Soil Microbial and Biochemical Properties under Conservation Agriculture in rice-based cropping systems in lower Indo-Gangetic Plain of West Bengal
- 1Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya
Abstract
Microbial and biochemical properties of soil respond quickly with management practices, than chemical and physical properties. Moreover, impact of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil microbial properties is limited to microbial enumeration, but its effect on soil enzyme and microbial activity is little documented. To address these problems soil enzyme activities [dehydrogenase (DHA), {beta}-glucosidase (BGA), acid phosphatase (AcP) and alkaline phosphatase (AlP) and fluoresceine diacetate (FDA)], microbial activites ((Nitrogen fixation (NFBAct), Phosphate solubilization (PSBAct) & Cellulolytic activities (CDBAct)), microbial biomass ((Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) & soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN)) and available nutrient were studied to evaluate biological soil health in alluvial soil of lower Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) under CA. Field experiment was conducted in split plot design (SPD), under 3 cropping systems (RMCp: rice-maize-cowpea; RWGg: rice-wheat- green gram; RCfBr; rice-cauliflower- bororice/summer rice). Tillage operations (CT: conventional; MT: minimum and ZT: zero tillage) was main plot and residue application as sub plot treatments [(R0 (no residue), R50 (50% residue) and R100 (100% residue)], treatments were replicated thrice. Biological soil health index (BSHI) indicated that among different degree of CA, ZT (0.464) and (MT=0.441) and R100 (0.464) treatment showed better response. Among different cropping system RMCp (0.359) & RWGg (0.343) outperformed RCfBr (0.609) cropping system with respect to (wrt) microbial and biochemical properties of the soil. Results indicated that for restoring microbial and biochemical properties of soil CA can be used as sustainable practice to restore agro-ecosystem. Keywords: Conservation agriculture, Cropping systems, Soil enzyme, Soil microbial properties, Residue application, Tillage operations.
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BibTeX
@misc{singh2026soil,
title = {{Soil Microbial and Biochemical Properties under Conservation Agriculture in rice-based cropping systems in lower Indo-Gangetic Plain of West Bengal}},
author = {P. Singh and M. Jaison and N. Saha and S. Dutta and A. Sen and T. Biswas and B. Mandal and S. Mukherjee and B. Dash and B. Sahu and R. Patel and A. Dasgupta},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.748290},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748290v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Soil Microbial and Biochemical Properties under Conservation Agriculture in rice-based cropping systems in lower Indo-Gangetic Plain of West Bengal
AU - P. Singh
AU - M. Jaison
AU - N. Saha
AU - S. Dutta
AU - A. Sen
AU - T. Biswas
AU - B. Mandal
AU - S. Mukherjee
AU - B. Dash
AU - B. Sahu
AU - R. Patel
AU - A. Dasgupta
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.31.748290
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748290v1
AB - Microbial and biochemical properties of soil respond quickly with management practices, than chemical and physical properties. Moreover, impact of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil microbial properties is limited to microbial enumeration, but its effect on soil enzyme and microbial activity is little documented. To address these problems soil enzyme activities [dehydrogenase (DHA), {beta}-glucosidase (BGA), acid phosphatase (AcP) and alkaline phosphatase (AlP) and fluoresceine diacetate (FDA)], microbial activites ((Nitrogen fixation (NFBAct), Phosphate solubilization (PSBAct) & Cellulolytic activities (CDBAct)), microbial biomass ((Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) & soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN)) and available nutrient were studied to evaluate biological soil health in alluvial soil of lower Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) under CA. Field experiment was conducted in split plot design (SPD), under 3 cropping systems (RMCp: rice-maize-cowpea; RWGg: rice-wheat- green gram; RCfBr; rice-cauliflower- bororice/summer rice). Tillage operations (CT: conventional; MT: minimum and ZT: zero tillage) was main plot and residue application as sub plot treatments [(R0 (no residue), R50 (50% residue) and R100 (100% residue)], treatments were replicated thrice. Biological soil health index (BSHI) indicated that among different degree of CA, ZT (0.464) and (MT=0.441) and R100 (0.464) treatment showed better response. Among different cropping system RMCp (0.359) & RWGg (0.343) outperformed RCfBr (0.609) cropping system with respect to (wrt) microbial and biochemical properties of the soil. Results indicated that for restoring microbial and biochemical properties of soil CA can be used as sustainable practice to restore agro-ecosystem. Keywords: Conservation agriculture, Cropping systems, Soil enzyme, Soil microbial properties, Residue application, Tillage operations.
ER -