Impact of Long Term Nutrient Management on Soil Quality Indices in Rice-Wheat System of Lower Indo-Gangetic Plain

Nirmalendu Basak, Biswapati Mandal, Sunanda Biswas, Piu Basak, Tarik Mitran, Bholanath Saha, Arvind Kumar Rai, Md. Khairul Alam, Arvind Kumar Yadav and Ashim Datta
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Nirmalendu Basak: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Biswapati Mandal: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Sunanda Biswas: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Piu Basak: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Tarik Mitran: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Bholanath Saha: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Arvind Kumar Rai: Division of Soil & Crop Management, ICAR—Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal 132001, Haryana, India
Md. Khairul Alam: Soils Unit, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Farmgate, Dhaka 1215, Bangladesh
Arvind Kumar Yadav: Department of Agronomy, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner 303329, Rajasthan, India
Ashim Datta: Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Globally, soil degradation is an important issue for sustainable crop production. Soil quality indicators are the soil attributes that address the ecological functions of soil. Therefore, indicator-based soil quality assessment has been emphasized for quantifying the relative soil quality changes in different nutrient management systems. Soil quality underthe rice ( Oryza sativa L.) and wheat ( Triticum aestivam L.) cropping system was assessed using a modified “Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF)” model. Soil’s physical, chemical, nutritional, and biological indices were analyzed for different nutrient management strategies, viz ., inorganic fertilizer (NPK), NPK + 7.5 Mg ha −1 farmyard manure (NPKF), NPK + 10.0 Mg ha −1 paddy straw (NPKP) and NPK + 8.0 Mg ha −1 Sesbania sesban L. green manure (NPKG). Nutrient management strategies significantly influenced soil quality indices. NPKF showed the highest SMAF score for soil physical quality index followed by NPKP > NPKG > NPK and control; whereas the score of soil chemical quality was greater in NPKP followed by NPKF/NPKG > NPK > control ( p > 0.05). Overall, the soil nutritional quality index was greater in NPKF (0.96) followed by NPKG > NPKP > NPK, and the least was in control. The SMAF score of soil biological quality index was highest in NPKF compared to NPKG > NPKP > NPK > control. The wholesome index of SMAF (SQI) was developed withthehighest score in NPKF (0.94) followed by NPKG (0.90) > NPKP (0.89) > NPK (0.79) > control (0.71). The β- glucosidase activity, mineralizable C, KMnO 4 oxidizable N, microbial biomass C, and total water-stable aggregates explained 82% variability in the dataset and represented a good agreement with system yield ( R 2 = 0.89, p < 0.05). This study concludes that the conjunctive application of NPK with manures restores the overall soil quality more than other management practices, and thatthe SQ indices can be utilized for screening the best management practices for rice-wheat and other similar cropping systems.

Keywords: soil quality indices; soil management assessment framework; fluorescein diacetate hydrolyzing activity; N-mineralization; β -glucosidase (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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