Description
Land loss is not only whittling away India’s gross domestic product by 2.5% every year and affecting its crop yield but also exacerbating climate change events in the country. To test applicability of alternate land use systems for improving soil functionality in restored ecologies, soils were sampled from the 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm layers of Leucaena leucocephala (LL), Hardwickia binata (HB), Emblica officinalis (EO), Azadiracta indica (AI) based silviculture systems, Acacia nilotica-based silvipasture systems (AN), and natural grassland (NG) and compared with a fallow land (F). They were evaluated for carbon management index (CMI), nutrient supply capacity (NSC), soil functionality (SF), and ecorestoration efficiency (ERE) for their applicability in semi-arid India. Soil functionality and functional diversity as impacted by restoration have remain largely overlooked. The LL had ~12, 7 and 11% higher CMI than fallow in those soil layers. ERE of LL was ~ 55, 65 and 79% higher than fallow land in those soil layers, respectively. However, ERE in surface layer was poorer than subsequent soil layers for all systems. The LL, HB and AN improved NSC and SF by a) ~2.5, 2.2 and 1.6 times and b) 9.3, 5.3 and 5.1 times over fallow land at surface soil layer. A similar trend was observed for SF in lower layers. However, topsoil layer had >16% mean SF values than subsequent layers. Hence, legume tree-based restoration tactics might be vital to improve land restoration and soil functionality in semi-arid regions.
Citation
Chandra, A.; Baradwal, H.; Ghosh, A.; Singh, A. K.; and Manjangouda, S. S., "Convalescing Soil Functionality of Degraded Lands: An Experience from Semi-Arid India" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1997-2023). 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/XXV_IGC_2023/Sustainability/5
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Convalescing Soil Functionality of Degraded Lands: An Experience from Semi-Arid India
Land loss is not only whittling away India’s gross domestic product by 2.5% every year and affecting its crop yield but also exacerbating climate change events in the country. To test applicability of alternate land use systems for improving soil functionality in restored ecologies, soils were sampled from the 0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm layers of Leucaena leucocephala (LL), Hardwickia binata (HB), Emblica officinalis (EO), Azadiracta indica (AI) based silviculture systems, Acacia nilotica-based silvipasture systems (AN), and natural grassland (NG) and compared with a fallow land (F). They were evaluated for carbon management index (CMI), nutrient supply capacity (NSC), soil functionality (SF), and ecorestoration efficiency (ERE) for their applicability in semi-arid India. Soil functionality and functional diversity as impacted by restoration have remain largely overlooked. The LL had ~12, 7 and 11% higher CMI than fallow in those soil layers. ERE of LL was ~ 55, 65 and 79% higher than fallow land in those soil layers, respectively. However, ERE in surface layer was poorer than subsequent soil layers for all systems. The LL, HB and AN improved NSC and SF by a) ~2.5, 2.2 and 1.6 times and b) 9.3, 5.3 and 5.1 times over fallow land at surface soil layer. A similar trend was observed for SF in lower layers. However, topsoil layer had >16% mean SF values than subsequent layers. Hence, legume tree-based restoration tactics might be vital to improve land restoration and soil functionality in semi-arid regions.
