Centre for Environment Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India
Soil organic carbon is strongly affected by agricultural management practices. Cropping systems can influence the amount of carbon present in soil. Increase in SOC can be related with the choice of crops present in the cropping sequence as well as on the management practices followed. The present study was undertaken to quantify the changes in soil carbon stock under different cropping systems. Two major cropping systems i.e. pearlmillet-wheat and pearlmillet-mustard were selected in Mewat, Haryana while soybean-wheat cropping systems was identified in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. Results showed that SOC of surface soil layer decreased from 0.42% to 0.39% in pearlmillet-mustard cropping system during the study period. But in soybean-wheat cropping system it increased from 1.14% to 1.24%. Legume based cropping system showed enhancement ofsurface soil carbon.
Carbon stock, Cropping system, Legume based cropping
