Impact of Live Mulch-Based Conservation Tillage on Soil Properties and Productivity of Summer Maize in Indian Himalayas

Anup Das, Subhash Babu (), Raghavendra Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Sanjay Singh Rathore, Vinod K. Singh, Mrinmoy Datta, Sanjay K. Yadav, Owais Ali Wani and Devideen Yadav
Additional contact information
Anup Das: ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Lembucherra 799210, India
Subhash Babu: Division of Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
Raghavendra Singh: ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur 208024, India
Sanjeev Kumar: College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal 795004, India
Sanjay Singh Rathore: ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Lembucherra 799210, India
Vinod K. Singh: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad 500059, India
Mrinmoy Datta: ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Lembucherra 799210, India
Sanjay K. Yadav: ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow 226002, India
Owais Ali Wani: Department of Soil Science, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Shri Nagar 190025, India
Devideen Yadav: ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Dehradun 248195, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Food security and soil sustainability are the prime challenges to researchers and policy planners across the globe. The task is much more daunting in the fragile ecosystem of the Eastern Himalayan region of India. Soil disturbance from conventional tillage reduces soil productivity and is not sustainable and environmentally friendly. Conservation tillage is regarded as the best crop production practice in the Indian Himalayas, where soil is very easily erodible. Zero tillage alone encourages the growth of different species of weed flora in fragile hill ecosystems. However, live mulching of a pulse crop under zero tillage may be a very beneficial practice, as it aids several soil quality benefits and promotes root proliferation with good crop harvest. Hence, a field investigation was carried out for 3 consecutive years to assess the impact of live mulch-based conservation tillage on soil properties and productivity of summer maize. Five tillage practices, viz. no-till (NT), NT and cowpea coculture live mulch (CLM), minimum tillage (MT), MT+CLM, and conventional tillage (CT), were assessed in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results revealed that continuous adoption of MT+CLM had the lowest bulk density (1.31 and 1.37 Mg m −3 ) and maximum water holding capacity (48.49% and 43.1%) and moisture content (22.4% and 25%) at 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers, respectively, after 3 years. The infiltration rate (2.35 mm min −1 ) was also maximum under MT+CLM, followed by NT+CLM. MT+LMC had 13.8 and 27.15% higher available nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively, than CT at 0–10 cm soil depth. The MT+CLM gave a significantly higher maize grain yield (2.63 Mg ha −1 ), followed by NT+CLM (2.63 Mg ha −1 ) over the others. A cowpea green pod yield of 1.65 Mg ha −1 was also obtained from the legume coculture. Thus, the study found that live mulch of cowpea under MT/NT improved soil quality and subsequently led to greater productivity of summer maize in the Himalayan region of India.

Keywords: biomass production; no-till; soil chemical composition; soil physical properties; yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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