Carbon Accumulation, Soil Microbial and Enzyme Activities in Elephant Foot Yam-Based Intercropping System

Abstract

Intercropping is a sustainable, eco-friendly, and economically beneficial cropping system. Elephant foot yam (EFY), a multifarious long-duration vegetable, takes 60 days or more to spread its canopy. Hence, this research assessed the impact of intercropping short duration vegetables, viz., cluster bean, radish, Amaranthus, and fenugreek, in elephant foot yam for two seasons (2021 and 2021/22). It included the analysis of parameters such as carbon accumulation, soil chemical properties, nutrient, enzyme, and microbial activities. The findings revealed that for both the seasons there was a significant (p < 0.01) rise in all the parameters examined in the intercropping patterns. Cluster bean (legume) outperformed the other intercrops utilised. Overall, carbon accumulation was improved by 54.40% when cluster beans were intercropped in EFY. Cluster bean intercropping increased the microbial and enzyme activities in the soil rhizosphere and improved soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by 31, 42, 28, 37, and 11%, respectively, compared to the sole crop. A positive correlation was observed between the soil microbes and enzyme activity with the soil chemical properties. As a result, the research concludes that intercropping cluster bean in EFY promotes carbon accumulation, soil nutrients, enzymes, and microbial community, which, in turn, favour the productivity of the elephant foot yam.

Biological Activities in Artificially Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Growing Substrates

“…ARY and DEH were the most affected by HM contamination (Figure 6). DEH is an enzyme associated with the C cycle that shifts H from organic substrates to inorganic acceptors [43,46] in microbial cells in vivo. In contrast to DEH, ARY acts by hydrolyzing organic sulfate esters [43,47], releasing S from organic material and controlling plant and microbial S availability [43,47].…”

Macrogenomics-Based Analysis of the Effects of Intercropped Soybean Photosynthetic Characteristics and Nitrogen-Assimilating Enzyme Activities on Yield at Different Nitrogen Levels

“…The glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase cycle is the critical pathway for ammonia assimilation in higher plants [ 11 ]. Soil enzymes play a vital role in maintaining soil ecological balance and are indicators of soil ecosystem function [ 12 ]. For example, intercropping maize with soybean and groundnut significantly increased urease and catalase, respectively [ 13 , 14 ].…”