International Soil and Water Conservation Research (Sep 2024)

Intensified cropping reduces soil erosion and improves rainfall partitioning and soil properties in the marginal land of the Indian Himalayas

  • Devideen Yadav,
  • Deepak Singh,
  • Subhash Babu,
  • Madhu Madegowda,
  • Dharamvir Singh,
  • Debashis Mandal,
  • Avinash Chandra Rathore,
  • Vinod Kumar Sharma,
  • Vibha Singhal,
  • Anita Kumawat,
  • Dinesh Kumar Yadav,
  • Rajendra Kumar Yadav,
  • Surender Kumar

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 3
pp. 521 – 533

Abstract

Read online

Environmental crises, land degradation, declining factor productivity, and farm profitability questioned the sustainability of linear economy-based existing agricultural production model. Hence, there is a dire need to design and develop circular economy-based production systems to meet the twin objectives of environmental sustainability and food security. Therefore, the productive capacity, natural resource conserving ability, and biomass recycling potential of four intensified maize-based systems viz. maize (Zea mays) + sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)-wheat, maize + colocasia (Colocasia esculenta)-wheat, maize + turmeric (Curcuma longa), and maize + ginger (Zingiber officinale) were tested consecutively for three years (2020, 2021 and 22) in a fixed plot manner at Dehradun region of the Indian Himalaya against the existing maize-wheat systems. The result showed that the maize + sweet potato-wheat system significantly reduced runoff loss (166.3 mm) over the maize-wheat system. The highest through fall (68.12 %) and the lowest stem flow (23.54 %) were recorded with sole maize. On the contrary, the maize + sweet potato system has the highest stem flow (36.15 %) and the lowest through fall. Similarly, the maize + sweet potato system had 5.6 times lesser soil erosion and 0.77 t ha−1 higher maize productivity over the maize-wheat system. Furthermore, the maize + sweet potato system recorded significantly higher soil moisture (19.3%), infiltration rate (0.95 cm h−1), and organic carbon (0.78%) over the rest of the systems. The maize + sweet potato system also recycled the highest nitrogen (299.2 kg ha−1), phosphorus, (31.0 kg ha−1), and potassium (276.2 kg ha−1) into the soil system. Hence, it can be inferred that concurrent cultivation of sweet potato, with maize, is a soil-supportive, resource-conserving, and productive production model and can be recommended for achieving the circular economy targets in the Indian Himalayas.

Keywords