Carbon Mineralization Rates and Kinetics of Surface-Applied and Incorporated Rice and Maize Residues in Entisol and Inceptisol Soil Types

Rakesh S, Deepranjan Sarkar, Abhas Kumar Sinha, Shikha, Prabir Mukhopadhyay, Subhan Danish, Shah Fahad and Rahul Datta
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Rakesh S: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar 736165, West Bengal, India
Deepranjan Sarkar: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abhas Kumar Sinha: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar 736165, West Bengal, India
Shikha: Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ranichauri, Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, Tehri Garhwal 249199, Uttarakhand, India
Prabir Mukhopadhyay: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar 736165, West Bengal, India
Subhan Danish: Department of Soil Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Shah Fahad: Department of Agronomy, The University of Haripur, Haripur 22620, Pakistan
Rahul Datta: Department of Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, 61300 Brno, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-16

Abstract: Mineralization of carbon (C) is a burning issue that is regulated by soil attributes. It has direct impacts on crop productivity and quantification of organic residue addition in soil. For better understanding and achievement of potential tillage benefits, a comprehensive scientific understanding of C mineralization is very important. Therefore, a laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the C mineralization rates and kinetics of crop residues (rice and maize) when applied on the surface (as zero-tillage, ZT) and incorporation (as conventional tillage, CT) in four different soil types (S1 and S2 of Entisol; S3 and S4 of Inceptisols) of West Bengal state, India. Results showed that after 7 days of incubation, there was a rapid phase of decrease in CO 2 -C fluxes. It continued up to day 14 followed by a sluggish nature of CO 2 emission up to day-42, and after that almost levelling off in all subsequent periods up to the end of 126 days of incubation. There was a progressive release of cumulative total C from the soils with an increase in time till the last day of incubation. For every 10% increase in C loss, there was about 0.376 mg/g C mineralization from the applied residue C. It was evident from the kinetic models that C mineralization from the residues followed the exponential model: C = Co(1 − e −kt ). Similar rate constant (k) values were recorded in both placement methods, but the rate of maximum potential mineralizable (C 0 k) residue C was higher under residue incorporation treatments for both rice and maize residue. However, the rice and maize residues showed almost similar amounts of C mineralized over time when applied on the surface. The future prediction analysis using the equation C = Co(1 − e −kt ) suggested that the residues incorporated into the soil releases a maximum C irrespective of residue type. We conclude that the residues when incorporated into the soil significantly increases the C footprints through maximum C mineralization; leaving the crop residue on the soil surface reduces the C footprints which helps in achieving sustainability from an environmental perspective.

Keywords: CO 2 fluxes; cumulative C mineralized; mineralization kinetics; rice and maize residues; incorporation; surface application (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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