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Not AvailableConserving soil moisture in the rainfed region is a challenging task as it plays a significant role in crop productivity and livelihood security of rainfed farmers. The soil moisture conservation practices (MCPs) coupled with the addition of root augmenting nutrition are crucial for sustaining crop yields and maintaining soil phosphorus (P) in a rainfed Vertisol of Central India. Thus, a study was conducted to evaluate the long-term effect of MCPs and P application in maize–chickpea in a Vertisol. A five-year study showed that the MCPs integrated with P nutrition significantly helped in growing chickpea (Cicer arietinum) without irrigation or with limited irrigation. Under the normal rainfall conditions such as normal onset time, distribution and cessation time during the experimentation, the MCPs proved useful in obtaining chickpea yields in the range of 776 to 933 kg ha-1. The best MCP was the practice of late intercultural operations ? Gliricidia cover in the inter-row spaces of standing maize (@ 5 t ha-1 fresh weight basis) ? maize stover application (after sowing up to germination), which recorded higher chickpea grain yield (932 kg ha-1) on account of higher moisture content in the soil and reduced stress in the plants. Another comparable treatment was Gliricidia cover ? one pre-sowing irrigation of 6 cm for chickpea, which recorded 933 kg ha-1 of chickpea yield. Both the treatments recorded significantly higher yields than the under control (637 kg ha-1). We also found that the application of Gliricidia cover on the soil surface coupled with either pre-sowing irrigation and/or late intercultural operations had beneficial effect on soil physical conditions increasing soil moisture which in turn affected the crop growth. Under normal monsoon years, the best treatments (MCP4 and MCP5) recorded around 46% higher chickpea yield as compared to the control. It is concluded that these soil MCPs are very useful in rainfed areas for sustaining crop yield. Keyword Soil management , Moisture consNot Availabl

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Not AvailableSoybean–wheat cropping system is predominant in vertisols of central India. Long-term field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of four tillage systems [conventional tillage (CT), mouldboard tillage (MB), reduced tillage (RT) and no tillage (NT)] and three rates of fertilizer N (50, 100 and 150 % of recommended fertilizer) on crop yields, root growth, soil organic carbon (SOC) content and physical properties in soybean–wheat cropping system. Productivity of soybean and wheat was similar in different tillage systems. Response of fertilizer N was not influenced by tillage systems, and crop response to fertilizer N was generally observed up to 100 % of the recommended N fertilizer. Root length density of soybean in the top 15 cm depth was higher in NT and RT than in MB and CT. An improvement in selected soil physical properties like soil water storage, bulk density, aggregate stability and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) was recorded in NT and RT than in CT. SOC content at 0–15 cm depth was significantly higher in NT, RT and MB where wheat residues were retained after harvest than that in CT system. The SOC, aggregate stability and Ks were significantly higher in N150 % compared to N50 %. It is concluded that no tillage and reduced tillage systems with residue retention and recommended rate of N would be a suitable practice for sustainable production of soybean–wheat cropping system in vertisols of central India.Not Availabl

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