Decade-long Effects of Integrated Farming Systems on Soil Aggregation and Carbon Dynamics in Sub Tropical Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains Provisionally Accepted
Karnena K. Rao1
Saubhagya K. Samal2
Sanjeev Kumar1
Nongmaithem R. Singh3
Rakesh Kumar1
Surajit Mondal4
Santosh Kumar1
JS Mishra5
Bhagwati P. Bhatt6
N. Ravisankar7
Sunil Kumar7
Pravin Kumar K. Upadhyay8*
Swapnaja K. Jadhav9
Anup K. Choubey10
- 1ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, India
- 2Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR), India
- 3The ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region (ICAR RC NEH), India
- 4Central Citrus Research Institute (ICAR), India
- 5Directorate of Weed Research, Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (ICAR), India
- 6Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), India
- 7Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research (ICAR), India
- 8Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), India
- 9Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ICAR), India
- 10Bihar agricultural university, India
Integrated farming system (IFS) aims to diversify the agricultural landscapes by incorporating different components to meet the multifarious needs of burgeoning population. Present study was undertaken to understand the impact of different cropping systems on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, aggregate distribution, and aggregate associated organic carbon (AAOC) in 2-IFS models of varying sizes (0.4 and 0.8 ha) established during 2008-09. After 10 years of the study, fodder system registered the greatest TOC and carbon stocks across IFS models, with surface soil (0-15 cm) accumulating 17 and 13% higher TOC and C stock, respectively in 0.4 and 0.8 ha models. In 0-15 cm, macroaggregates (Ma) represented the highest proportion (75-76%) in both the models.Among cropping systems, fodder system recorded the highest large macroaggregates in both IFS model. Within 0-30 cm depth, small macroaggregates mostly found in perennial system (fodder, guava+turmeric and lemon intercropping system) indicating potential to improve the aggregate stability over seasonal (shorter duration) system. In general, micro aggregate (Mi) fraction was pre-dominant in sub surface soil (17.35%). The maximum AAOC was found in Ma than with Mi fractions; with about 67 and 63% of total carbon associated with Ma in 0.4 and 0.8 ha IFS models, respectively. Interestingly, 0.8 ha IFS model had higher TOC (~11 %) and carbon stock (~12 %) than 0.4 ha model, but AAOC did not show similar result indicating the influence of cropping systems on AAOC. The study indicated that fodder-based production system had a better performance in terms of soil physical health in terms of increasing aggregate stability and content of soil carbon. This is indicative of advantages of perennial-based system over seasonal or annual-based cropping systems for soil sustainability in Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains.
Keywords: IFS, Crop rotation, carbon stock, Aggregation indices, Aggregate associated carbon
Received: 08 Feb 2024;
Accepted: 29 Apr 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Rao, Samal, Kumar, Singh, Kumar, Mondal, Kumar, Mishra, Bhatt, Ravisankar, Kumar, Upadhyay, Jadhav and Choubey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr. Pravin Kumar K. Upadhyay, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India