Influence of farmyard manure application and mineral fertilization onyield sustainability, carbon sequestration potential and soil propertyof gardenpea–french bean cropping system in the Indian Himalayas

Abstract

tSustainability of agricultural systems has become an important issue all over the world. Hence, sustaina-bility and climate resilience of gardenpea–french bean cropping system was evaluated by yield trends, Csequestration and emission reduction and soil properties as affected by four application rates of farmyardmanure (FYM) (5–20 t ha−1) vis-à-vis mineral fertilization, integrated nutrient management (INM) prac-tices as 50% recommended NPK + FYM at 5 t ha−1and un-amended control after six years of cropping inthe Indian Himalayas. The highest sustainable yield index of 0.606 was achieved with the application of20 t FYM ha−1(FYM20). The carbon sequestration potential of FYM20plots was about 459 and 193% morethan NPK and INM plots, respectively. The same plots reduced 53 and 24% carbon equivalent emissionwith comparison to NPK and INM application, respectively. The soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) underFYM20plots was 22 and 11% higher than NPK and INM plots. The soil cracking volume under FYM20plots(57 cm3m−2area) was very less compared to NPK (324 cm3m−2area) and INM (154 cm3m−2area) plots.The morning soil temperature (0–15 cm depth) in coldest week of last year experimentation under FYM20plots was moderated by 0.60 and 0.47◦C than NPK and INM plots, respectively. Successive increase ofFYM level improved soil organic C, microbial colony formation unit, dehydrogenase activity, bulk den-sity and soil cracking surface area and the best values for all soil properties were recorded under FYM20plots. Application of 20 t FYM ha−1produced 54 and 29% higher gardenpea equivalent pod yield of thesystem than mineral fertilization and INM, respectively. The principal component analysis revealed thatsoil CEC was the most important property (among the selected soil parameters) contributing to the podyield. Soil organic carbon markedly improved other soil properties as evident from correlations. Organicproduction system with FYM 20 t ha−1could be recommended for climate resilient sustainable yield andbetter soil property of gardenpea–french bean cropping system than mineral fertilization and INM in theIndian Himalayan regions.