Impact of levels of residue retention on soil properties under conservation agriculture in Vertisols of central India
- 12 November 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science
- Vol. 68 (3), 368-382
- https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2020.1836345
Abstract
Residue management is one of the most difficult tasks in the modern-mechanized agriculture with the intensification of cropping systems, which leads to reduced sowing window between two crops and farmers prefer in-situ burning of crop residues. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the effect of zero tillage (ZT) based residue management on soil health parameters in maize (Zea mays L.)–chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) rotation in black soils of central India. After 4 years of study, the soil bulk density was reduced by 3.0–10.2% and volumetric moisture content was improved by 10.2–19.3% at 0–10 cm soil depth in ZT with residue over conventional tillage (CT). The soil organic carbon and labile carbon were increased by 13.6–61.7% and 6.0–22.0%, respectively, at 0–10 cm soil depths. Similarly, ZT with residue increased the KMnO4-N, Olsen-P and NH4OAc-K, and total fungal and actinomycetes density in surface soil as compared to CT. Thus, our study advocates that ZT with residue retention (1.8–5.4 Mg ha–1 maize and 0.8–2.4 Mg ha–1 chickpea residue) should be implemented for sustainable soil health in Vertisols (Typic Haplustert) of central India and other similar agro-ecological systems.Keywords
This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit:
- ADDING VALUE TO FIELD-BASED AGRONOMIC RESEARCH THROUGH CLIMATE RISK ASSESSMENT: A CASE STUDY OF MAIZE PRODUCTION IN KITALE, KENYAExperimental Agriculture, 2011
- Sensitivity of Labile Soil Organic Carbon to Tillage in Wheat‐Based Cropping SystemsSoil Science Society of America Journal, 2008
- Mulching effects on selected soil physical propertiesSoil and Tillage Research, 2008
- Row-crop planter attachments in a conservation tillage system: A comparative studySoil and Tillage Research, 2008
- Influence of wheat residue management on irrigated corn grain production in a reduced tillage systemSoil and Tillage Research, 2007
- Row cleaners enhance reduced tillage planting of corn in IranSoil and Tillage Research, 2007
- Estimating active carbon for soil quality assessment: A simplified method for laboratory and field useAmerican Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 2003
- Tillage effects on soil organic carbon distribution and storage in a silt loam soil in IllinoisSoil and Tillage Research, 1999
- Long‐Term Changes in Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Pools in Wheat Management SystemsSoil Science Society of America Journal, 1994
- AN EXAMINATION OF THE DEGTJAREFF METHOD FOR DETERMINING SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, AND A PROPOSED MODIFICATION OF THE CHROMIC ACID TITRATION METHODSoil Science, 1934