Conservation agriculture practice influences soil organic carbon pools in intensive rice‐based systems of the Eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain

Islam, M.A., Bell, R.W.ORCID: 0000-0002-7756-3755, Johansen, C., Jahiruddin, M., Haque, M.E. and Vance, W. (2022) Conservation agriculture practice influences soil organic carbon pools in intensive rice‐based systems of the Eastern Indo‐Gangetic Plain. Soil Use and Management . Early View.

Abstract

Studies of rice-based systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) have demonstrated the beneficial effects of Conservation Agriculture on soil organic carbon (SOC) status, along with increased soil health and crop productivity. However, it remains unclear as to the time for such treatments to have a positive effect. In this study of lentil-mung bean-rice and wheat-mung-rice rotations in Bangladesh positive effects of strip planting or bed planting, along with residue return, on SOC pools were apparent after 1.5 years, compared with intensive conventional tillage and limited residue return. Conventional tillage resulted in higher CO2 emission compared with strip planting or bed planting as did high residue return. In the cereal-dominated rotation, the strip planting system sequestered carbon at a rate of 0.24–0.53 Mg C ha−1 year−1 (at 0–0.15 m depth) while conventional tillage was associated with a carbon loss of 0.52–0.82 Mg C ha−1 year−1. In the legume-dominated rotation, neither practice sequestered SOC. Under strip planting, a minimum annual crop residue input of 1.7 Mg C ha−1 for the cereal-dominated system and 5.2 Mg C ha−1 for the legume-dominated system was required to maintain SOC at equilibrium. We conclude that strip planting with high levels of crop residue return can be an effective and quick strategy in either slowing the loss of SOC or improving C sequestration in the intensive rice-based systems of the Eastern IGP.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems Food Futures Institute
Publisher:	Wiley
Copyright:	© 2022 British Society of Soil Science
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/64233

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