Soil quality response to long-term nutrient and crop management on a semi-arid Inceptisol

• Published in: Agriculture, ecosystems & environment Vol. 118; no. 1; pp. 130 - 142
• Main Authors: Masto, Reginald Ebhin, Chhonkar, Pramod K., Singh, Dhyan, Patra, Ashok K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2007; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; animal manures; Biological and medical sciences; bulk density; crop management; crop rotation; crop yield; electrical conductivity; Farm yard manure; fertilizers; field crops; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agroecology; General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping; General agronomy. Plant production; Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development; grain crops; Inceptisols; long term experiments; Long-term fertilizer application; Maize–wheat cropping system; nitrogen; nutrient management; Pennisetum americanum; phosphorus; potassium; semiarid soils; soil enzymes; soil fertility; soil hydraulic properties; soil microorganisms; soil organic matter; soil pH; soil quality; Soil quality framework; Soil quality index; Triticum aestivum; Vigna unguiculata; Zea mays; zinc; India; Long-term fertilizer application; Soil quality framework; Soil quality index; Maize–wheat cropping system; Farm yard manure; Monocotyledones; Zea mays; Cropping system; Maize-wheat cropping system; Soil quality; Climatic zone; Long term; Gramineae; Semi arid zone; Angiospermae; Nutrient; Spermatophyta
• ISSN: 0167-8809; 1873-2305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2006.05.008

The soil quality concept provides a tool to help quantify the combined biological, chemical and physical response of soil to crop management practices. Our objective was to quantify effects of 10 fertilizer and farm yard manure (FYM) treatments applied for 31 years to a rotation that included maize (
Zea mays), pearl millet (
Pennisetum americanum), wheat (
Triticum aestivum) and cowpea (
Vigna unguiculata) on an Inceptisol at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India. A soil quality index (SQI) based on six soil functions (i.e. the soil's ability to: accommodate water entry, facilitate water movement and storage, resist surface degradation, resist biochemical degradation, supply plant nutrients and sustain crop productivity) was derived for each treatment using bulk density, water retention, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), plant-available nutrients, soil organic matter (SOM), microbial biomass, soil enzymes and crop yield. SQI ratings ranged from 0.552 (unfertilized control) to 0.838 for the combined NPK fertilizer plus manure treatment. Comparisons among treatments indicated that SQI increases associated with the combined (NPK
+
manure) treatment were distributed as follows: N (7.1% increase), P (7.8%), K (14.4%), Zn (4.8%) and manure (15%). The control (−11.4%) and N alone (−5.1%) resulted in degradation compared to a reference soil (no fertilizer/manure, no crop), and NP alone or sub-optimal rates of NPK were on the verge of degradation. Hand weeding and sulphur application had no measurable effect on SQI. High K fixing capacity was a limiting factor for these soils, even when FYM was applied. The lower SQI rating associated with N or NP-only treatments suggests that two of the most common fertilizer management practices in India may not be sustainable. The SQI was calculated without the weighting factors too, which revealed that the weighting factors did not affect the relative ranks of individual treatments.