Soil organic carbon and nutrient availability under Populus deltoides based agroforestry system in semi-arid region of North-West India

To achieve biological production on a sustainable basis through the addition of soil organic carbon (SOC) and check land degradation, Populus deltoides is a promising species recognized as an important tree component in agroforestry system (AFS) in the present changing climate. The soil is enriched through the addition of leaf litter in large quantities by this tree, which ultimately improves the fertility in terms of SOC, available N, P and K. However, scanty information is obtainable related to associations between soil properties and poplar based AFS. In this communication, the objective of this study to examine the effect of three old poplar based AFS on soil OC, available N, P and K. The site consisted of six different spacings: i.e. 3×3m, 4×3m, 5×3m, 6×3m, 7×3m and 8×3m of poplar were intercropped with winter wheat, and in adjacent agricultural control plot, where winter wheat was the sole crop (devoid of tree). We quantified soil properties such as soil SOC and available N, P and K at 0-15 cm depth and studied their spatial variability in relation to different spacings of poplar based AFS during 2018-2019. SOC accumulation rates increased with the decrease in tree spacing and were maximum (0.69%) under 3×3 m spacing. The available soil N, P and K increased significantly under different spacings of poplar based AFS in all the treatments from their initial values. The highest available soil N (233.5 kg ha –1 ), P (16.1 kg ha–1) and K (285.3 kg ha–1) were recorded under 3 × 3m spacing compared to 4×3m, 5×3m, 6×3m, 7×3m, 8×3m and sole cropping after harvesting of wheat crop. Keywords: Climate change, Adaptive and integrated management, Research, Agriculture, Deforestation and forest degradation ID: 3486112

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sirohi, C., Dhillon, R. S., Handa, A. K.
Format: Document biblioteca
Language:English
Published: FAO ; 2022
Online Access:https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/CC4508EN
http://www.fao.org/3/cc4508en/cc4508en.pdf
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