Integrating conservation practices and microbial inoculation in wheat–mungbean sequential cropping systems under dryland conditions

Intensive agriculture in arid regions requires climate-smart innovative strategies and nature-based interventions to enhance agroecosystem sustainability. In this study, an integrated model combining conservation agriculture (CA) and microbial treatments was evaluated in a two-cycle field experiment (2022–2024) in a winter wheat (WW)—mungbean (MB) sequential cropping system to assess their impact on crop productivity and soil health under arid irrigated conditions in Uzbekistan. Treatments included conventional practice (control), CA alone (T1), CA with Rhizobium inoculation of MB (T2), and CA with crop-specific microbial inoculation for both crops (T3). CA alone improved wheat straw biomass by 12.1% and grain yield by 18.7% over the control. Humus content (0.82%) and total N level (0.74 g kg −1 ) parameters were significantly enhanced under CA, while these indices (0.85% and 1.05 g kg −1 , respectively) were more pronounced under the integrated model, ultimately supporting soil fertility. The integrated model combining CA with crop-specific inoculation (T3) achieved the highest outputs, increasing wheat grain yield by 36.5% and MB yield by 34.6%. Likewise, this combination enhanced nodulation (up to 63.4 nodules per plant), nutrient uptake (N concentration increased from 2.02 to 3.2%), and soil fertility, returning 119.6 kg N, 23.2 kg P, and 40.5 kg K ha −1 through crop residues. Overall, this integrated approach demonstrated multiple benefits of sustainable land management, including improved soil fertility, enhanced crop productivity, soil health, and nutrient cycling in this arid irrigated region.