Conservation agriculture in cotton-wheat system: Effect on physico-chemical properties of sandy loam soil in north-western IGP

For sustainable of the system, it is vital to know how soil properties change when agricultural management systems change. Conservation agriculture based cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) crop rotations with intensification of mungbean are advocated as alternate to conventional cotton-wheat (CW) system in SouthAsia due to better strategies for tackling the issues of soil health deterioration, plant nutrients status and over exploitation of underground water resources, particularly in conventional tillage based intensive crop rotations. Two-years field experiment was conducted at Borlaug Institute for SouthAsia (BISA), Ladhowal in Punjab, India to evaluate the impacts of promising RCTs such as permanent broad beds (PBB), relay planting of wheat in cotton and integrating mungbean in cotton under PBBc+MB was 28 and 17.8 % higher SOC compared to CT in CW system under 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm layer, respectively. BD was significantly higher 9.4-10.6 and 4.3-7.4 at 0-15 and 15-30 cm layer compared to CT. Similarly, hydraulic conductivity was higher by 1.19 and 1.10 times and 1.17 and 1.31 times higher under PBB & ZT at 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm layer over CT, respectively. Steady state infiltration rate was significantly higher under conservation tillage and crop establishment techniques than CT and was about 1.41 times higher under beds compared furrow. Soil aggregates was 44.8, 74.2 and 25.1% higher under PPBc+MB with WSA, macro-aggregates and micro-aggregates in 0-15 cm layer compared CT, respectively. Electrical conductivity and pH of soil were improved due to RCTs practices compared CT. PBBc+MB was significantly higher under N, P & K available status in 0-15 and 15-30 cm layer compared CT, respectively.