Long-term effects of fertilisers and organic sources on soil organic carbon fractions under a rice–wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of north-west India
D. Das A , B. S. Dwivedi A F , V. K. Singh B , S. P. Datta A , M. C. Meena A , D. Chakraborty C , K. K. Bandyopadhyay C , R. Kumar D and R. P. Mishra E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India.
B Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India.
C Division of Agricultural Physics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India.
D Division of Agricultural Chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India.
E Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250 110, India.
F Corresponding author. Email: bsdwivedi@yahoo.com
Soil Research 55(3) 296-308 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR16097
Submitted: 12 April 2016 Accepted: 4 October 2016 Published: 10 November 2016
Abstract
Decline in soil organic carbon (SOC) content is considered a key constraint for sustenance of rice–wheat system (RWS) productivity in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region. We, therefore, studied the effects of fertilisers and manures on SOC pools, and their relationships with crop yields after 18 years of continuous RWS. Total organic C increased significantly with the integrated use of fertilisers and organic sources (from 13 to 16.03 g kg–1) compared with unfertilised control (11.5 g kg–1) or sole fertiliser (NPKZn; 12.17 g kg–1) treatment at 0–7.5 cm soil depth. Averaged across soil depths, labile fractions like microbial biomass C (MBC) and permanganate-oxidisable C (PmOC) were generally higher in treatments that received farmyard manure (FYM), sulfitation pressmud (SPM) or green gram residue (GR) along with NPK fertiliser, ranging from 192 to 276 mg kg–1 and from 0.60 to 0.75 g kg–1 respectively compared with NPKZn and NPK + cereal residue (CR) treatments, in which MBC and PmOC ranged from 118 to 170 mg kg–1 and from 0.43 to 0.57 g kg–1 respectively. Oxidisable organic C fractions revealed that very labile C and labile C fractions were much larger in the NPK + FYM or NPK + GR + FYM treatments, whereas the less-labile C and non-labile C fractions were larger under control and NPK + CR treatments. On average, Walkley–Black C, PmOC and MBC contributed 29–46%, 4.7–6.6% and 1.16–2.40% towards TOC respectively. Integrated plant nutrient supply options, except NPK + CR, also produced sustainable high yields of RWS.
Additional keywords: cereal residue, FYM, green gram residue, Inceptisol, labile SOC, sulphitation pressmud.
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