Impact of levels of residue retention on soil properties under conservation agriculture in Vertisols of central India

Residue management is one of the most difficult tasks in the modern-mechanized agriculture with the intensification of cropping systems, which leads to reduced sowing window between two crops and farmers prefer in-situ burning of crop residues. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the effect of zero tillage (ZT) based residue management on soil health parameters in maize (Zea mays L.)-chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) rotation in black soils of central India. After 4 years of study, the soil bulk density was reduced by 3.0-10.2% and volumetric moisture content was improved by 10.2-19.3% at 0-10 cm soil depth in ZT with residue over conventional tillage (CT). The soil organic carbon and labile carbon were increased by 13.6-61.7% and 6.0-22.0%, respectively, at 0-10 cm soil depths. Similarly, ZT with residue increased the KMnO4-N, Olsen-P and NH4OAc-K, and total fungal and actinomycetes density in surface soil as compared to CT. Thus, our study advocates that ZT with residue retention (1.8-5.4 Mg ha(-1) maize and 0.8-2.4 Mg ha(-1) chickpea residue) should be implemented for sustainable soil health in Vertisols (Typic Haplustert) of central India and other similar agro-ecological systems.

Automated summary

This study assessed the impact of zero tillage-based residue management on soil health parameters in maize-chickpea rotation in black soils of central India. The results showed that zero tillage with residue significantly improved soil quality compared to conventional tillage, including reduced soil bulk density, increased volumetric moisture content, higher organic carbon and labile carbon content, increased nutrient content, and higher microbial density in the soil.