Tillage Practices Influence on Soil Quality under Different Cropping Systems of N-W Himalayas of India

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The use of conventional agricultural practices often results into physical disintegration of the soil, loss of organic matter further being a major cause of concern to soil quality. It is also known to cause a significant impact on the soil properties. However, the conservation agricultural practices such as zero tillage is found to be an economical and environmentally sustainable option to protect our soil resources. Methods Keeping this in mind, this study observed the impact of tillage practices on soil quality by monitoring the changes in soil’s physicochemical and biological properties under different cropping systems and rainfed conditions after four years of cropping cycles. An existing permanent experimental field was chosen as the site of experimentation. The main plots constituted of three tillage practices and the sub-plots constituted of the four mustard-based cropping systems replicated thrice. Results The results after four years of the study revealed that in the surface soil depth i.e., (0–15 cm) available nitrogen content (168.1 kg ha− 1), bulk density (1.44 Mg m− 3), soil microbial biomass carbon (35.4 g kg− 1), and dehydrogenase activity (27.7 µg TPFg− 1 soil 24h− 1) was observed to be significantly higher under zero tillage compared to the conventional tillage practices. Also, a higher soil quality index was recorded under zero tillage (0.315 %) and mustard-maize (0.300 %) system which made it clear that the conservation practices is an effective management strategy to improve and sustain soil fertility and soil quality in rainfed regions of India.