Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?

Deteriorating soil health, diminishing soil organic carbon (SOC), development of subsurface hard compact layer and declining system productivity are barriers to achieving sustainable production in the traditional rice–wheat cropping system (TA) in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India. Conservati...

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Main Authors: Mondal, Surajit, Mishra, Janki Sharan, Poonia, Shish Pal, Kumar, Rakesh, Dubey, Rachana, Kumar, Santosh, Verma, Mausam, Rao, Karnena K., Ahmed, Akram, Dwivedi, Sharad, Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad, Malik, Ram Kanwar, Kumar, Virender, McDonald, Andrew
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/164341
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author Mondal, Surajit
Mishra, Janki Sharan
Poonia, Shish Pal
Kumar, Rakesh
Dubey, Rachana
Kumar, Santosh
Verma, Mausam
Rao, Karnena K.
Ahmed, Akram
Dwivedi, Sharad
Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad
Malik, Ram Kanwar
Kumar, Virender
McDonald, Andrew
author_browse Ahmed, Akram
Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad
Dubey, Rachana
Dwivedi, Sharad
Kumar, Rakesh
Kumar, Santosh
Kumar, Virender
Malik, Ram Kanwar
McDonald, Andrew
Mishra, Janki Sharan
Mondal, Surajit
Poonia, Shish Pal
Rao, Karnena K.
Verma, Mausam
author_facet Mondal, Surajit
Mishra, Janki Sharan
Poonia, Shish Pal
Kumar, Rakesh
Dubey, Rachana
Kumar, Santosh
Verma, Mausam
Rao, Karnena K.
Ahmed, Akram
Dwivedi, Sharad
Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad
Malik, Ram Kanwar
Kumar, Virender
McDonald, Andrew
author_sort Mondal, Surajit
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Deteriorating soil health, diminishing soil organic carbon (SOC), development of subsurface hard compact layer and declining system productivity are barriers to achieving sustainable production in the traditional rice–wheat cropping system (TA) in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India. Conservation agriculture (CA), which favours minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop diversification could be a viable alternative to the TA to address most of those major problems. With that in mind, a long‐term experiment is being implemented at ICAR‐RCER, Patna, Bihar, India, with four treatments: (a) TA, (b) full CA (fCA) and (c and d) partial CA (pCA1 and pCA2), differing in crop establishment methods, cropping system and crop residue management in a randomized complete block design. Measurement of soil health parameters was carried out in the 11th year of the experiment. The results revealed a beneficial effect of CA and 46 and 40% increase in SOC concentration and stock, respectively, under fCA over TA in the 0–7.5‐cm soil layer. The effect of partial CA (pCA1 and pCA2) was variable, but an increasing trend was always observed under pCA compared to TA. There was an enrichment in SOC content of aggregates under CA irrespective of size class; however, no relation was found between SOC content and aggregate diameter. The contribution of macroaggregates to SOC stock was larger (36–66%) under CA in the 0–7.5‐cm soil layer. Adoption of CA improved the macroaggregate content, MWD and GMD of aggregates, and aggregation ratio. Soil macropore content was greater under fCA, whereas other parameters were similar among treatments. The impact of CA was mostly limited to 0–7.5 cm soil layer and a maximum up to 15 cm soil depth while evaluation until 60 cm soil depth was realized. The yield of rice in CA was comparable to or higher than in TA, whereas the system rice equivalent yield was always higher (38–53%) under CA than under the conventional practices. Therefore, a CA‐based cropping system must be encouraged, to increase SOC status, improve aggregation stability and, consequently, sustain or increase system productivity, in order to achieve food and nutritional security in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India.Highlights Effects of long‐term conservation agriculture (CA) on soil C, aggregation and yield were evaluated. CA improved SOC concentration and stock by 46 and 40%, as well as macroaggregate SOC stock by 36–66%. Macro‐aggregation and mean weight diameter improved in CA but was mostly limited to a shallow soil depth. CA can be promoted for sustainability of a rice–wheat system due to higher productivity (38–53%).
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spelling CGSpace1643412025-02-19T14:25:47Z Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India? Mondal, Surajit Mishra, Janki Sharan Poonia, Shish Pal Kumar, Rakesh Dubey, Rachana Kumar, Santosh Verma, Mausam Rao, Karnena K. Ahmed, Akram Dwivedi, Sharad Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad Malik, Ram Kanwar Kumar, Virender McDonald, Andrew soil science Deteriorating soil health, diminishing soil organic carbon (SOC), development of subsurface hard compact layer and declining system productivity are barriers to achieving sustainable production in the traditional rice–wheat cropping system (TA) in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India. Conservation agriculture (CA), which favours minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop diversification could be a viable alternative to the TA to address most of those major problems. With that in mind, a long‐term experiment is being implemented at ICAR‐RCER, Patna, Bihar, India, with four treatments: (a) TA, (b) full CA (fCA) and (c and d) partial CA (pCA1 and pCA2), differing in crop establishment methods, cropping system and crop residue management in a randomized complete block design. Measurement of soil health parameters was carried out in the 11th year of the experiment. The results revealed a beneficial effect of CA and 46 and 40% increase in SOC concentration and stock, respectively, under fCA over TA in the 0–7.5‐cm soil layer. The effect of partial CA (pCA1 and pCA2) was variable, but an increasing trend was always observed under pCA compared to TA. There was an enrichment in SOC content of aggregates under CA irrespective of size class; however, no relation was found between SOC content and aggregate diameter. The contribution of macroaggregates to SOC stock was larger (36–66%) under CA in the 0–7.5‐cm soil layer. Adoption of CA improved the macroaggregate content, MWD and GMD of aggregates, and aggregation ratio. Soil macropore content was greater under fCA, whereas other parameters were similar among treatments. The impact of CA was mostly limited to 0–7.5 cm soil layer and a maximum up to 15 cm soil depth while evaluation until 60 cm soil depth was realized. The yield of rice in CA was comparable to or higher than in TA, whereas the system rice equivalent yield was always higher (38–53%) under CA than under the conventional practices. Therefore, a CA‐based cropping system must be encouraged, to increase SOC status, improve aggregation stability and, consequently, sustain or increase system productivity, in order to achieve food and nutritional security in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India.Highlights Effects of long‐term conservation agriculture (CA) on soil C, aggregation and yield were evaluated. CA improved SOC concentration and stock by 46 and 40%, as well as macroaggregate SOC stock by 36–66%. Macro‐aggregation and mean weight diameter improved in CA but was mostly limited to a shallow soil depth. CA can be promoted for sustainability of a rice–wheat system due to higher productivity (38–53%). 2021-07 2024-12-19T12:53:45Z 2024-12-19T12:53:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/164341 en Open Access Wiley Mondal, Surajit; Mishra, Janki Sharan; Poonia, Shish Pal; Kumar, Rakesh; Dubey, Rachana; Kumar, Santosh; Verma, Mausam; Rao, Karnena K.; Ahmed, Akram; Dwivedi, Sharad; Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad; Malik, Ram Kanwar; Kumar, Virender and McDonald, Andrew. 2021. Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?. European J Soil Science, Volume 72 no. 4 p. 1742-1761
spellingShingle soil science
Mondal, Surajit
Mishra, Janki Sharan
Poonia, Shish Pal
Kumar, Rakesh
Dubey, Rachana
Kumar, Santosh
Verma, Mausam
Rao, Karnena K.
Ahmed, Akram
Dwivedi, Sharad
Bhatt, Bhagwati Prasad
Malik, Ram Kanwar
Kumar, Virender
McDonald, Andrew
Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title_full Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title_fullStr Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title_full_unstemmed Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title_short Can yield, soil C and aggregation be improved under long‐term conservation agriculture in the eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain of India?
title_sort can yield soil c and aggregation be improved under long term conservation agriculture in the eastern indo gangetic plain of india
topic soil science
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/164341
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