Long term effect of nutrient supply options on physical properties of soil in potato based cropping systems

The paper reports effect of organic, inorganic and integrated nutrient supply options on soil physical parameters after completion of six cycles of three potato based cropping systems. The in situ infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity and porosity were highest in maize-potato-onion system, followed by sesamum-potato-moong and paddy-potato-wheat. The treatments involving incorporation of organic matter and residue recycling, improved the soil physical conditions by increasing in situ infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, porosity and decreasing particle/bulk density, in all the cropping systems. The other physical properties estimated include particle and aggregate size distribution. In general, the soil texture was loamy sand in all cropping systems/treatments and aggregate size distribution did not show any trend.