ICRISAT, India soils: yesterday, today and tomorrow

Associated red and black soils are common in the Deccan plateau and the Indian peninsula. The red soils are formed due to the progressive landscape reduction process and black soils due to the aggradation processes; and they are often spatially associated maintaining their typical characteristics over the years. These soils are subject to changes due to age-long management practices and the other factors like climate change. To maintain soil quality, it is essential to monitor changes in soil properties preferably using benchmark (BM) soil sites. One such example lies at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) farm in Patancheru, India where red (Patancheru) and black (Kasireddipalli) soils co-exist in close association under almost similar topographical condition, which also represents very commonly occurring spatially associated soils. The database generated over the years for these two dominant soils that are under cultural practices for the last 2–3 decades, helps us understand the relative changes in properties over a time scale. To do this exercise, we revisited the BM spots as the data on the original characterization of these soils since the development of the farm, are available, for comparative evaluation. We also attempted to make prediction of future changes in properties for these two important and representative black and red soils of the ICRISAT farm in Patancheru, India

Land use and cropping effects on carbon in black soils of semi-arid tropical 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

Georeferenced soil information system: assessment of database

Land-use planning is a decision-making process that facilitates the allocation of land to different uses that provide optimal and sustainable benefit. As land-use is shaped by society–nature interaction, in land-use planning different components/facets play a significant role involving soil, water, climate, animal (ruminant/ non-ruminant) and others, including forestry and the environment needed for survival of mankind. At times these components are moderated by human interference. Thus land-use planning being a dynamic phenomenon is not guided by a single factor, but by a complex system working simultaneously,which largely affects the sustainability. To address such issues a National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) on ‘Georeferenced soil information system for land-use planning and monitoring soil and land quality for agriculture’ was undertaken to develop threshold values of land quality parameters for land-use planning through quantitative land evaluation and crop modelling for dominant cropping systems in major agro-ecological sub-regions (AESRs) representing rice–wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and deep-rooted crops in the black soil regions (BSR). To assess the impact of landuse change, threshold land quality indicator values are used. A modified AESR map for agricultural landuse planning is generated for effective land-use planning

Soil information system: use and potentials in humid and semi-arid tropics

The articles presented in this special section emanated from the researches of consortium members of the National Agricultural Innovative Project (NAIP, Component 4) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. These researches have helped develop a soil information system (SIS). In view of the changing scenario all over the world, the need of the hour is to get assistance from a host of researchers specialized in soils, crops, geology, geography and information technology to make proper use of the datasets. Equipped with the essential knowledge of data storage and retrieval for management recommendations, these experts should be able to address the issues of land degradation, biodiversity, food security, climate change and ultimately arrive at an appropriate agricultural land-use planning. Moreover, as the natural resource information is an essential prerequisite for monitoring and predicting global environmental change with special reference to climate and land use options, the SIS needs to be a dynamic exercise to accommodate temporal datasets, so that subsequently it should result in the evolution of the soil information technology. The database developed through this NAIP would serve as an example of the usefulness of the Consortium and the research initiative of ICAR involving experts from different fields to find out the potentials of the soils of humid and semi-arid bioclimatic systems of the country

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Not AvailableShrink–swell phenomenon is a complex process in vertic group of soils. Their dynamics in soils has long been presented through various models, field and laboratory methods. The present study finds out a feasible way to measure the shrink-swell potential and the key responsible factors in soil which are most influentialin determiningthis phenomenon.Four shrink– swell parameters such as coefficient of linear extensibility(COLE), coefficient of linear shrinkage (COLS), percent volume change on swelling(PVCsw), percent volume change onshrinkage (PVCs) measured at 25oC (room temperature,RT), 40oC and 110oC wereused to quantifyshrink – swell phenomenon. Results indicated that heating the soil cake at 110oC over 40oC does not bring higher change (0-10 %) in linear shrinkage, the corresponding value for volume change at 110oC showed greater change (3-61%) hence, COLS at 40oC and PVCs at 110oC amongst others were promising and may be recommended for routine measurement of shrink–swell phenomenonin the laboratory. Out of three the different measurement devices, cube shaped box appeared to be the better option. The soil properties which representcarbon content and soil substrate have significant correlations(p<0.01, p<0.05) with the corresponding shrink–swell parameters. The multiple regression analysis showed 69 percent variation for PVCs 110oC and 63 percent for COLS 40oC.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSoil 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.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAssociated red and black soils are common in the Deccan plateau and the Indian peninsula. The red soils are formed due to the progressive landscape reduction process and black soils due to the aggradation processes; and they are often spatially associated maintaining their typical characteristics over the years. These soils are subject to changes due to age-long management practices and the other factors like climate change. To maintain soil quality, it is essential to monitor changes in soil properties preferably using benchmark (BM) soil sites. One such example lies at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) farm in Patancheru, India where red (Patancheru) and black (Kasireddipalli) soils co-exist in close association under almost similar topographical condition, which also represents very commonly occurring spatially associated soils. The database generated over the years for these two dominant soils that are under cultural practices for the last 2–3 decades, helps us understand the relative changes in properties over a time scale. To do this exercise, we revisited the BM spots as the data on the original characterization of these soils since the development of the farm, are available, for comparative evaluation. We also attempted to make prediction of future changes in properties for these two important and representative black and red soils of the ICRISAT farm in Patancheru, India.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMaintenance of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock is important for monitoring soil health, which appears to be fragile in view of the reported climatic changes due to global warming in tropical countries such as India. This requires accurate and reproducible measurement of SOC. The wet-digestion technique following the Walkley-Black (WB) method to determine SOC has been used throughout the world in soil science, agronomy, and environmental science laboratories. WB suggested a universal correction factor to convert organic carbon to calculate exact quantity of organic carbon present in soil assuming 77% recovery of SOC. We understand that such a blanket recommendation may not hold well in different bioclimatic systems and for soils representing various depths. We present corrected Walkley-Black recovery factors (WBRF) for different bioclimates and soil depths in two food-growing zones in India.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMaintenance of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock is important for monitoring soil health, which appears to be fragile in view of the reported climatic changes due to global warming in tropical countries such as India. This requires accurate and reproducible measurement of SOC. The wet-digestion technique following the Walkley-Black (WB) method to determine SOC has been used throughout the world in soil science, agronomy, and environmental science laboratories.WB suggested a universal correction factor to convert organic carbon to calculate exact quantity of organic carbon present in soil assuming 77% recovery of SOC. We understand that such a blanket recommendation may not hold well in different bioclimatic systems and for soils representing various depths. We present correctedWalkley-Black recovery factors (WBRFc) for different bioclimates and soil depths in two food-growing zones in India.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableIt has been found that soil organic carbon (SOC) is very easily oxidized in the oven during analysis through C/N analyzer. There is no literatures on the relative effects of CaCO3 in the determination of total C in soils. To avoid,effects, if any, we have developed separate methods for calcareous and non-calcareous soils. It is hoped that, with aprior knowledge of soil-site, a suitable method can be chosen for both these types of soils to determine C and N in soils.Not Availabl