The Residual Effect of Pre-Rice Green Manuring on a Succeeding Wheat Crop (Triticum aestivum L.) in the Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Banke, Nepal

Abstract

Rice-wheat is the most widely used cropping pattern in Nepal. This cereal-based cropping system is highly nutrient exhaustive and unsustainable from a soil management perspective. They contribute neither nitrogen nor biomass to the soil. The net effect is the export of nutrients from the soil. The unused period between wheat harvest and rice transplanting is the summer fallow, and the incorporation of green manure during this short period increases the yield of both crops and improves the soils chemical properties. Altogether, there were 9 treatments and 3 replications with the randomized complete block design (RCBD). Dhaincha, sun hemp, black gram, cowpea, mung bean, and rice bean were used as pre-rice green manure. No chemical fertilizers were used for the green manure, and in wheat, 150 : 50 : 50 NPK kg/ha was applied. Goat manure was applied at the rate of 10 t/ha. The main objective of the study is to ascertain the residual effect of pre-rice green manuring on the chemical properties of the soil and the yield attributes of the succeeding wheat crops. The chemical properties of the soil were analyzed before and after the harvesting of wheat, and the yield attributes parameters were analyzed. The result showed that the green manure-treated plots gave a significantly higher yield as compared to solely chemical fertilizers-treated plots. The maximum grain yield was obtained from black gram (5.870 t/ha). There was a 39.76% increase in the grain yield in the black gram-incorporated plots as compared to the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plots. There was a highly (<0.001) significant difference in the soil organic matter of the green manure-treated plots and the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plots. The sun hemp-incorporated plot increased the soil organic matter by 71% when compared to the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plot. There was no significant residual effect of pre-rice green manuring on the soil pH in a one-cropping season. However, there was a significantly higher residual effect of the green manure on the soil’s total nitrogen content in all green manure-treated plots. It was found to be the highest (0.087%) in pre-rice dhaincha. The overall results indicate that the incorporation of pre-rice green manuring improved the soil’s chemical properties and increased the grain yield of the succeeding wheat crops in a rice-wheat cropping system.