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Not AvailableThis paper deals comprehensively with concepts of soil quality, various approaches to assess soil quality, importance of soil quality indicators and strategies to improve soil quality on long-term basis.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableIn this article we review how different management technologies like integrated nutrient management, tillage practices, mulching, addition of clay, surface compaction, conservation tillage, use of polymers, etc. can favourably modify the soil physical properties like bulk density, porosity, aeration, soil moisture, soil aggregation, water retention and transmission properties, and soil processes like evaporation, infiltration, run-off and soil loss for better crop growth and yield. We suggest that if appropriate soil management technologies are adopted in rainfed areas for the improvement of soil physical health, the productivity of rainfed crops can be significantly improvedNot Availabl

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Not AvailableA study was conducted at Hayathnagar Research Farm of ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture to assess the long-term effects of soilNot Availabl

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Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted in the rainfed Inceptisols of Rakhdhiansar in Kandi areas of Western Himalayas of South Kashmir and Kumaon, India for four years to assess the influence of combined use of tillage and nutrient management treatments on soil quality under maize based cropping system. The experiment was initiated in a split plot design with three main and three sub-treatments using maize (Kanchan510) as the test crop. The main experimental treatments were: T1: Conventional Tillage (CT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC), T2: Low Tillage (LT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC) and T3: Low Tillage (LT) + Weedicide + One Interculture (One IC). The three sub treatments were, T1: 100% N through organic sources (compost), T2: 50% N through organic sources + 50% N through inorganic sources and T3: 100% N through inorganic sources. The results of the present study clearly revealed that the tillage treatments did not significantly influence most of the soil quality parameters except available S, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and Mean weight Diameter of Soil Aggregates (MWD). When averaged over nutrient levels, among the tillage practices, conventional tillage + Two IC recorded the highest available S of 20.87 kg ha-1 . However, sub-sub treatments viz nutrient management significantly influenced the organic carbon (OC), available N, P S and boron, dehyrogenase assay (DHA), labile carbon (LC), bulk density (BD) and MWD. When averaged over tillage levels, the application of nutrients through inorganic sources recorded significantly highest available N (160.50 kg ha-1 ), P (30.67 kg ha-1 ) and K (207.87 kg ha-1) in soil. Finally, in terms of Relative Soil Quality Indices (RSQI), Low tillage + Two IC (0.87) and Low tillage + Weedicide + One IC (0.89) proved superior compared to Conventional Tillage + 2 IC (0.82). Similarly, when averaged over tillage levels, the order of performance of nutrient management treatments was:100% N through organic sources (0.93) > 50% N through organic sources + 50 % N through inorganic sources (0.84) > 100% N through inorganic sources (0.82). Though the interactions between tillage levels and nutrient management were not significant, but the combination of Low tillage practices with 100 % organic Source of nutrients was quite superior in maintaining relatively higher RSQI. Thus, the results of the present study and methodology used will be highly useful to different stake holders associated withland and soil quality management.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted in the rainfed Inceptisols of Rakhdhiansar in Kandi areas of Western Himalayas of South Kashmir and Kumaon, India for four years to assess the influence of combined use of tillage and nutrient management treatments on soil quality under maize based cropping system. The experiment was initiated in a split plot design with three main and three sub-treatments using maize (Kanchan-510) as the test crop. The main experimental treatments were: T1: Conventional Tillage (CT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC), T2: Low Tillage (LT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC) and T3: Low Tillage (LT) + Weedicide + One Interculture (One IC). The three sub treatments were, T1: 100% N through organic sources (compost), T2: 50% N through organic sources + 50% N through inorganic sources and T3: 100% N through inorganic sources. The results of the present study clearly revealed that the tillage treatments did not significantly influence most of the soil quality parameters except available S, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and Mean weight Diameter of Soil Aggregates (MWD). When averaged over nutrient levels, among the tillage practices, conventional tillage + Two IC recorded the highest available S of 20.87 kg ha-1. However, sub-sub treatments viz nutrient management significantly influenced the organic carbon (OC), available N, P S and boron, dehyrogenase assay (DHA), labile carbon (LC), bulk density (BD) and MWD. When averaged over tillage levels, the application of nutrients through inorganic sources recorded significantly highest available N (160.50 kg ha-1), P (30.67 kg ha-1) and K (207.87 kg ha-1) in soil. Finally, in terms of Relative Soil Quality Indices (RSQI), Low tillage + Two IC (0.87) and Low tillage + Weedicide + One IC (0.89) proved superior compared to Conventional Tillage + 2 IC (0.82). Similarly, when averaged over tillage levels, the order of performance of nutrient management treatments was:100% N through organic sources (0.93) > 50% N through organic sources + 50 % N through inorganic sources (0.84) > 100% N through inorganic sources (0.82). Though the interactions between tillage levels and nutrient management were not significant, but the combination of Low tillage practices with 100 % organic Source of nutrients was quite superior in maintaining relatively higher RSQI. Thus, the results of the present study and methodology used will be highly useful to different stake holders associated withland and soil quality management.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA long term experiment was conducted at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture for 14 years to evaluate the effect of low tillage and low cost conjunctive nutrient management practices in terms of productivity,sustainability, profitability and energy use efficiency in sorghum-mung bean system in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol. Results of the study revealed that of the tillage practices, conventional tillage (CT) recorded 11.0% higher yields (1534 kg/ha) over the low tillage (LT) (1382 kg/ha) practice. Among the conjunctive nutrient management treatments, the application of 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea to sorghum crop recorded significantly highest grain yield of 1712 kg/ha followed by application of 4 t compost + 20 kg N through urea (1650 kg/ha) as well as 40 kg N through urea (1594 kg/ha). As in case of sorghum, CT showed a significant influence on mung bean grain yield (888 kg/ha) which was 6.7% higher compared to LT (832 kg/ha). Application of 2 t compost + 10 kg N through urea and 2 t compost + 1 t Gliricidia loppings performed significantly well and recorded higher mungbean grain yields of 960 kg/ha. In case of mung bean, the long-term trends revealed that, the performance of minimum tillage on an average, was near to that of conventional tillage with slight fluctuation depending upon the rainfall distribution during the cropping season. In both the crops, conventional tillage recorded significantly higher net returns compared to low tillage. In case of Sorghum, net returns obtained were significantly higher with 4 t compost + 20 Kg N/ha through urea (T3) (Rs.` 30,262). The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in sorghum crop was significantly higher (3.0) with application of 40 kg N through urea alone followed by 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea (2.77). Highest BCR (4.02) was observed with application of 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea under minimum tillage followed by recommended nitrogen dose of 40 kg/ha (through inorganic fertilizer) and application of 2 t compost + 10 kg N through urea (3.97) in mung bean. Low tillage recorded higher energy use efficiency (10.16, 5.05) compared to conventional tillage (7.21, 3.36) in case of Sorghum and mung bean, respectively.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted in the rainfed Inceptisols of Rakhdhiansar in Kandi areas of Western Himalayas of South Kashmir and Kumaon, India for four years to assess the influence of combined use of tillage and nutrient management treatments on soil quality under maize based cropping system. The experiment was initiated in a split plot design with three main and three sub-treatments using maize (Kanchan-510) as the test crop. The main experimental treatments were: T1: Conventional Tillage (CT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC), T2: Low Tillage (LT) +Two Intercultures (Two IC) and T3: Low Tillage (LT) + Weedicide + One Interculture (One IC). The three sub treatments were, T1: 100% N through organic sources (compost), T2: 50% N through organic sources + 50% N through inorganic sources and T3: 100% N through inorganic sources. The results of the present study clearly revealed that the tillage treatments did not significantly influence most of the soil quality parameters except available S, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and Mean weight Diameter of Soil Aggregates (MWD). When averaged over nutrient levels, among the tillage practices, conventional tillage + Two IC recorded the highest available S of 20.87 kg ha-1. However, sub-sub treatments viz nutrient management significantly influenced the organic carbon (OC), available N, P S and boron, dehyrogenase assay (DHA), labile carbon (LC), bulk density (BD) and MWD. When averaged over tillage levels, the application of nutrients through inorganic sources recorded significantly highest available N (160.50 kg ha-1), P (30.67 kg ha-1) and K (207.87 kg ha-1) in soil. Finally, in terms of Relative Soil Quality Indices (RSQI), Low tillage + Two IC (0.87) and Low tillage + Weedicide + One IC (0.89) proved superior compared to Conventional Tillage + 2 IC (0.82). Similarly, when averaged over tillage levels, the order of performance of nutrient management treatments was:100% N through organic sources (0.93) > 50% N through organic sources + 50 % N through inorganic sources (0.84) > 100% N through inorganic sources (0.82). Though the interactions between tillage levels and nutrient management were not significant, but the combination of Low tillage practices with 100 % organic Source of nutrients was quite superior in maintaining relatively higher RSQI. Thus, the results of the present study and methodology used will be highly useful to different stake holders associated withland and soil quality management.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableABSTRACT: A field experiment was conducted in the rainfed Inceptisol soils of Rakh Dhiansar in Kandi areas of Western Himalayas of South Kashmir and Kumaon from 2001 to 2005. The main focus of the present study was to quantify the impact of conjunctive nutrient management practices on soil quality parameters, to identify the key indicators of soil quality using data redundancy technique and to compute integrated soil quality indices (SQIs) and relative soil quality indices (RSQIs) as influenced by the conjunctive nutrient management treatments in hill and mountainous Inceptisol soils in Northern India under maize - wheat system. Out of the total 10 treatments, five treatments viz., T1: control, T2: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 20 kg N/ha, T3: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 30 kg N/ha, T4: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 40 kg N/ha and T5: green manuring with sunhemp + 20 kg N/ha were selected for the soil quality assessment studies. The nutrient management treatments significantly influenced the SQIs which varied between 3.69 to 5.66 across the management treatments, while the RSQIs varied between 0.63 to 0.96. Of all the nutrient management treatments, the application of FYM @ 10 t/ha + 40 kg N/ha maintained significantly highest SQI of 5.66, which was at par with the application of FYM @ 10 t/ha + 30 kg N/ha and green manuring with sunhemp + 20 kg N/ha both of which maintained SQI of 5.40. Irrespective of their statistical significance, the relative order of performance of the nutrient management treatments in maintaining the soil quality indices was: T4: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 40 kg N/ha (5.66) > T5: Green manuring with sunhemp + 20 kg N/ha (5.44) > T3: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 30 kg N/ha (5.40) > T2: FYM @ 10 t/ha + 20 kg N/ha (5.16) > T1: control (3.69). The per cent contributions of each of these key indicators towards SQIs were also computed. It was observed that almost all the key indicators contributed more or less equally towards the SQIs except available N and available Fe, which contributed to a minimum extent of 2.27% and 1.90%, respectively. The per cent contribution of the other key indicators was as follows: organic carbon (13.8%), available P (13.4%), available K (14.5%), available Zn (12.6%), microbial biomass carbon (13.7%), bulk density (15.2%) and mean weight diameter (11.6%).Not Availabl

Effect of Surface Residue Management under Minimum Tillage on Crop yield and Soil Quality Indices after 6 years in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) - Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) System in Rainfed Alfisols

Not AvailableABSTRACT: This experiment was conducted in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, during the period 2005 to 2010 to study the long-term effect of varying levels of surface residue application under minimum tillage on crop yields and soil quality in sorghum-cowpea system. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with minimum tillage (MT) as main block. The experimental treatments comprised of application of four levels of dry sorghum residues (@ 0, 2, 4 and 6 t/ha) as surface application. After 6th year of the experimentation, the pooled mean sorghum grain yield varied from 1607 to 1819 kg/ha across the treatments and was significantly influenced by the residue application. The percent increase in pooled grain yields with residue application @ 2, 4 and 6 t/ha was to the extent of 5, 9 and 13.0% respectively over the control (no residue application). Similarly, the pooled mean cowpea yield varied from 335 to 541 kg/ ha across the treatments and was significantly influenced by the residue application. The percent increase in cowpea grain yield with @ 2, 4 and 6 t/ha was to the extent of 28, 61 and 45% respectively no residue application. Significantly higher organic carbon (6.80 g/kg) content was recorded with the application of sorghum stover @ 6 t/ha which was 55.89% higher compared to control (4.36 g/ kg). The increase in available N with the application of 6t and 4t crop residue was to the extent of 19.5 and 28% respectively while significantly higher contents of soil available P (10.67 kg/ha) and K (288.8 kg/ha) were observed with application of sorghum residue @ 4 t/ha. Among the biological properties, significantly higher microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA) were recorded with the application of sorghum stover @ 4 t/ha. Besides reducing the bulk density, the application of residues had a significant influence on the mean weight diameter (MWD) of the soil aggregates. The highest overall soil quality index (SQI: 9.58) was observed with the residue application @ 6 t/ha. A significant positive relationship was observed between SQI and pooled cowpea seed yield (R2=0.82) and pooled sorghum grain yield (R2=0.69).Not Availabl

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Not AvailableConservation agriculture (CA) is a key climate resilient and resource saving technology for higher productivity while reversing soil degradation in rainfed regions. In India, CA in the rice -wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of south Asia has been extensively studied. However, relatively less attention was given to develop strategies to overcome the constraints in the adoption of CA in rainfed regions. Therefore, studies were initiated in rainfed regions under different cropping systems and soil types to standardize the best management practices and to address various constraints related to adoption of CA. Based on the results of experiments conducted in various agro ecosystems it has been found that the effect of CA on crop productivity and soil properties in different experiments are variable, depending on the management factors and duration of the study. Adoption of CA resulted in improvement in crop yield to the extent of 9-36.7% under different cropping systems, increase in net monetary returns by 1487% and rain water productivity by 4-25%. The water infiltration rate was increased by 53.2 -56.8 %, soil organic carbon content increased by 5-45.1% under different cropping systems at different soil depths. The available soil moisture content increased by 1.8-46.8% and the available soil nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium increased by 2.7-41.6,0.6-64.8 and 6.1-26.2%, respectively. The energy input under CA decreased by 0.9-57.6%, energy saving increased by 0.9- 34.88% and the energy use efficiency increased by 9.47-66.8%. The runoff and soil loss also decreased by 17.6-37.9% and 44.756.5%, respectively under CA as compared to conventional tillage (CT). Furthermore, we have observed that CA integrated with complementary practices like in situ moisture conservation (through permanent conservation furrow or permanent raised bed and furrow) in maize/horse gram-pigeonpea, maizepigeonpea system, weed and nutrient management practices in maize-pigeonpea, pearl millet-pigeonpea and cotton-pigeonpea improved the crop productivity and soil health in rainfed agro-ecosystems. Increase in crop residue retention either through manipulation of harvest height to 30-60 cm in cereals and live mulch with dhaincha in pigeonpea-castor system, improve soil health, resilience to climate change, productivity and profitability. These technologies have feasibility of adoption by the farmers.Not Availabl