Soil quality index as affected by different cropping systems in northwestern Himalayas

Sofi, J. A.; Bhat, Adarsha Gopalakrishna; Kirmai, N. A.; Wani, Javaid Ahmad; Lone, Aabid H.; Ganie, Mumtaz A.; Dar, G. I. H.

doi:10.1007/s10661-016-5154-1

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Based on variable loading of soil properties in different PCs and also relying on expert opinion, soil status of Zn, K, N, P, EC, and SOC contents in that order may be taken as criteria to decide priorities for ameliorating nutrient deficiency and landscape management. Sofi et al () while determining the soil quality indices for hill‐region soil of north‐western Himalayas found three PCs responsible to explain 84.7% variability in soil properties.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil mapping and delineation of management zones in the Western Ghats of coastal India

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The pace of land degradation has almost doubled across the Western Ghats of India, one of the world's ‘hotspots’ for biodiversity, owing to soil erosion, mining, and rampant urbanization. The arising nutrient depletion leading to land degradation is thus a serious threat to agricultural sustainability in this region. Delineation of spatial soil property maps for nutrient management is an effective strategy for precision agriculture. The present investigation was carried out in North Goa District in Western Ghats, a seldom researched domain in the Indian coastal region. The study involved spatial array analysis of soil properties of 383 georeferenced soil samples and used fuzzy k‐means clustering for delineation of management zones (MZs). Soils were found highly acidic with low available N, P, and medium exchangeable K with a widespread Zn, Cu, and Fe deficiency and sporadic salinity. Soil properties exhibited low to high levels of skewness except for soil pH and Mn. Correlations between soil pH and K, Zn, and Mn, between EC and Fe, between soil organic carbon (SOC) and N, P, K, Cu, and Mn was positive and significant (P = 0.01). Geostatistical analysis revealed varied distribution pattern for soil properties with Gaussian (pH, P, and Cu), spherical (EC), stable (SOC), hole effect (N), K‐Bessel (K and Fe), exponential (Zn), and circular (Mn) as best fit semivariogram models with weak and strong spatial dependence. The spatial variability was mapped, and two MZs were delineated. The developed maps will be crucial in site‐specific nutrient management for agricultural and ecological sustainability in the Western Ghats of India.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil mapping and delineation of management zones in the Western Ghats of coastal India

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been proven that soil quality degradation in the developing tropical ecosystems can be minimized through appropriate soil and crop management systems. Sofi, et al (2016) discovered that inclusion of legumes in the apple orchard recorded highest soil quality index across all treatments in an experiment to assess soil quality under different cropping systems in northwest Himalaya-India. Soil improving cropping systems have been suggested as a strategy to halt soil degradation and environmental pollution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality Assessment and Suitability Evaluation of Soils under Tuber-based Cropping System in Katsina Ala Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria

Adeyolanu¹,

Oluwatosin²,

Denton³

et al. 2020

jasem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Crop yields together with economic and social benefits of farming depend in part on land management and soil quality. Soil management and cropping systems have long-term effects on agronomic and environmental functions. This study aimed at assessing soils under yam-based cropping systems for quality and suitability so as to enhance sustainable production. The study was carried out in Katsina Ala local government area of Benue state where yam is a major crop. Sixteen modal profile were dug, described for characterization and suitability evaluation. Ten cluster locations were selected and twenty soil samples randomly collected within each cluster. The soils were subjected to laboratory analyses and results subjected descriptive statistics. Suitability of the soils for yam, citrus and groundnut were evaluated using parametric approach and soil quality of the area was assessed using Relative Soil Quality Indices (RSQI). The soils encountered are sandy to silty in nature with some having plinthite at depth. The soils, classified as Alfisol, Entisol and Inceptisol are moderately (S2) to highly suitable S1) for the three crops and have moderate to high quality for crop production with percentage soil quality index ranging from 60. 37 to 74.31 %. Soils of the study site are of good quality and are suitable for production of yam, citrus and groundnut. However, because yam is a great feeder and tropical soils are fragile making them prone todegradation, there is need for maintenance of soil fertility through organic matter management for sustainable use. Keywords: soil quality, suitability, yam, cropping systems, soil management

show abstract

“…The lowest soil fertility and poorest abundance of soil microfauna existed in degraded soil, but shifts in land use across various landscapes exert significant impacts on soil functioning and biodiversity (De-Valenca et al, 2017). Sofi et al (2016) also suggested similar changes when a of cereal growning system was replaced with legumes growing system leading to improved soil health. Soil microbial diversity is considered to be a good and sensitive variable of soil fertility, which is affected by change of crop growing systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of different cropping systems on the land nutrient index, microbial diversity, and soil quality

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last two decades, the productivity of the rice–wheat growing system (RWGS) in the upper Indo‐Gangetic Plains of India has come to a plateau, and, as a result, farmers are now shifting to other crop growing systems (cropping sysytems) to achieve a higher net productivity. Inclusion of other cropping systems in place of the rice–wheat system affects overall crop productivity; however, there is dearth of information with respect to nutrient index (NI), microbial diversity, and soil quality. This study was carried out to assess how NI, microbial diversity, and soil quality changed after replacement of rice–wheat by a vegetable growing system (VGS), pulse growing system (PGS), potato growing system (PoGS), and a mustard growing system (MGS). An analysis of 307 soil samples from these crop growing systems revealed a soil pH range of 6.58–8.87 with 75.3% soils falling within the low category of mineralized N, and low NI (<1.67). The highest NI, enzymatic activity, and microbial diversity was recorded under PGS, which restored 34.2, 24.1, and 10.2% greater soil organic carbon (SOC) than other systems, and had a better carbon substrate oxidation rateand mineralized N than PoGS. The diversity indices peaked under PGS followed by VGS due to greater SOC, mineralized N, higher microbial counts, and more soil enzymes. Among the different crop growing systems the soil quality index (SQI) ranged from 0.647 (for PoGS) to 0.783 (for VGS) . The silt content, SOC, Zn, TN, acid phosphatase activity, available P, and total culturable fungi were the key soil indicators across all the crop growing systems. SOC is the most important and viable indicator for all the crop growing systems that affected microbial dynamics and soil quality. The greater SQI under VGS was due to the addition of organic manure and augmented SOC, P, and Zn availability. In contrast, the highest microbial and enzymatic activities, and functional diversity was recorded under PGS mainly due to greater edaphic variables. It is concluded that the pulse growing system (PGS) is the best for maintaining higher NI, and improving microbial and functional diversity.

show abstract

Soil quality index as affected by different cropping systems in northwestern Himalayas

Cited by 28 publications

References 55 publications

Soil mapping and delineation of management zones in the Western Ghats of coastal India

Soil mapping and delineation of management zones in the Western Ghats of coastal India

Quality Assessment and Suitability Evaluation of Soils under Tuber-based Cropping System in Katsina Ala Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria

Impact of different cropping systems on the land nutrient index, microbial diversity, and soil quality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About