The cotton crop, scientifically known as Gossypium hirsutum L., is cultivated throughout the world and is known as “white gold” (Puspito et al., 2015). It is an economically important crop that generates 600 billion USD annually (Shuli et al., 2018). The textile industry in Pakistan is dependent on cotton production, and Pakistan has great importance due to its large-scale cotton production every year; this places the country in the fourth position globally after India, China, and the USA on a global scale [Government of Pakistan (GOP), 2018]. Pakistan produced nearly 12 million bales on 2,699,000 ha, which helped raise the GDP by 1% through the agriculture sector (Ibrahim et al., 2008). On the other hand, Pakistan is among the most vulnerable countries that are highly susceptible to climate change events (Mehmood et al., 2022). Different factors, such as poor seed management, soil infertility, water scarcity, and expensive field treatments, play a major role in declining cotton yield and quality (Abdullaev et al., 2007).

Countries such as the Middle East and Australia face soil problems because of land changes, deforestation, and climatic conditions that have more detrimental effects in arid and semiarid conditions (Nosrati and Collins, 2019; Zeraatpisheh et al., 2020). Future strategies may focus on developing land for the agriculture sector within the populations of different communities without depleting natural resources (Broman and Robèrt, 2017). Sustainable agriculture is a fundamental part of making long-term plans for land development, as these strategies have low environmental hazards and better crop production (Busby et al., 2017). Sustainable agriculture is eco-friendly, less expensive, and protects the habitats that ensure security and conservation for plant and animal lives (Yadav et al., 2018). Soil microbial management (Jousset, 2017), minimum tillage (Singh et al., 2016), prevention of soil erosion (Bowers et al., 2020), soil fertility management, cover cropping, and intercropping are the main soil management practices (Martin-Guay et al., 2018; Sharma et al., 2018).

Agronomic factors such as tillage operating mechanisms, unsafe irrigation networks, and different seeding practices cause a reduction in crop production and quality (Farooq et al., 2020). Intense tillage practices to grow cotton deplete soil fertility and texture, resulting in poor crop production (Saharan et al., 2019). Soil erosion, nutrient depletion, and a lower water-holding capacity of the soil are all the results of single-crop repetition and traditional tillage techniques (Ryken et al., 2018). Enhancement of long-term crop production and yield depends upon conservation tillage that helps to improve soil quality (Martin-Guay et al., 2018). Previous studies revealed that conservation tillage techniques are suitable for arid and semiarid conditions where crop production is low, as these techniques help enhance phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, and organic matter availability in the soil (Busari et al., 2015; Bhatt, 2017). Recent research suggested and proved conservation tillage is one of the fundamental and essential factors in increasing soil nutrients and soil quality (Duggan et al., 2005; Sayed et al., 2020). Long-term conservation tillage application boosts soil fertility by increasing micro soil biota (Page et al., 2020; Saha and Bauddh, 2020). Moreover, adding green mustard as manure increases organic matter accumulation in the roots of xerophytes in arid areas (Koishi et al., 2020).

Similarly, intercropping and cover cropping are advised for better quality and crop production, along with ensuring biodiversity restoration in an eco-friendly environment (Brussaard et al., 2007). Intercropping with leguminous plants is helpful for improving the economy, as these are cash crops and play a role in crop production (Baritz et al., 2018). Moreover, legumes have an important symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixation bacteria, as the bacteria make root nodules, and they convert atmospheric nitrogen into different, useable forms by plants, which is called “biological nitrogen fixation.” This useful relationship enhances soil fertility and crop production (Fustec et al., 2010). It also helps mitigate the danger of soil erosion (Hauggaard-Nielsen et al., 2008), enhancing moisture retention in the soil (Ghanbari et al., 2010), improving soil fertility (Hauggaard-Nielsen et al., 2009), and improving nutrient cycling and soil conservation (Chalka and Nepalia, 2006; Lithourgidis et al., 2011). Legume intercropping is a famous methodology for improving soil fertility and health, and many studies have described intercropping as the best strategy to increase the physical aspects of soil in recent years (Srinivasarao et al., 2012; Lal, 2015). We hypothesize that intercropping with straw mulching will improve cotton productivity and soil health under conservation tillage compared to the conventional tillage method.

The overall phenological stages were smoothly completed by the cotton crop grown under NT, with the results showing better overall production under NT than CT. It is comparable to the earlier cotton study conducted using conservation tillage (Qamar et al., 2015). In comparison with the CT system, the NT system under straw mulching displayed greater values for the physiological characteristics of the cotton crop (Figures 2–5), as determined in earlier studies such as those described by Chakraborty et al. (2010), who compared no mulching to straw mulching and found that it increased crop yield by 13–25%, which might be because of the strongest root growth and development that strongly accounted for higher physiological characteristics and greater assimilation partitioning (Rajpoot et al., 2018).

In this study, a stronger connection between tillage and mulching was discovered for cotton physiological and yield parameters, such as crop yield, which increased with NT straw mulching compared to other combinations (Figure 5). This suggests that residue cover or reduced tillage with NT can store more soil moisture by reducing rainfall water loss and soil surface evaporation, which ultimately increases crop yield (Wang et al., 2011; Adil et al., 2022a,b). According to Wang et al. (2018), straw mulching enhanced precipitation storage efficiency by 13–16% compared to no mulching. Wheat production and soil water content both increased by 23%, while water usage efficiency (WUE) improved by 33% because of straw mulching (Zhang et al., 2015). Similarly, compared to no mulching, straw mulching increased crop grain yield by 13–25% (Chakraborty et al., 2010). According to numerous studies, a traditional tillage strategy improves the morphological and yield characteristics of the cotton crop in the first few years (Dhima et al., 2007). However, under NT, the yield of seed cotton increased because of enhanced soil porosity (Table 1 and Figure 6) (Qamar et al., 2015) and increased water use effectiveness (Rahman et al., 2018).

Due to favorable soil and other environmental factors, the sole cotton crops, C1 and N1, had better phenological traits (Figures 3–5) and recorded better physiological qualities than cotton-mung bean intercropping. This is due to the absence of competition for light, space, water, and nutrients, which promotes rapid growth and development and better phenological characteristics (Paul et al., 2013). Moreover, NT had appreciable variations in the current outcomes, such as higher plant height, mean boll weight, and seed cotton yield compared to CT, which significantly improved the morphological, yield, and yield-related characteristics of the cotton crop. This improvement may be attributable to higher root penetration into the soil and higher nutrient (N, P, and K) uptake to meet the needs of the cotton crop's growth (Ahmad et al., 2021).

According to our research, legume intercrops decreased plant height, total bolls per plant, and mean boll weight, which may be attributed to the competition for nutrients and water, space, and sunlight between cotton and mung bean, as previous studies reported decreased crop yield with cover cropping compared to no cover cropping in the first year of study (Zhang et al., 2015), instead of their ability to fix nitrogen (Chalka and Nepalia, 2006). The cover crops also tend to decrease ET (Adil et al., 2022a,b). The reason could be that lower soil water due to competition between cotton and mung bean could result in a less accessible soil moisture supply to the crop, reducing water evaporation from the soil surface and restricting crop transpiration, which could be the cause of the lowered ET caused by cover crops (Zhang et al., 2007).

In the present study, legume intercropping cultivated under the NT system had higher seed yield, higher biological output, and a higher harvest index compared to the CT system. Furthermore, it is clear that identical results under NT were reported in prior studies, such as Hou et al. (2012), who reported noticeable changes in crop production between conservation and conventional tillage systems. The grain yield improved with NT compared to CT by 9.6%, which might be due to improved soil physical and chemical characteristics that have been reported in previous studies (Fabrizzi et al., 2005). The reason could be that there is reduced soil disturbance, enhanced aggregate stability, and increased water-holding capacity under conservation tillage compared to conventional tillage (Hillel, 1998). Furthermore, these processes are beneficial for conserving soil water during crop planting, protecting against brief droughts during the growing season, and boosting crop yield (Pikul and Aase, 2003; Verhulst et al., 2011).

Another factor controlling the results is the fertilizer application; crop yield may have increased due to the effective application of nitrogen under perfect seedbed conditions for ideal growth and development (Hauggaard-Nielsen et al., 2008; Ahmad et al., 2016). The most recent results of the experiment indicated that mung-bean intercropped with cotton set better values for yield and yield-related qualities, which might be because these beans are grown under ideal conditions for mung-bean growth and had higher nitrogen fixation (Ahmad et al., 2020). A possible solution that preserves soil health indicators in arid climates is conservation tillage (Bhatt, 2017), as it increases the amount of organic matter, phosphate, and potassium in the soil, which eventually improves soil health indicators (Duggan et al., 2005; Sayed et al., 2020). Additionally, soil organic matter, available soil phosphorus, and potassium were higher with NT due to better soil quality indices (Table 1). Similar results for greater soil organic matter under NT and leguminous intercropping were obtained in previous studies (Page et al., 2020; Saha and Bauddh, 2020).

There was a need to develop methods that help increase crop production under the current climate change scenario in low-productivity areas. We wanted to assess the interactive effects of possible management practices on the current area, such as the previous crop production, which was totally dependent on conventional tillage. The current study indicated that straw mulching under conservation tillage performed better in terms of phonological, physiological, morphological, and yield attributes. However, soil analysis revealed that no-tillage and leguminous crop intercropping improved soil health indicators. Moreover, the interaction of tillage, leguminous crop, and mulching showed a better response on seed yield and harvest index. However, intercropping decreased cotton yield, which might be due to the competition for the uptake of nutrients, including water; however, the effect was antagonistic under straw mulching. In conclusion, no-tillage and straw mulching could be recommended for achieving higher cotton crop productivity. More long-term research and field studies are needed to raise awareness of no-tillage and the role of leguminous crops in nitrogen fixation and sustaining soil health in cotton-growing areas.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

HL, MA, CZ, ZY, SL, ZQ, and JW conceived the research and review, drafted the manuscript, and finalized it. AM and MR helped improve the draft by providing valuable suggestions and information. All authors contributed to the article and approved the revised version.