Pedosphere 29(2): 235--247, 2019
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2019 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Quality and Crop Yield Potential of Moderately Degraded Alfisols Under Different Nutrient Inputs and Cropping Patterns |
Wiqar AHMAD1 , Farmanullah KHAN2, Zahir SHAH2, Muhammad Jamal KHAN2 |
1Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, AMK Campus, Mardan 23200 (Pakistan);
2Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130 (Pakistan) |
| Corresponding Author:Wiqar AHMAD |
| ABSTRACT |
| Crop performance on degraded soil needs special management practices to overcome soil quality limitations. In a 2-year (from summer 2006 to winter 2007-2008) field trial on a moderately degraded Alfisol in Swabi District (34°7'12" N, 72°28'20" E), Pakistan, the effects of three cropping patterns, cereal-cereal (CC), cereal-legume (CL), and cereal-cereal and legume intercrop (CLI), were tested in main plots under four fertilization treatments in sub-plots, including no fertilization (control), farmers' practice (FP, 60:45 kg ha-1 N:P2O5), recommended dose (RD, 120:90:60 kg ha-1 N:P2O5:K2O), and integrated nutrient management (INM, 20 t ha-1 farmyard manure integrated with 50% N, 100% P, and K of recommended dose), using a split-plot randomized complete block design. The performance of CL was superior than CC in plant height, leaf area index (LAI), cob length, grain yield, biological yield, and grain protein (8%, 26%, 8%, 5%, 10%, and 8% increases, respectively), while CLI confirmed significant improvement only in LAI (25%) over CC. Response to nutrient inputs from all sources was in the order of INM > RD > FP > control, and the maximum net economic return by INM (23% and 2.5 times higher than RD and FP, respectively) indicated severe deficiency of both macro- and micro-nutrients in the soil as well as degraded physical properties. Increases in soil organic matter, total N, total mineral N, available P and K, total porosity, and available water-holding capacity by 6%, 34%, 24%, 50%, 13%, 5%, and 7%, respectively, and decrease in soil bulk density by 4% after four crop seasons indicated optimistic changes in soil quality as a result of the combined effects of fertilization from organic and inorganic sources and legumes within crop rotation. This study suggests that keeping the soil covered under cereal-legume rotation crops all year round and treatment with INM (50% N from organic source and 50% from inorganic source) are the best management practice for sustained production on degraded Alfisols. |
| Key Words: crop rotation,crop performance,degraded soil,farmyard manure,integrated nutrient management,legume intercrop,sustained production |
| Citation: Ahmad W, Khan F, Shah Z, Khan M J. 2019. Quality and crop yield potential of moderately degraded Alfisols under different nutrient inputs and cropping patterns. Pedosphere. 29(2):235-247. |
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