Direct-seeded-cotton (DSC) leads to low crop and water productivity and energy-output with higher carbon-footprints besides impairing system-intensification under conventional cotton-wheat cropping system (CWCS). Hence, we evaluated two methods of Bt-cotton establishment [transplanted cotton (TPC) & DSC)] at three planting geometries/densities in four Bt-cotton based cropping-systems [DSC-wheat (DSC-W), TPC-wheat-mungbean (TPC-W-M), DSC-onion (DSC-O), TPC-onion-fodder cowpea + fodder maize (TPC-O-FC + FM)] in semi-arid region of south Asia. Poly-glass nursery-raised TPC exhibited significantly higher germination (96.5%), seedling-survival (96.1%) and 14.1% higher plant-stand owing to lower seedling-mortality (3.2%). TPC used ∼60% less irrigation-water but exhibited significantly higher seed-cotton, seed and lint yield, net-returns, radiation-use-efficiency and water-productivity by 11.4, 9.9, 14.3, 17.3, 10.7 and 260.6%, respectively over DSC. Planting geometry/density of 60 × 45 cm (37,037 plants ha⁻¹) exhibited significantly higher crop and water productivity and economic-returns. Bt-cotton transplanting led system-intensification enhanced the system-productivity (26.1%), profitability (30.5%), water-productivity (19.3%) and land-use-efficiency (8.5%) over the DSC-based systems with significantly higher values under TPC-O-FC + FM. Energy-use pattern reveled that farm inputs viz. Fertilizers (54–60%), water (15–25%) and diesel (6–10%) consumed bulk of the input-energy in different cropping systems with greatest values under TPC-O-FC + FM. TPC-W-M exhibited highest system energy-output (604.6 × 10³ MJ ha⁻¹) and energy-returns (566.2 × 10³ MJ ha⁻¹). TPC-O-FC + FM exhibited significantly higher carbon-consumption (668.9 kg CE ha⁻¹) and carbon-output (21431.3 kg CE ha⁻¹) while maintaining significantly higher carbon-efficiency (32.0) and carbon sustainability index (31.0). TPC-O-FC + FM had least carbon-footprints (0.07 kg CE kg⁻¹ SCEY) while conventional-CWCS exhibited 2-folds higher carbon-footprints. Legume-imbedded TPC-based cropping systems markedly increased the soil physical (bulk-density, water-stable-aggregates), chemical (SOC, available-NPK) and biological properties (soil-microbial-biomass-carbon, dehydrogenase and ergosterol activity) over the conventional CWCS and DCS-O systems. Overall, Bt-cotton transplanting led system-intensification upholds great importance in enhancing the system crop and water-productivity, profitability, energy-productivity, resource-use-efficiency and soil-health with minimal carbon-footprints in semi-arid agro-ecosystems of south Asia.

直播棉花 (DSC) 导致作物和水生产力低下以及能源输出和碳足迹较高，此外还会损害传统棉小麦种植系统 (CWCS) 下的系统集约化。因此，我们在四种基于 Bt 棉花的种植系统 [DSC-小麦 (DSC-W)、TPC-小麦-绿豆 (TPC-WM)、DSC-洋葱 (DSC-O)、TPC-洋葱-饲料豇豆 + 饲料玉米 (TPC-O-FC + FM)] 在南亚半干旱地区。由于较低的幼苗死亡率（3.2％），聚玻璃苗圃培育的 TPC 表现出显着更高的发芽率（96.5%）、幼苗存活率（96.1%）和高 14.1% 的植株。TPC 使用的灌溉水减少了约 60%，但表现出显着更高的种子棉花、种子和皮棉产量、净收益、辐射利用效率和产水率分别比 DSC 高 11.4、9.9、14.3、17.3、10.7 和 260.6%。种植几何形状/密度为 60 × 45 厘米（37,037 株公顷^-1 ) 表现出显着更高的作物和水生产力和经济回报。与基于 DSC 的系统相比，Bt 棉花移栽导致的系统集约化提高了系统生产力（26.1%）、盈利能力（30.5%）、水生产力（19.3%）和土地利用效率（8.5%） TPC-O-FC + FM 下的值。能源使用模式揭示了农业投入即。肥料 (54–60%)、水 (15–25%) 和柴油 (6–10%) 在不同种植系统中消耗了大部分输入能源，在 TPC-O-FC + FM 下具有最大价值。TPC-WM 表现出最高的系统能量输出 (604.6 × 10 ³  MJ ha ^-1 ) 和能量返回 (566.2 × 10 ³  MJ ha ^-1）。TPC-O-FC + FM 表现出显着更高的碳消耗（668.9 kg CE ha ^-1）和碳输出（21431.3 kg CE ha ^-1），同时保持显着更高的碳效率（32.0）和碳可持续性指数（31.0） . TPC-O-FC + FM 的碳足迹最少（0.07 kg CE kg ^-1SCEY) 而传统的 CWCS 表现出高两倍的碳足迹。基于豆科植物的 TPC 种植系统显着提高了土壤物理特性（体积密度、水稳定性聚集体）、化学特性（SOC、有效氮磷钾）和生物特性（土壤-微生物-生物质-碳、脱氢酶和麦角甾醇活性）优于传统的 CWCS 和 DCS-O 系统。总体而言，以 Bt 棉花移栽为主导的系统集约化在提高系统作物和水生产力、盈利能力、能源生产力、资源利用效率和土壤健康方面具有重要意义，同时在半干旱农业生态系统中碳足迹最小南亚的。