Changes in soil exchangeable nutrients across different land uses in steep slopes of Mizoram, North-east India

Abstract

Land use change resulting from anthropogenic pressure on land has led to degraded soil quality, especially in the hilly tropical regions where ecosystems are generally fragile and susceptible to soil degradation from cultivation. Hence, sustainable land uses and management practices are crucial for agricultural production and ecological balance, particularly in these regions. The present study investigates the impact of various hill land uses (Natural forest-NAF, Jhum fallow-JF, Home garden-HG, Acacia pennata plantation-AP and Current Jhum-CJ) on soil exchangeable nutrients in steeply sloping agro-ecosystems of Mizoram, North-east India. Soil samples were collected from three different depths (0-10, 10-20 & 20-30 cm) and analyzed for pH, Pavail, Na, K, Mg, Mn and Ca. Our results indicated that land use and soil depths had a significant impact on soil pH, Pavail and soil exchangeable cations (p<0.05). Conversion of native forests for cultivation negatively affected soil properties as indicated by the reduced soil exchangeable cations in cultivated lands (AP & CJ) in relation to the natural forest (NAF) and Jhum fallow (JF). Soils under longer periods of fallow (>12 years) led to increases in soil available nutrients indicating the role of vegetation cover in conserving and enhancing soil available nutrients and vice-versa. In addition, Home garden (HG) showed moderately higher available soil nutrients signifying the role of sustainable management practices such as the addition of organic amendments and mixed cropping, leading to increased soil available nutrient content.

Assessment of Impact of Anthropogenic Disturbances on Soil Characteristics in the Sub-tropical Forests of Aizawl, Mizoram

“…The pH for both disturbed and undisturbed were low (5.06-5.53, Table 1 and Table 2 ) therefore the soil is acidic in nature. The pH readings are in line with similar studies (11)(12)(13) . The upper depth of undisturbed forest is more acidic (5.06) than the lower depth (5.53), this can be attributed to leaching of nutrients due to high precipitation in the study area.…”

Changes in Soil Properties with Long-Term Organic Inputs Due to Distance from Homestead and Farm Characteristics in Southern Ethiopian Farmlands

“…Previous studies also reported greater CEC for home garden soils of southern Ethiopia (Wolka et al, 2021), but also in Uganda and Kenya (Tittonell et al, 2013) and on the east coast of Peninsular, Malaysia (Yusoff et al, 2017). Similarly, the continuous addition of manure, compost, and ash to the soils around the homesteads contributed to greater P (>20 ppm), (Miheretu and Yimer, 2018) and K values (Ovung et al, 2021;Dori et al, 2022).…”