Cover crops are the plants which are grown to improve soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, enrichment and protection of soil, and enhance nutrient and water availability, and quality of soil. Cover crops provide seve...Cover crops are the plants which are grown to improve soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, enrichment and protection of soil, and enhance nutrient and water availability, and quality of soil. Cover crops provide several benefits to soils used for agriculture production. Cover crops are helpful in increasing and sustaining microbial biodiversity in soils. We summarized the effect of several cover crops in soil properties such as soil moisture content, soil microbial activities, soil carbon sequestration, nitrate leaching, soil water, and soil health. Selection of cover crops usually depends on the primary benefits which are provided by cover crops. Other factors may also include weather conditions, time of sowing, either legume or non-legume and timing and method of killing of a cover crop. In recent times, cover crops are also used for mitigating climate change, suppressing weeds in crops and increasing exchangeable nutrients such as Mg2+ and K+. Cover crops are also found to be economical in long-term experiment studies. Although some limitations always come with several benefits. Cover crops have some problems including the method of killing, host for pathogens, regeneration, and not immediate benefits of using them. Despite the few limitations, cover crops improve the overall health of the soil and provide a sustainable environment for the main crops.展开更多
Rice-wheat is the predominant cropping system of fertile soils of Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal falling in the alluvial Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Management of rice residues produced after the harvest of ri...Rice-wheat is the predominant cropping system of fertile soils of Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal falling in the alluvial Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Management of rice residues produced after the harvest of rice crop and before sowing of the next wheat crop is a big challenge in that area. Mostly farmers burn rice residues assuming it low profile fodder and of little use. Burning of rice residues deprives the fields from many plant nutrients as they are lost during burning along with environmental pollutions and other issues. A field study was conducted for two consecutive years at the experimental area of the Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India) to assess the impact of different rice residue management techniques and weed control treatments in wheat on soil available plant nutrients in rice-wheat cropping system. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. In main plots, five rice residue management treatments viz., no rice residue, rice residue 5 t·ha-1 (surface), rice residue 6 t·ha-1 (surface), rice residue 7 t·ha-1 (surface) and rice residue 5 t·ha-1 (incorporation) were settled and in sub plots, four weed control treatments i.e. clodinafop 60 t·ha-1, sulfosulfuron 25 t·ha-1, mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron 12 t·ha-1 and control (unweeded) were arranged. Results of the study revealed that surface application as well as incorporation of rice residues improved the organic carbon and NPK status than no rice residues. Among the residue management practices, incorporation of rice residues 5 t·ha-1 significantly improved the soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than no rice residue treatment in the 0 - 15 soil layer during both the years. Same trend was observed for 15 - 30 cm soil layer but differences were less wide than 0 - 15 cm soil layer. Among the weed control treatments, organic carbon was not significantly influenced. Herbicide treated plots registered significantly higher available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than control (unweeded) treatment in the 0 - 15 cm soil layer during both the years.展开更多
文摘Cover crops are the plants which are grown to improve soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, enrichment and protection of soil, and enhance nutrient and water availability, and quality of soil. Cover crops provide several benefits to soils used for agriculture production. Cover crops are helpful in increasing and sustaining microbial biodiversity in soils. We summarized the effect of several cover crops in soil properties such as soil moisture content, soil microbial activities, soil carbon sequestration, nitrate leaching, soil water, and soil health. Selection of cover crops usually depends on the primary benefits which are provided by cover crops. Other factors may also include weather conditions, time of sowing, either legume or non-legume and timing and method of killing of a cover crop. In recent times, cover crops are also used for mitigating climate change, suppressing weeds in crops and increasing exchangeable nutrients such as Mg2+ and K+. Cover crops are also found to be economical in long-term experiment studies. Although some limitations always come with several benefits. Cover crops have some problems including the method of killing, host for pathogens, regeneration, and not immediate benefits of using them. Despite the few limitations, cover crops improve the overall health of the soil and provide a sustainable environment for the main crops.
文摘Rice-wheat is the predominant cropping system of fertile soils of Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal falling in the alluvial Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Management of rice residues produced after the harvest of rice crop and before sowing of the next wheat crop is a big challenge in that area. Mostly farmers burn rice residues assuming it low profile fodder and of little use. Burning of rice residues deprives the fields from many plant nutrients as they are lost during burning along with environmental pollutions and other issues. A field study was conducted for two consecutive years at the experimental area of the Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India) to assess the impact of different rice residue management techniques and weed control treatments in wheat on soil available plant nutrients in rice-wheat cropping system. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. In main plots, five rice residue management treatments viz., no rice residue, rice residue 5 t·ha-1 (surface), rice residue 6 t·ha-1 (surface), rice residue 7 t·ha-1 (surface) and rice residue 5 t·ha-1 (incorporation) were settled and in sub plots, four weed control treatments i.e. clodinafop 60 t·ha-1, sulfosulfuron 25 t·ha-1, mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron 12 t·ha-1 and control (unweeded) were arranged. Results of the study revealed that surface application as well as incorporation of rice residues improved the organic carbon and NPK status than no rice residues. Among the residue management practices, incorporation of rice residues 5 t·ha-1 significantly improved the soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than no rice residue treatment in the 0 - 15 soil layer during both the years. Same trend was observed for 15 - 30 cm soil layer but differences were less wide than 0 - 15 cm soil layer. Among the weed control treatments, organic carbon was not significantly influenced. Herbicide treated plots registered significantly higher available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than control (unweeded) treatment in the 0 - 15 cm soil layer during both the years.
