Soil physical and hydraulic properties in a rice‐wheat cropping system in India: effects of rice‐straw management

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of rice‐straw management (incorporation, burning or removal) on soil organic carbon content and physical and hydraulic properties were determined after five years of rice–wheat cropping in a sandy loam soil in northwest India. Soil organic carbon content was greater with straw incorporation and straw burning than with straw removal, and aggregation status, total porosity, pore‐size distribution, bulk density, dispersion ratio and soil strength were correspondingly improved. The treatment effects were confined mainly to the 0–5 cm depth. Water retention was less with straw burning than straw removal, owing to increased water repellency of the soil surfaces. Cumulative infiltration and its rate after five hours were greater with straw incorporation than straw burning or removal. Air entry values were unaffected by straw management; however, the values were greater after rice harvest than after wheat harvest.

Management of Cereal Crop Residues for Sustainable Rice-wheat Production System in the Indo-gangetic Plains of India

“…Rice residue management in no-till systems (surface retention) provides multiple benefits, including soil moisture conservation, suppression of weeds, improvement in soil quality (Balwinder-Singh et al 2011a, Ram et al 2013Kumar et al 2013;Singh et al 2005;Verhulst et al 2011), reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 13 t ha -1 (Mandal et al 2004), and regulates canopy temperature at the grain-filling stage to mitigate the terminal heat effects in wheat (Gupta et al 2010;Jat et al 2009), and significantly improves the C sustainability index (Jat et al 2011). The suppression of weeds with straw mulch might help reduce herbicide requirements (Yadvinder-Singh et al 2010b).…”

“…Nitrogen Singh et al 2005, and the references therein) suggest application of 20-40 kg ha -1 more N the first few years after residue incorporation due to tie-up and volatilization loss of N, especially with surface broadcasting of urea on fine-to medium-textured soils. Later on, recommended fertilizers may be needed to achieve higher yield productivity of RW systems.…”

“…It is not surprising that crop residue retention can substitute a significant part of fertilizer K, as the rice straw at maturity contains over 80% of the total plant K (Bijay- . As crop residues are poor with respect to P content, crop residue retention is unlikely to substitute significant amounts of fertilizer P (Yadvinder- Singh et al 2005). Gupta et al (2007) calculated negative P balance in RW system when rice straw was removed but when the straws of both crops were incorporated, the P balance was positive, at the recommended P management of applying 26 kg P ha -1 to only wheat.…”

Physical and Chemical Properties of a Sandy Loam Soil Under Irrigated Rice-Wheat Sequence in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

“…Reported lower D b with residue incorporation than with either residue burning or residue removal, particularly in the 0-5 cm layer [63,64].…”

Effect of Resource Conservation Practices on Productivity of Maize Intercropped with Soybean under Maize + Soybean – Wheat Cropping System and Soil Microbial Population

“…These results were in accordance with Painyali et al, (2013) and Ramesh et al, (2014) Mulching with paddy straw @ 5 ton/ha to rabi crop recorded higher value of taller plants, higher leaf area index, dry matter production (g/m 2 ), number of plants/sqm, number of rows per cob, number of pods per plot, number of grains per cob and number of grains per pod dry matter accumulation (g/m 2 ) and leaf area index. Mulching has favourable effect of soil physical, chemical and biological properties such as soil pH, organic carbon and water holding capacity of soil (Singh et al, 2005).…”