A four-year field study at Ludhiana showed that greenmanuring with sunnhemp (Crotolaria juncea) significantly decreased pH and increased organic matter of the surface soil. Soil NO3-N decreased during sunnhemp growth and it increased 4 weeks after greenmanuring of soil over the control. Greenmanuring significantly increased soil water retention of the surface soil and decreased soil bulk density in the 0–0.10 m soil depth. As a result, initial and steady state infiltration rates were significantly higher. All these beneficial effects of greenmanuring increased wheat grain yield in all the successive years.
Greenmanuring, soil properties, dryland wheat, semi-arid climate, soil nitrate
