Improvement of Soil Health through Residue Management and Conservation Tillage in Rice-Wheat Cropping System of Punjab, Pakistan

Adnan Zahid,Mukhtar Ahmed,Nadeem Iqbal,Sajid Ali

doi:10.3390/agronomy10121844

Abstract

In South Asia, soil health degradation is affecting the sustainability of the rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS). Indeed, for the sustainability of the soil quality, new adaptive technologies, i.e., conservation tillage and straw management resource conservation, are promising options. This investigation was focused on the interaction of tillage and straw management practices and their effects on Aridisols, Yermosols soil quality, and nutrients dynamics with different soil profiles within RWCS. The long-term field experiment was started in 2014 with the scenarios (i) conventional tillage (SC1), (ii) residue incorporation (SC2), (iii) straw management practices (SC3 and SC4) and conservation tillage (SC5). Conservation tillage practice (SC5) showed significant impact on properties of soil and availability of nutrients in comparison with that of conventional farmers practice (SC1) at the studied soil depths. The SC5 showed significant results of gravitational water contents (25.34%), moderate pH (7.4), soil organic-matter (7.6 g kg−1), total nitrogen (0.38 g kg−1), available phosphate (7.4 mg kg−1), available potassium (208 mg kg−1) compared to SC1 treatment at 0 to 15 cm soil depth. Whereas, DTPA-extractable-Cu, Mn, and Zn concentration were significantly higher, i.e., 1.12 mg kg−1, 2.14 mg kg−1, and 4.35 mg kg−1, respectively under SC5 than conventional farmer’s practices, while DTPA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid) extractable Fe (6.15 mg kg−1) was more in straw management practices (SC4) than conventional and conservation tillage. Therefore, conservation tillage (SC5) can surge the sustainability of the region by improving soil assets and nutrients accessibility and has the potential to minimize inorganic fertilizers input in the long run.

Highlights

The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is an important cropping pattern of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of the South Asia region
Cereals is the major source of living for the farming community of this region and it is cultivated in areas even more than 13.5 million hectare (Mha) in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal [1]
Our results showed that the concentration of soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen was significantly higher (Table 4) under SC5 than other scenarios, which results from the mineralization-immobilization processes of incorporated or retained residues in the soil as reported by

Summary

Introduction

The RWCS is an important cropping pattern of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of the South Asia region. Cereals is the major source of living for the farming community of this region and it is cultivated in areas even more than 13.5 million hectare (Mha) in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal [1]. In. Pakistan, RWCS covers an area of more than 2.2 Mha, out of which Punjab province covers nearly. Kumar et al [7] reported that poor soil health, shortage of water, improper application of nutrients, and reduction of soil organic matter (SOM) are the main reasons for yield reduction. These all could be due to intensive use of Agronomy 2020, 10, 1844; doi:10.3390/agronomy10121844 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy

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