-rice crops.
Green manure crop (Sesbania aculeata) was sown with seed rate of 25 kg ha─1 and incorporated at six-week stage before transplanting of rice. Rice seeds were sown in a dry  nursery bed using seed rate of 50 kg ha─1 and the rice seedlings were transplanted at 25-  30 days stage in the main field at spacing of 20 cm × 10 cm using 2-3 seedlings hill─1.	In the treatments with in situ green manuring dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata) was sown at 25 kg seeds ha− 1 in the main field during the 2nd week of June, which was incorporated into the soil at the six-week stage. Rice seedlings were raised in a dry bed nursery with a seed rate of 50 kg ha− 1 during the last week of June. Seedlings of 25–30 days were transplanted in the main field with two seedlings hill− 1 at a spacing of 20 cm x 10 cm during the last week of July.
manuscript agronomy-3440749	Behera et al. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 24, 6598–6616 (2024)

 

The Aim and scope of these two studies are overlapping. The field experiment is the same – despite the fact that efforts has been made to present the experiment in a different manners. There are different analysis in the manuscript agronomy-3440749 and in the paper Behera et al.  2024, J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 24, 6598–6616. Previous published paper focused on profitability and sustainability, manuscript agronomy-3440749 describe effect on soil quality. However, overall profitability  and sustainability of the agricultural management systems involve also the soil quality / fertility. The main issue is that the authors of  manuscript agronomy-3440749 did not cite this previous work. The authors must re-write the manuscript, present their previous paper and  explain the reason to split the data from a single experiment (even a complex one) in two separate papers.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors made improvements. However, it is necessary to explain better the differences in the research hypothesis and that lead the authors to decide to separate results in two papers.

Author Response

"Please see the attachment." 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf