Alleviating Adverse Implications of Soil Compaction and Stubble Burning on Sustainable Maize Production with 'Conservation Agriculture' Protocols

Conventional farming traditionally followed in maize cultivation emerges as the cause of concern not only aggravating soil sickness, but also declining crop productivity, too. Substantial deterioration in soil health at the event of its structural disintegration upon usual tillage operation as well as organic matter depletion and en mass destruction of microbial population following in situ stubble burning appears to be a great challenge while prospecting sustainable maize production. Taking account this views, the current field study was conducted at the research farm, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India exploring the merits of 'Conservation Agriculture' (CA) protocols, viz. tillage and stubble residue management consecutively for three years (2017-2019). The study established the benefits of zero tillage supplemented with stubble residues consistently augmenting grain yield (6.82-7.12 t ha(-1)) over the years, which was significantly higher than other stands either with stubble residues at conventional tillage (6.10-6.25 t ha(-1)), or at ridge bed stands (6.58-6.80 t ha(-1)). While, traditional practice of stubble burning at all those tillage stands substantially declined grain yields producing 6.72-6.87 t ha(-1), 6.03-6.08 and 6.50-6.60 t ha(-1) respectively. Eventually, soil health improvement at zero tillage stands supplemented with stubble residues was also significantly pronounced more than other stands enhancing 2.1% soil porosity, 5.83% electrical conductivity, 8.91% hydraulic conductivity (HC), 24% available soil moisture, 3.77% soil organic carbon (SOC), 7.57% soil N, 2.53% P and 3.62% K content. Therefore, the study could recommend the stewardship of zero tillage supplemented with stubble residue retention alleviating soil health deterioration to foster sustainable maize production.

Automated summary

Conventional farming in maize cultivation worsens soil sickness and reduces crop productivity. A field study conducted in New Delhi, India found that zero tillage combined with stubble residue retention significantly increased grain yield and improved soil health. Therefore, the adoption of zero tillage with stubble residue retention is recommended for sustainable maize production.