Effect of tillage and weed management practices on micronutrient availability in post-harvest soil under maize-wheat cropping system

Abstract

Tillage practices play a major role in nutrient dynamics under different cropping systems. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of different tillage practices and weed management on micronutrient availability in soil. The treatments included three tillage in main plot and four weed management practices in sub plot were arranged in a spilt plot design with three replications.Measurements made at the end of 4 years, showed that in the 0-15 cm soil depth, effect of different tillage and weed management practices on soil properties was significant. The values of soil pH and EC declined under ZT. The mean value of SOC (8.9 g kg-1) was reported higher under ZT. Higher value of Zn and Fe was reported under ZT (3.63 mg kg-1, 15.49 mg kg-1) followed by CT (2.87 mg kg-1, 13.65 mg kg-1) and FIRBS (2.47 mg kg-1,13.47 mg kg-1) respectively. In case of Cu, the higher value (1.32 mg kg-1) was reported under ZT followed by FIRBS (1.30 mg kg-1) and CT (1.22 mg kg-1). Trend was reverse in case of Mn and content was significantly higher (9.4 mg kg-1) under CT followed by ZT (9.02 mg kg-1) and FIRBS (8.70 mg kg-1). The results suggested that ZT can play a vital role in sustaining micronutrient availability due to decreased soil pH and the greater amount of organic matter compared to other tillage methods.