Effect of crop residue incorporation on productivity and sustainability under rice wheat cotton wheat and guar wheat cropping systems in Punjab

Abstract

A field experiment entitled, Effect of crop residue incorporation on productivity and sustainability under rice-wheat, guar-wheat and cotton-wheat cropping systems in Punjab was carried out during May 2018 to April 2020 at agricultural research farm of Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda. The experiment was carried out by incorporating kharif crops viz., rice, guar, cotton and rabi crop viz., wheat residues in combination followed by application of soil test based recommended NPK fertilizer dose. There were twelve treatments in randomized complete block design with four replications. Incorporation of crop residues (rice straw and wheat straw) resulted in better growth and significantly increased grain yield of wheat and rice crop respectively. There was an increase in soil organic carbon (0.76%), EC (0.29 dSm-1) and porosity (52.82%) of soil although decrease in bulk density (1.25 Mg cm-3) and soil pH (7.32) was found due to crop residue application. Available N (225.8 kg ha-1), P205 (24.3 kg ha-1) and K2O (134.3 kg ha-1) in soil also increased due to incorporation of crop residue as compared to no crop residue incorporation. Application of wheat straw to guar and guar straw to wheat crop results in higher growth attributing characters namely plant height (114.8 cm), number of effective tillers (334.0 m-2), LAI at harvest (3.3), dry matter production at harvest (49.0 g plant-1), ear length (17.7), number of grain ear-1(68.4), test weight (45.6g), grain yield (67.9 q ha-1), straw yield (104.1 q ha-1). It may be concluded, from the results of the experiment conducted for consecutive two years that incorporation of guar stover could be advantageous in increasing crop yield and sustaining soil fertility by improving soil organic matter and physical properties of soil. The findings will hopefully encourage farmers for residue incorporation as a means of disposal instead of burning or removal. newlineKey words: Crop residue, Incorporation, In-situ cultivation, Recycling, Sustainable agriculture, Crop production, Kharif, Rabi. newline