This paper reviews the success of zero-tillage wheat in the rice-wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Diffusion of the zero- tillage technology increased in the last decade, particularly in northwest India. In 2008, in India alone, the aggregate area in zero- or reduced- tillage wheat amounted to 1.76 million hectares, and it was used by 620,000 farmers.

The research and development community faces the challenge of sustaining crop productivity gains, improving rural livelihoods, and securing environmental sustainability in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). This calls for a better understanding of farming systems and of rural livelihoods,