**1. Introduction**

Rice–wheat cropping (RWC) system is of immense importance for the food security and livelihood of people residing in South Asian countries [1]. It occupies an area of about 18Mha in Asia, out of which 13.5 Mha lies in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and feeds about a billion people (20% of the world population). Rice (*Oryza sativa* L.) is a staple food of more than 50% of the world's population [2] and supplies 20% of total calories required by world and 31% required by the Indian population [3]. Presently, rice is cultivated in 43.79 Mha area with 112.91 Mt. production while wheat is cultivated in 29.58 Mha area with a production of 99.70 Mt. [4]. Introduction of high-yielding varieties along with improved crop management practices, access to irrigation water and chemical inputs during the green revolution period has led to impressive increase in system productivity. But recent evidences indicate a plateau in productivity and decline in total factor productivity because of continuous

environmental degradation and socio-economic changes seen in the IGP [5, 6] highly risking the sustainability of the system [1]. Crop establishment methods are important aspects of rice wheat production technology. It refers to the sequence of events starting from sowing of seed of the crop, germination of seed, emergence of the seedling and development of seedling to a stage from where it could be expected to grow to maturity [7]. Precision crop establishment is very vital for realizing optimum plant population and agro-ecological sustainability, lack of which substantially reduces crop yield. Traditional practices not only consume more time and money but also deplete natural resources and may result in unsatisfactory crop stand. Various improved establishment methods for rice and wheat crop are reviewed and discussed in this paper.
