Effect of potassium on soil conservation and productivity of maize/cowpea based crop rotations in the north-west Indian Himalayas

Plots under conservation tillage may require higher amount of potassium(K) application for augmenting productivity due to its stratification in upper soil layers, thereby reducing K supplying capacity in a medium or long-term period. To test this hypothesis, a field experiment was performed in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007 to study the effect of K and several crop rotations on yield, water productivity, carbon sequestration, grain quality, soil K status and economic benefits derived in maize(Zea mays L)/cowpea(Vigna sinensis L.) based cropping system under minimum tillage(MT). All crops recorded higher grain yield with a higher dose of K(120 kg K2 O ha-1) than recommended K(40 kg K2 O ha-1). The five years' average yield data showed that higher K application(120 kg K2 O ha-1) produced 16.4%(P<0.05)more maize equivalent yield. Cowpea based rotation yielded 14.2%(P<0.05) higher production than maize based rotation. The maximum enhancement was found in cowpea-mustard rotation. Relationship between yield and sustainable indices revealed that only agronomic efficiency of fertilizer input was significantly correlated with yield. Similarly, higherdoses of K application not only increased the water use efficiency(WUE) of all crops, but also reduced runoff and soil loss by 16.5% and 15.8% under maize and 23.3% and 19.7% under cowpea cover, respectively. This study also revealed that on an average 16.5% of left over carbon input contributed to soil organic carbon(SOC). Here, cowpea based rotation with the higher K application increased carbon sequestration in soil. Potassium fertilization also significantly improved the nutritional value of harvested grain by increasing the protein content for maize(by 9.5%) and cowpea(by 10.6%). The oil content in mustard increased by 5.0% and 6.0% after maize and cowpea, respectively. Net return also increased with the application of the higher K than recommended K and the trend was similar to yield. Hence, the present study demonstrated the potential yield and profit gains along with resource conservation in the Indian Himalayas due to annual additions of higher amount of K than the recommended dose. The impact of high K application was maximum in the cowpea-mustard rotation.

Soil physical properties,nutrients,and crop yield with two-year tillage rotations under a winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system

Winter wheat and summer maize were planted from 2015-2017 to study the effects of different rotational tillage patterns on soil physicochemical properties,crop yield,water content,and fertilizer utilization.The tillage treatments were designed as wheat subsoiling-maize no tillage(WS-MN),wheat rotary tillage-maize subsoiling(WR-MS),wheat subsoiling-maize subsoiling(WS-MS),and conventional wheat rotary tillage-maize no tillage(WR-MN)as a control.Among the four treatments,WS-MN and WR-MS were single-season subsoiling treatments,and WS-MS was a two-season subsoiling treatment.The average soil bulk density decreased by 7.6%in the single-and double-season subsoiling groups compared to the WR-MN group,and the total porosity and noncapillary porosity increased by 10.7%and 12.2%,respectively.Single-or double-season subsoiling treatment was not conducive to water storage in the 0-20 cm soil layer but increased the water content of the 20-140 cm soil layer,and the average soil water content of the 0-140 cm layer was increased by 11.6%in the two-growing season treatment groups compared with the WR-MN group.In WS-MS and WS-MN groups compared with the WR-MN group,the soil ammonium nitrogen content was increased by an average of 18.6%in 0-20 cm soil and 16.8%in 20-100 cm soil;soil nitrate-nitrogen content was decreased by 13.5%in 0-100 cm soil;total organic carbon and microbial carbon contents in the 15-30 cm soil were increased by 18.1%and 12.7%,respectively;and soil urease,catalase,and alkaline phosphatase activities were increased by 46.1%,15.2%,and 23.1%,respectively.Annual crop yield and water use efficiency increased by 8.9%and 15.0%,respectively,in both the single-and double-season subsoiling treatment groups.This study demonstrated the advantages of subsoiling tillage and suggested that it is suitable for crop cultivation in the Haihe Plain,China.