Tillage and N-source affect soil fertility, enzymatic activity, and crop yield in a maize–rice rotation system in the Indian Terai zone

Abstract

A field experiment (2017–2019) was undertaken to study the short-term effects of tillage [zero tillage (ZT), conventional tillage (CT), and alternate tillage (AT)] and sources of organic and mineral fertilizer N [NS0—control, NS1—recommended doses of fertilizer (160:50:100), NS2—recommended level of fertilizer and crop residue (6 Mg·ha−1), NS3—75% of recommended N as fertilizer (120 kg·ha⁻1) and 25% N (40 kg·ha⁻1) as farm yard manure (FYM), and NS4—75% of recommended N as fertilizer and 25% N as vermicompost] on yield and soil quality under a maize–rice rotation system. Among N sources, NS4 produced the highest maize grain yield (10 Mg·ha⁻1). Residual effects of N sources on mean rice grain yield were evident only in crop residue (NS2)- and vermicompost (NS4)-treated plots. After the harvest of two complete maize–rice crop cycles, higher content of dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and urease activity (UR) were observed in the soil under AT as compared to ZT and CT at 0–10 cm (p < 0.05). Similarly, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) also recorded positive changes at 0–10 cm soil depth, especially in NS2 and NS4 treatments. AT resulted in the highest total soil carbon (TOC) (8.10 g·kg−1), followed by CT (6.73 g·kg−1) and ZT (5.98 g·kg−1). Fertilizer N treatments, however, influenced the NO3-N accumulation beyond the root zone, where crop residue-based (NS2) fertilizer N treatment resulted in the highest NO3-N (32.52 kg·ha−1), and the lowest NO3-N (14.48 kg·ha−1) was observed in the FYM-based (NS3) treatment. Therefore, the practice of alternate tillage and integration of vermicompost (40 kg·N·ha−1) and chemical fertilizer (total 120 kg·ha−1) sources should be mostly recommended to farmers in the Terai region of India.

Restoration of soils contaminated with PAHs by the mixture of zeolite composites mixed with exogenous organic matter and mineral salts

“…Additionally, there were no statistical differences between fertilization. The lower DhA in soils after the maize harvest might have resulted from a lower availability of soluble organic carbon 41 . Additionally, the pot experiment took nearly 5 months, and the highest DhA was observed after 3 months in the incubation experiment (data not shown), particularly for the application of both zeolite composites mixed with lignite.…”

Nitrogen Influence on Soil Microbial Consortia and Enzymatic Behavior in Legume- Based Maize Agriculture: A Comparative Study

“…Legume residues, rich in nutrients, low in lignin content makes it easily decomposable, becoming valuable resources for soil microbes, enhancing nutrient availability and energy (Suleymanov et al, 2022 andSireesha et al, 2017). Soil microbial diversity can be used as an index for evaluating soil quality and an indicator for assessing soil stability under various environmental influences (Sahoo et al, 2022). One reason is that diverse crop rotations affect the diversity and structure of the soil microbial community through root exudates, plant residues, symbiotic relationship and accounting for more than 90% of all the soil microbial population (Nagavani et al, 2015).…”