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Earthworm Casting Activities Under Bamboo Plantations of West Tripura, India and their Impact on Soil Physicochemical Properties


Affiliations
1 Earthworm Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, West Tripura 799 022, India
2 Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Tripura, Lembucherra, West Tripura 799 210, India
 

Earthworm casting activities under five species of bamboo plantations of West Tripura, India and their physicochemical relationship with the surrounding soil were studied for two successive years (2016 and 2017). Annual cast production in the bamboo plantations of West Tripura was 42,620 kg ha–1 year–1. Maximum casting activity occurs in summer followed by monsoon which is statistically higher than (P < 0.05) in winter. The amount of cast production and its monthly variation strongly correlated (r = 0.60, P = 0.008) and coincided with the amount and pattern of rainfall in West Tripura. The optimum temperature range for maximum casting was between 26°C and 27°C. Amount of cast produced had strong positive correlation with soil moisture (r = 0.56, P = 0.003) and negative correlation with soil temperature (r = –0.55, P = 0.004). Casts in general were significantly richer (P < 0.05) in different physicochemical parameters (moisture, pH, available N, P, K, etc.) than the surrounding soils.

Keywords

Bamboo Plantations, Cast Morphometry, Earthworm Castings, Edaphic Factors, Physico-Chemical Analysis.
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  • Earthworm Casting Activities Under Bamboo Plantations of West Tripura, India and their Impact on Soil Physicochemical Properties

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Authors

Sourabh Chakraborty
Earthworm Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, West Tripura 799 022, India
Niladri Paul
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Tripura, Lembucherra, West Tripura 799 210, India
P. S. Chaudhuri
Earthworm Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, West Tripura 799 022, India

Abstract


Earthworm casting activities under five species of bamboo plantations of West Tripura, India and their physicochemical relationship with the surrounding soil were studied for two successive years (2016 and 2017). Annual cast production in the bamboo plantations of West Tripura was 42,620 kg ha–1 year–1. Maximum casting activity occurs in summer followed by monsoon which is statistically higher than (P < 0.05) in winter. The amount of cast production and its monthly variation strongly correlated (r = 0.60, P = 0.008) and coincided with the amount and pattern of rainfall in West Tripura. The optimum temperature range for maximum casting was between 26°C and 27°C. Amount of cast produced had strong positive correlation with soil moisture (r = 0.56, P = 0.003) and negative correlation with soil temperature (r = –0.55, P = 0.004). Casts in general were significantly richer (P < 0.05) in different physicochemical parameters (moisture, pH, available N, P, K, etc.) than the surrounding soils.

Keywords


Bamboo Plantations, Cast Morphometry, Earthworm Castings, Edaphic Factors, Physico-Chemical Analysis.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv119%2Fi7%2F1169-1177