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SOIL CHEMISTRY

Organic Amendments Influence Soil Organic Carbon Pools and Rice–Wheat Productivity

^a Jadavpur Univ., Kolkata, West Bengal 700 032, India
^b Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal 741 235, India
^c Dep. of Agril. Statistics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, West Bengal 741 252, India

^* Corresponding author (bidishamajumder{at}yahoo.co.in).

Soil organic C (SOC) pools under long-term management practices provide information on C sequestration pathways, soil quality maintenance, and crop productivity. Farmyard manure (FYM), paddy straw (PS), and green manure (GM) along with inorganic fertilizers were used in a 19-yr-old rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system in subtropical India to evaluate their impact on SOC stock, its different pools—total organic C (C_tot); oxidizable organic C (C_oc) and its four fractions of very labile (C_frac1), labile (C_frac2), less labile (C_frac3), and nonlabile C (C_frac4); microbial biomass C (C_mic); and mineralizable C (C_min). Cropping with only N–P–K fertilization just maintained SOC content, while N–P–K plus organics increased SOC by 24.3% over the control, their relative efficacy being FYM > PS > GM. A minimum of 3.56 Mg C ha^–1 yr^–1 was required to be added as organic amendments to compensate for SOC loss from cropping. The passive (C_frac3 + C_frac4) pool and C_min constituted about 39 and 11.5%, respectively, of C_tot. Organics contributed toward the passive pool in the order FYM > PS > GM. Most of the pools were significantly (P = 0.005) correlated with each other. Yield and sustainable yield index were strongly related with C_frac1, C_oc, C_mic, and C_min. Results suggest C_frac1 as a useful indicator for assessing soil health, and balanced fertilization with FYM as suitable management for sustaining crop productivity of the rice–wheat system.

Abbreviations: BSR, basal soil respiration • C_frac1, very labile carbon • C_frac2, labile carbon • C_frac3, less labile carbon • C_frac4, nonlabile carbon • C_mic, microbial biomass carbon • C_min, mineralizable carbon • C_oc, oxidizable organic carbon • C_tot, total organic carbon • FYM, farmyard manure • GM, green manure • MQ, microbial quotient • PS, paddy straw • qCO₂, respiratory quotient • SOC, soil organic carbon • SYI, sustainable yield index

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