Effect of conservation agriculture on soil organic carbon, soil physical properties and yield of different cropping systems in Vertisols of central India

Abstract

Intensive agriculture coupled with mechanization has become a threat to agricultural sustainability and hence, novel changes like conservation agriculture or regenerative agriculture are required to achieve desirable productivity and upkeep of natural assets. Around the world, conservation agriculture (CA), is gaining acceptance as an innovative and sustainable farming method that can improve the health of the soil, reduce the effect of climate change, enhance organic carbon in the soil, and increase agricultural production. The present research study examined the impact of conservation agriculture in the form of no-tillage on soil organic carbon (SOC), aggregate stability, soil penetration resistance (SPR), and yield of different cropping systems in terms of soybean grain equivalent yield (SGEY). The study was carried out in the Vertisols of central India during the kharif season (July-October) and rabi season (November-April) of 2022-23 on the existing long-term CRP-CA research project at the research farm of the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, (M.P.), India, initiated way back in 2010. The field experiment was set up using a factorial randomized block design with two tillage systems, no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), and three cropping systems, namely, soybean-wheat, maize-gram, and maizewheat with four replications. Results revealed that CA-based NT plots have significantly higher SOC (0.93%), mean weight diameter (1.29 mm), and water-stable aggregate (82.12%) compared to the CT plots on the surface soil (0-10 cm). Tillage had no significant impact on the surface of the soil (0-15 cm) to soil penetration resistance, but in lower depths (15- 30 and 30-45 cm), SPR was significantly higher in CT compared to NT. The crop yield of NT in terms of SGEY (34.74 quintal ha-1) is significantly higher than CT (32.28 quintal ha-1). Thus, in the present era, CA techniques could be promoted as sustainable farming methods to increase agricultural yields and the physical health of the soil.