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Land Use and Cropping Effects on Carbon in Black Soils of Semi-Arid Tropical India


Affiliations
1 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
2 National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India
3 Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur 440 010, India
 

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and rainfall are generally positively related, whereas a negative relationship between soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and rainfall with some exception is observed. Land use pattern in black soil region (BSR) of the semi-arid tropical (SAT) India, consists of 80% under agriculture, followed by forest, horticulture, wasteland and permanent fallow. For sustainable agriculture on these soils, there is a concern about their low OC status, which warrants fresh initiatives to enhance their OC status by suitable management interventions. In the BSR region, cotton, soybean and cereal-based systems dominate but it is not yet clear as to which cropping system in the SAT black soils is most suitable for higher OC sequestration. Many short-term experiments on cotton or cereal-based systems clearly suggest that cotton or cereal-based cropping systems including leguminous crops perform better in terms of SOC sequestration whereas soybean-legume combination do not add any substantial amount of OC. In sub-humid bioclimatic zones (1053-1209 mm mean annual rainfall), soybean is grown successfully with wheat or fallowing, and SOC concentration is maintained at 0.75% in the 0.30 m soil layer under integrated nutrient management. In view of enhancement and maintenance of OC in many shortterm experiments conducted in various agro-climate zones of SAT, it is realized that OC accumulation in soils of the semi-arid ecosystem with suitable cropping and management practices could be substantial especially in cotton-pigeon pea rotation, and thus the discussed crop rotations in each major bio-climatic zone stand for wide acceptance by the SAT farmers.

Keywords

Land Use and Cropping Systems, Rainfall, Soil Carbon, Vertisol and Associated Soils.
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  • Land Use and Cropping Effects on Carbon in Black Soils of Semi-Arid Tropical India

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Authors

Swati Chaudhury
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
T. Bhattacharyya
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
Suhas P. Wani
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
D. K. Pal
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India
K. L. Sahrawat
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
Ankush Nimje
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru 502 324, India
P. Chandran
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India
M. V. Venugopalan
Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur 440 010, India
B. Telpande
National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur 440 010, India

Abstract


Soil organic carbon (SOC) and rainfall are generally positively related, whereas a negative relationship between soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and rainfall with some exception is observed. Land use pattern in black soil region (BSR) of the semi-arid tropical (SAT) India, consists of 80% under agriculture, followed by forest, horticulture, wasteland and permanent fallow. For sustainable agriculture on these soils, there is a concern about their low OC status, which warrants fresh initiatives to enhance their OC status by suitable management interventions. In the BSR region, cotton, soybean and cereal-based systems dominate but it is not yet clear as to which cropping system in the SAT black soils is most suitable for higher OC sequestration. Many short-term experiments on cotton or cereal-based systems clearly suggest that cotton or cereal-based cropping systems including leguminous crops perform better in terms of SOC sequestration whereas soybean-legume combination do not add any substantial amount of OC. In sub-humid bioclimatic zones (1053-1209 mm mean annual rainfall), soybean is grown successfully with wheat or fallowing, and SOC concentration is maintained at 0.75% in the 0.30 m soil layer under integrated nutrient management. In view of enhancement and maintenance of OC in many shortterm experiments conducted in various agro-climate zones of SAT, it is realized that OC accumulation in soils of the semi-arid ecosystem with suitable cropping and management practices could be substantial especially in cotton-pigeon pea rotation, and thus the discussed crop rotations in each major bio-climatic zone stand for wide acceptance by the SAT farmers.

Keywords


Land Use and Cropping Systems, Rainfall, Soil Carbon, Vertisol and Associated Soils.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv110%2Fi9%2F1692-1698