Soil organic C (SOC) pools under long‐term management practices provide information on C sequestration pathways, soil quality maintenance, and crop productivity. Farmyard manure (FYM), paddy straw (PS), and green manure (GM) along with inorganic fertilizers were used in a 19‐yr‐old rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system in subtropical India to evaluate their impact on SOC stock, its different pools—total organic C (Ctot); oxidizable organic C (Coc) and its four fractions of very labile (Cfrac1), labile (Cfrac2), less labile (Cfrac3), and nonlabile C (Cfrac4); microbial biomass C (Cmic); and mineralizable C (Cmin). Cropping with only N–P–K fertilization just maintained SOC content, while N–P–K plus organics increased SOC by 24.3% over the control, their relative efficacy being FYM > PS > GM. A minimum of 3.56 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 was required to be added as organic amendments to compensate for SOC loss from cropping. The passive (Cfrac3 + Cfrac4) pool and Cmin constituted about 39 and 11.5%, respectively, of Ctot Organics contributed toward the passive pool in the order FYM > PS > GM. Most of the pools were significantly (P = 0.005) correlated with each other. Yield and sustainable yield index were strongly related with Cfrac1, Coc, Cmic, and Cmin Results suggest Cfrac1 as a useful indicator for assessing soil health, and balanced fertilization with FYM as suitable management for sustaining crop productivity of the rice–wheat system.

An understanding of the dynamics of carbon (C) stock in soils, as impacted by management strategies, is necessary to identify the pathways of C sequestration in soils and for maintaining soil organic C (SOC) at a level critical for upkeeping soil health and also for restraining global warming. This is more important in tropical and subtropical region where soils are inherently low in organic C content and the production system is fragile. We evaluated the long-term role of crop residue C inputs to soil in SOC sequestration and also the critical value of C inputs for maintenance of SOC across five different ricebased cropping systems and four soil management practices including a fallow (no cultivation since initiation of the experiments) using five long-term (7-36 years) fertility experiments in subtropical India. Cropping per se always caused a net depletion of SOC. Such depletion was inversely proportional to the amount of crop residue C incorporated into the soils (r 5À0.92, P 5 0.001). Balanced fertilization with NPK, however, caused an enrichment (9.3-51.8% over the control) of SOC, its extent being influenced by the cropping systems. Long-term application of organic amendments (5-10 Mg ha À1 yr À1 ) through farmyard manure (FYM) or compost could increase SOC hardly by 10.7% constituting only 18% of the applied C, the rest getting lost through oxidation. The total quantity of soil C sequestered varied from À11.5 to 14.5 Mg C ha À1 and was linearly related (r 2 5 0.40, P 5 0.005) with cumulative crop residue C inputs to the soils. On an average, the rate of its conversion to SOC came out to be 6.4%. This was more in presence of added organics (6.9%) than in its absence (4.2%). For sustenance of SOC level (zero change due to cropping) we found that a minimum quantity of 2.9 Mg C is required to be added per hectare per annum as inputs. The cropping systems and the management practices that could provide C input higher than the above critical level are likely to sustain the SOC level and maintain good soil health in the subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Understanding the processes of soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation or depletion under different management strategies is vital for maintaining soil health and curbing global warming. Using a 36-year-old fertility experiment under subtropical climate, we investigated the impact of long-term intensive rice-rice cropping system with different managements on the SOC stock. The mechanistic pathway of stabilization of the SOC into different pools, with a tentative C budgeting was also established. Biochemical composition of the organic residues involved, SOC pools of different oxidizability and methane (CH 4 ) emission were estimated for the experiment conducted using organic and inorganic sources of nutrients. Cultivation over the years caused a net decrease in SOC stocks but with balanced fertilization it increased. With increasing depth, the stock decreased on average, to the extent of 50%, 26% and 24% of the total at 0-0.2, 0.2-0.4 and 0.4-0.6 m, respectively. About 4.0% of the crop residues C incorporated into the soil were stabilized into SOC. This was further enhanced (1.6 times) by the application of compost. Carbon loss through CH 4 emission was very low (2.6% of the total). 'Summer fallow' had a positive significant influence on C loss from the system. As much as 29% of the compost C added to the soil was stabilized into SOC mostly in the less-labile or nonlabile recalcitrant pools preferentially in the surface layer of the soil. Large polyphenol and lignin contents of crop residues including compost, and the long period of soil submergence under rice cultivation might have conferred recalcitrant character to the SOC leading to its stabilization in nonlabile pools. This would result into an enrichment of the SOC stock and restriction to the gaseous C loading into the atmosphere.

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