Abstract
AbstractThe sustainable cultivation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) without compromising yield is an emerging challenge. Field experiments were conducted at New Delhi, during 2007 and 2008 to investigate the effect of tillage, irrigation regimes, and integrated nutrient management practices on the soil enzymatic and microbial activities. The soil glucosidase (67.35%) and urease (106.75%) increased under conservation tillage compared with conventional tillage; largest increase was observed when a combination of 50% farm yard manure + 25% biofertilizer + 25% green manure (GM) was used in place of recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) or when 25% RDN was replaced with biofertilizer or GM as nutrients in combination with conservation tillage and optimum water supply (three-irrigations) with a few exceptions. The present study has suggested that resource management practices significantly improved soil enzymatic and microbial activities under conservation tillage and optimal water supply which reduce the dependence on ...
Highlights
Rice is the staple diet of more than 65% of Indian population (Ghosh, 2009) which is grown on 44 million hectares of land (AIREA, 2012)
Soil glucosidase activity The soil glucosidase activity increased significantly (i.e. 67%) in zero-tillage plots compared to the conventional tillage plots (Table 4)
Among integrated nutrient management (INM) treatments, the highest rate of soil glucosidase activity was recorded in the treatment where N was made available through a sole organic source of N (i.e. 32.85 μg NPG (p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucoside) per g−1 soil), followed by the treatment where 25% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) was replaced with farmyard manure (FYM) (i.e. 32.11 μg NPG per g−1 soil)
Summary
Rice is the staple diet of more than 65% of Indian population (Ghosh, 2009) which is grown on 44 million hectares of land (AIREA, 2012). The green revolution practices of the 1960s have been based on the application of relatively high rates of chemical fertilizers, tillage practices, and irrigation. The above-stated practices have proved to be insufficient in meeting the challenges of enhanced and sustainable productivity. The burgeoning problem of global warming warrants the need to change conventional practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (You, Rosegrant, Fang, & Wood, 2005). The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and energy-intensive processes, such as tillage and irrigation, has led to the distortion of soil physical and biological status in many agricultural ecosystems (Liu et al, 2005). Resource–conservation technologies reduce dependence on resource–intensive processes (Erenstein, 2009) and make agriculture sustainable
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