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A decade of climate-smart agriculture in major agri-food systems: Earthworm abundance and soil physico-biochemical properties

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Title A decade of climate-smart agriculture in major agri-food systems: Earthworm abundance and soil physico-biochemical properties
 
Creator Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Choudhary, Madhu
Kakraliya, Suresh Kumar
Gora, Manoj K.
Kakraliya, Manish
Kumaran, Vikas V.
Priyanka
Poonia, Tanuja
McDonald, Andrew J.
Jat, Mangi Lal
Sharma, Parbodh Chander
Abdallah, Ahmed M.
 
Subject climate-smart agriculture
earthworms
subsurface irrigation
maize
wheat
soil quality
 
Description Earthworms (EWs) could be a viable indicator of soil biology and agri-food system management. The influence of climate-smart agriculture (CSA)-based sustainable intensification practices (zero tillage, crop rotations, crop residue retention, and precision water and nutrients application) on earthworms’ (EWs) populations and soil physico-biochemical properties of rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia was investigated. This study investigates the effect of 10-years adoption of various CSA practices on the abundance of earthworms and physical and biochemical properties of the soil and EWs’ casts (EWC). Five scenarios (Sc) were included: conventionally managed rice-wheat system (farmers’ practices, Sc1), CSA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system with flood irrigation (FI) (Sc2) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) (Sc3), CSA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system with FI (Sc4), and SDI (Sc5). Results revealed that EWs were absent under Sc1, while the 10-year adoption of CSA-based scenarios (mean of Sc2–5) increased EWs’ density and biomass to be 257.7 no. m−2 and 36.05 g m−2, respectively. CSA-based maize scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) attained higher EWs’ density and biomass over rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4). Also, SDI-based scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) recorded higher EWs’ density and biomass over FI (Sc2 and Sc4). Maize-based CSA with SDI recorded the highest EWs’ density and EWs’ biomass. The higher total organic carbon in EWC (1.91%) than in the bulk soil of CSA-based scenarios (0.98%) and farmers’ practices (0.65%) suggests the shift of crop residue to a stable SOC (in EWC). EWC contained significant amounts of C and available NPK under CSA practices, which were nil under Sc1. All CSA-based scenarios attained higher enzymes activities over Sc1. CSA-based scenarios, in particular, maize-based scenarios using SDI, improved EWs’ proliferation, SOC, and nutrients storage (in soil and EWC) and showed a better choice for the IGP farmers with respect to C sequestration, soil quality, and nutrient availability.
 
Date 2022-03-09
2023-01-18T23:05:41Z
2023-01-18T23:05:41Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Jat, H.S., Choudhary, M., Kakraliya, S.K., Gora, M.K., Kakraliya, M., Kumar, V., Priyanka, Poonia, T., Mcdonald, A.J., Jat, M.L., Sharma, P.C. and Abdallah, A.M. 2022. A decade of climate-smart agriculture in major agri-food systems: Earthworm abundance and soil physico-biochemical properties. Agronomy, 12(3), 658. https://hdl.handle.net/10883/22414
2073-4395
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127494
https://hdl.handle.net/10883/22414
https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030658
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
Open Access
 
Format 658
application/pdf
 
Publisher MDPI AG
 
Source Agronomy