Dryland agriculture is vital to global crop production and food security, with conventional tillage (CT) traditionally dominating rain-fed systems. However, no-tillage (NT) practices are increasingly being adopted as a sustainable alternative to enhance crop productivity and long-term environmental resilience. This meta-analysis compared the effects of NT with CT on dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) across varying nitrogen fertilizer (NF) levels (low < 100 kg N ha(-1); medium 100-200 kg N ha(-1); and high > 200 kg N ha(-1)), mulching methods, and cover crop practices. The metaanalysis presented that the interaction of NT with straw mulching, leguminous cover crops (LCC), and residue retention increased the dryland winter wheat grain yield by 48, 44, and 31 %, respectively, along with WUE by 57, 47, and 27 %, and NUE by 46, 58, and 37 % for the medium-NF, compared to the CT. Non-leguminous cover crops (NLCC) increased the yield, WUE, and NUE under high-NF than low-NF. Residue removal with low-NF under NT had an insignificant impact on yield, NUE and WUE. However, residue removal increased these parameters under medium and high-NF. Increasing the rate of NF did not increase the yield, NUE, and WUE under such interactions. The effects of tillage with management practices on wheat grain yield, WUE, and NUE also varied with soil and climatic conditions. We demonstrate that NT integrated with mulching and LCC can significantly enhance wheat yield, WUE, and NUE at medium-NF level in fine and medium-textured soils, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional tillage and reducing dependency on high nitrogen inputs in dryland winter wheat cropping systems.