PhD research presentation at the workshop of the Climate Food and Farming Network, Dec. 2-4 at Aarhus University, Foulum. The Climate Food and Farming Network is an initiative of Copenhagen U., Aarhus U., and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.

1. Quantify the soil health indicators under conservation agricultural
practices in rice-wheat cropping system
Brijesh Kumar
Ph.D. Student
Roll No. 6392
Jiwaji University
CLIFF GRANTEE 2013
Email: bps311@gmail.com
Web: www.jiwaji.edu
Advisory Members:
Prof. Avinash Tiwari
Jiwaji University, Gwalior, India
Dr. Andrew McDonald
CIMMYT - Nepal

2. CA is based on three principles, applied simultaneously (FAO, 2009)
1
Minimum mechanical
soil
disturbance
(the minimum soil
disturbance necessary
to sow the seed)
2
Permanent
organic
soil
cover
(retention of adequate
levels of crop residues
on the soil surface)
3
Diversified crop
rotations
including
cover
crops
(to help moderate possible
weed, disease and pest
problems)

3. Important benefits of CA
 Increased soil organic matter
 Improved soil quality and sustain fertility
 Increased availability of nutrients for plant (in long-run)
 Retain soil moisture content and improves biological activities
 Improved crop production
 Reduced energy inputs
 Enhanced ecosystem services

4. Objective…on-going research
 To evaluate the short to medium term impact of
conservation agriculture on soil health indicators.
 To compare the soil nutrient availability in between
different CA practices after three years of experiment.

5. Experimental site
Cereal Systems Initiative for South
Asia (CSISA) - A research platform
placed in Haryana
Laboratory facilities:
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Agro-Eco Lab, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, INDIA
A continuous Rice-Wheat cropping system
for many years before the establishment of
research platform (Nov, 2009) at Haryana,
India (29°70′N, 76°96′E).

6. Treatments

7. Analysis
• Objective 1
The soil samples (Initial baseline after uniformity of rice crop- November 2009
and after three years of long term experiment –October-November 2012) were
taken from the aforementioned trials and analysed for the following parameters
in IARI’s laboratory
1. pH (soil : water suspension 1:2) procedure given by Jackson (1973).
2. Electrical Conductivity (soil : water suspension 1:2) procedure given by
Jackson (1973).
3. Soil Organic Carbon determined by Walkley and Black method (1934).
4. Available Nitrogen by method of Subbiah and Asija (1956).
5. Available Potassium by method of Hanway and Heidel, (1952).

8. Results…pH

9. Results… EC

10. Results… Soil Organic Carbon

11. Results … Avl. K

12. Results… Avl. N

13. Under process outcome …
● CA practices improves soil health and its quality in terms of
sustainability as compared to conventional Agriculture.
● It enhances soil organic carbon content, nitrogen and
potassium particularly more in R-W system

14. Thank you for your kind attention