Soil Quality Assessment Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Abstract

Fields with rice-based cropping systems are unique from other wetland or upland soils because they are associated with frequent cycling between wetting and drying under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. This alters the C and N transformations, microbial activities and their diversity, and soil physical properties, depending on the other crop in rotation with rice. This chapter aims to compare the soil quality of vertisols of central plains of Chhattisgarh under rice-wheat and rice-chickpea cropping systems. Soil quality index was developed using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Five soil quality indicators were selected under minimum datasets including soil organic carbon, mean weight diameter, available water content, available phosphorous and zinc. The results indicated that the rice-chickpea cropping system shows improved soil quality than that of rice-wheat cropping system.