The sustainable intensification of agriculture requires management practices that simultaneously enhance productivity, improve soil health and reduce environmental impacts. Although no-tillage (NT) and residue retention (R) are widely encouraged, their individual effectiveness is often limited, and the potential to combine them to achieve enhanced outcomes remains poorly understood globally. Through a meta-analysis of 68 published studies on dryland winter wheat, we show that NT + R produces synergistic effects that exceed the sum of the two practices alone. Compared to conventional tillage with residue removal (CT), NT + R significantly increased soil organic carbon (22.3%), microbial biomass carbon (18.4%) and water use efficiency (25.4%), whereas reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by 24.8% (p < 0.05). Additionally, NT + R reduces the yield penalty often associated with no-tillage alone, increasing grain yield by 23.5% (p < 0.05) compared to CT. Environmental factors heavily influence the success of this system. The greatest multifunctional benefits, reflecting a 'win-win' for climate mitigation and crop production, were consistently seen in semi-arid regions (MAP 350-600 mm) with moderate temperatures (MAT 8 degrees C-15 degrees C) and fine-textured soils. Conversely, neither NT nor R alone achieved these coordinated improvements. Our findings strongly suggest that integrated conservation practices are key to balancing productivity and environmental goals. We highlight the specific agro-ecological conditions where NT + R offers the greatest benefits, providing an essential framework for targeted implementation to maximize its role in global food security and climate change mitigation.