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Permanent raised bed cultivation for rice–wheat cropping systems of South Asia is a paradigm shift from the conventional practice of planting on puddled flat land. Permanent beds offer the opportunity to reduce tillage, rebuild soil aggregates and organic matter, reduce irrigation water inputs and improve nitrogen (N) use. The Soil Management Collaborative Research Support Program, together with National Agricultural Research System partners in Bangladesh and Nepal, compared conventional and permanent bed cultivation in replicated experiments at Ranighat, Nepal; Rajshahi, Bangladesh; and Nashipur, Bangladesh. Permanent beds outperformed conventional flat practice for all crops with the exception of wheat at one site. At Nashipur wheat yields on beds declined over time, but no declining trends were seen at the other sites. Mean yield response to N fertilisation was generally greater on beds than on the flat, and greater with rice than wheat. At the same level of N fertiliser input, N uptake in wheat grain at Nashipur and wheat and rice grain at Rajshahi was higher for the bed treatments than the flat. Reduced inputs of irrigation water were documented, with furrow irrigation of permanent beds at all three sites. Consistent improvements in yield and reductions in irrigation inputs, together with cost savings in labour, land preparation, fertiliser and seed inputs, on permanent beds have convinced a group of Bangladeshi farmers to adopt this innovative technology.