Replacement of rice-wheat cropping system with alternative diversified systems concerning crop productivity and their impact on soil carbon and nutrient status in soil profile of north-west India

• Published in: Cogent food & agriculture Vol. 9; no. 1
• Main Authors: Brar, Sharanjit Kaur, Dhaliwal, Salwinder Singh, Sharma, Vivek, Sharma, Sandeep, Kaur, Manpreet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Cogent 31.12.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Alternative crops; Boron; Carbon; Cereal crops; Corn; Cotton; Crop production; Cropping systems; Hydroxyapatite; Inceptisols; Legumes; Magnesium; Nutrient status; Nutrients; Organic carbon; Organic soils; Phosphorus; Productivity; Rice; Soil fertility; Soil nutrients; soil organic carbon; Soil profiles; Soil properties; Soil surfaces; Soils; Soybeans; system productivity; Udic Ustrochept; Wheat; Zinc
• ISSN: 2331-1932; 2331-1932
• DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2023.2167483

The depth-wise depletion of soil organic carbon (OC), macro, micro, and secondary nutrients under the rice-wheat system has resulted in multi-nutrient deficiencies and a decline in crop productivity, emphasizing the replacement of rice-wheat with alternate cropping systems like maize-wheat, cotton-wheat, soybean-wheat, and moongbean-wheat to restore soil fertility and productivity. Long-term investigations (since 2016) revealed that there was a depth-wise decline in pH, EC, OC, and nutrients in soil profile (Udic Ustrochept, Inceptisols) among different cropping systems. The practice of deep-rooted cropping systems (maize-wheat and cotton-wheat) led to maximum OC, soluble calcium, and magnesium, while legume-based systems (especially soybean-wheat) led to maximum available phosphorus (30.86 kg ha −1 ), boron (0.49 mg kg −1 ), and DTPA-zinc (1.82 mg kg −1 ) in soil profile (0-120 cm). This system also led to the maximum surface soil OC, available phosphorus, soluble magnesium, DTPA-zinc, and boron. From the production point of view, soybean-wheat system (115.65 q ha −1 ) led to higher system grain productivity as compared to rice-wheat system (109.60 q ha −1 ). Therefore, the practice of alternative cropping systems like soybean-wheat and cotton-wheat helps in the build-up of nutrient status by playing a pivotal role in influencing the surface and depth-wise distribution of organic carbon and nutrients in the soil.