Key soil attributes as influenced by cropping systems in an entisol of West Bengal, India

This study aims to assess the effect of cropping systems on depth-wise distribution of important soil properties like bulk density (BD), pH, porosity, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), C:N ratio, and texture. Purposeful random sampling was carried in the farmer’s fields under two cropping systems, viz., rice-maize (RM) and rice-jute (RJ) on Entisol of Durganagar (26°09’62.7"N, 89°53’51.7"E) village under Dinhata district of West Bengal (India). Soil samples were collected at four soil depths (0- 0.15, 0.15-0.30, 0.30-0.45, and 0.45-0.60 m). Results suggested that cropping systems and soil depths significantly influenced the physicochemical properties of soil. The RJ system showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher TOC and TN contents as compared to the RM system. Increased TOC in the RJ system lowered the BD and enhanced the porosity percentage of the soil. The loamy texture in the RJ system resulted in more nutrient accretion capacity than the RM system which was sandy loam in texture. The TOC and TN contents were in positive correlation with clay and silt particles but showed a negative relationship with sand. High sand content in the RM system recorded lower values of soil pH due to leaching losses of basic cations or salts. Soil pH and BD increased with depth but a reverse trend was noted in porosity percentage, TOC, TN, and C:N ratio.