Conventional farming practices are energy and carbon-intensive. Low-cost technologies like AM-fungi (AMF) and precision P-management vis-à-vis precision irrigation-scheduling may enhance ...P-bioavailability, and crop- and water-productivity with reduced energy and carbon-footprints in acid-Alfisol of north-western Himalayas. Hence, an experiment was done in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)-pea (Pisum sativum) cropping system (OPCS) using AMF (Glomus mosseae) at three inorganic-P levels (50, 75 & 100 % of soil-test based P-dose) and two irrigation-regimes (40 & 80 % AWC). AMF-inoculation significantly enhanced the system-productivity (∼11 %), bio-energy output (∼8 %) and SOC-storage over non-AMF plots in OPCS. Carbon-input use followed the trend of water>diesel>fertilizers> FYM > herbicides> pesticides>AMF in OPCS. AMF-inoculation significantly reduced the carbon-footprints (0.466 kg CO2-e kg−1) by ∼10.2 % over non-AMF plots. Soil-test based 100 % P-dose significantly enhanced the system-productivity (6.3–15.6 %) and bio-energy output (4.7–12.6 %) with lesser carbon-footprints (5.3–15 %) over 50 and 75 % P-dose. Irrigation at 80 % AWC enhanced system-productivity (∼4.1 %), however at 40 % AWC reduced carbon-footprints by ∼11.7 % besides saving irrigation-water by ∼24 % (150 mm ha−1/year) in OPCS. Hence, farmers must necessarily use AMF-inoculation coupled with soil-test based P-fertilization (75–100 %) while preserving a balance in irrigation water-use at 40–80 % AWC depending upon water-availability for higher crop- and water-productivity besides lesser energy and carbon-footprints in OPCS in Himalayan acid Alfisol.
Display omitted
•Higher yield (∼11 %) and energy output (∼8 %) in AMF-inoculated plots in Himalayan acid Alfisol.•AMF enhanced energy and carbon-productivity with ∼10.2 % lesser carbon-footprints (CFs).•100 % soil-test based P-dose enhanced system-productivity (6.3–15.6 %) and bio-energy (4.7–12.6 %) with least CFs (5.3–15 %).•Irrigation at 80 % AWC enhanced system-productivity (∼4.1 %) while irrigation at 40 % AWC reduced CFs by ∼11.7 % besides saving irrigation water by ∼24 % in OPCS.
•Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a major spice crop in monkey–menace areas in NW Himalayas (NWH).•‘On–farm’ experimentation on HYTCs (Palam Pitamber and Palam Lalima) in NWH exhibited higher rhizome ...yield & curcumin yield.•The curcumin content was higher in indigenous strain ‘Suketi Haldi’ (5.18%).•Rhizome yield enhanced by about 3–folds, profitability by 3–4 folds, RUE by 2–3 folds using HYTCs under organic farming.•Higher technology adoption rate (72–98%) and NIGs (2.3–2.5 folds) urge for employing participatory-mode adaptive research.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a major spice crop in India in general and north-western (NW) Himalayas in particular where it is grown mostly organic by default using biennial local strains having low productivity. This crop is becoming an alternate crop in monkey–menace areas in NW Himalayas transferring into gigantic fallow-lands otherwise. There is a dire need to boost turmeric productivity in the region by introducing high yielding turmeric cultivars (HYTCs). Thus, an extensive ‘On–farm’ experimentation was done at 10 locations in 6 monkey–menace affected community-development-blocks (CBDs) (Sadar, Sundernagar, Dharampur, Gopalpur, Seraj and Gohar) of the randomly selected district–Mandi of the randomly selected Himalayan province–Himachal Pradesh as the study area. For this purpose, two newly released annually harvested HYTCs (Palam Pitamber and Palam Lalima) alongwith a widely grown local strain ‘Suketi Haldi’ in NW Himalayas (as check), were planted alongwith organic manure i.e. FYM @ 20 t ha–1 on oven dry weight basis. Mean data of two years revealed that Palam Pitamber resulted in highest rhizome yield (32.94 t ha–1) followed by Palam Lalima (32.35 t ha–1) compared to biennially harvested ‘Suketi Haldi’ (12.45 t ha–1). Likewise, Palam Pitamber resulted in highest net returns and net B: C ratio (▪ 416,548 ha–1; 5.38) followed by Palam Lalima and Suketi Haldi, respectively. The curcumin content was higher in ‘Suketi Haldi’ (5.18%), but the curcumin yield was significantly higher in Palam Pitamber and Palam Lalima. The monetary-efficiency indices revealed that organic turmeric cultivation using HYTCs may fetch about 1243–1270 ▪ ha−1 day−1 to the Himalayan farmers. Overall, the turmeric rhizome yield was enhanced by about three–folds, profitability by 3–4 folds, resource-use efficiency (RUE) by 2–3 folds in terms of production– and monetary efficiency, water-use efficiency and partial factor productivity of applied nutrients (NPK) by the adoption of HYTCs coupled with FYM @ 20 t ha–1 over ‘Suketi Haldi’. Higher technology adoption rate (72–98%) and net income gains (2.3–2.5 folds) in the study area advocated for employing ‘Participatory-mode’ adaptive research methodologies following intensive technology transfer programme in remote hill agro-ecologies. In nutshell, the newly developed HYTCs exhibited great potential in boosting the turmeric productivity, profitability, curcumin yield and RUE vis-à-vis wider adaptability in monkey–menace areas to improve rural livelihoods and make organic turmeric cultivation a promising agri–entrepreneurship in NW Himalayas.
Display omitted
The worldwide emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a substantial risk to human health and environmental stability. In agriculture, organic amendments (derived from organic sources such ...as manure, and plant residues) are beneficial in restoring soil properties and providing essential nutrients to crops but raise concerns about harboring antibiotic resistance, which emphasizes the need for vigilant monitoring and strategic interventions in their application. The current study assessed the impact of farming practices (organic and conventional) in a three-year field experiment with pigeonpea-wheat cropping system, focusing on the transmission of AMR using culture-dependent and -independent approaches, and soil nutrient content. Markers for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (aminoglycoside-aacA, β-lactam-blaTEM, chloramphenicol-cmlA1, macrolide-ermB, sulfonamides-sul1, sul2, and tetracycline-tetO) and integrons (intl1 and intl2) were targeted using qPCR. Manure amendments, particularly FYM1, exhibited a higher abundance of copies of ARGs compared to the rhizospheric soil. Organic farming was associated with higher copies of intl2, sul1, blaTEM, and tetO genes, while conventional farming showed increased copies of sul2 and ermB genes in the rhizosphere. Significant positive correlations were observed among soil nutrient contents, ARGs, and MGEs. The notable prevalence of ARGs linked to manure amendments serves as a cautionary note, demanding responsible management practices.
Display omitted
•Multi-drug-resistant bacteria prevalent in majority of manure samples.•Higher ARB in manure treatments than biocompost, latter reduced CFU over 3 years.•Abundance of ARB and ARGs decreased over the course of 3-year experiment.•Higher intl2, sul1, blaTEM, and tetO copies observed under organic farming.•Positive correlations between available NPK and SOC content with ARG copies.
Direct-seeded-cotton (DSC) leads to low crop and water productivity and energy-output with higher carbon-footprints besides impairing system-intensification under conventional cotton-wheat cropping ...system (CWCS). Hence, we evaluated two methods of Bt-cotton establishment transplanted cotton (TPC) & DSC) at three planting geometries/densities in four Bt-cotton based cropping-systems DSC-wheat (DSC-W), TPC-wheat-mungbean (TPC-W-M), DSC-onion (DSC-O), TPC-onion-fodder cowpea + fodder maize (TPC-O-FC + FM) in semi-arid region of south Asia. Poly-glass nursery-raised TPC exhibited significantly higher germination (96.5%), seedling-survival (96.1%) and 14.1% higher plant-stand owing to lower seedling-mortality (3.2%). TPC used ∼60% less irrigation-water but exhibited significantly higher seed-cotton, seed and lint yield, net-returns, radiation-use-efficiency and water-productivity by 11.4, 9.9, 14.3, 17.3, 10.7 and 260.6%, respectively over DSC. Planting geometry/density of 60 × 45 cm (37,037 plants ha−1) exhibited significantly higher crop and water productivity and economic-returns. Bt-cotton transplanting led system-intensification enhanced the system-productivity (26.1%), profitability (30.5%), water-productivity (19.3%) and land-use-efficiency (8.5%) over the DSC-based systems with significantly higher values under TPC-O-FC + FM. Energy-use pattern reveled that farm inputs viz. Fertilizers (54–60%), water (15–25%) and diesel (6–10%) consumed bulk of the input-energy in different cropping systems with greatest values under TPC-O-FC + FM. TPC-W-M exhibited highest system energy-output (604.6 × 103 MJ ha−1) and energy-returns (566.2 × 103 MJ ha−1). TPC-O-FC + FM exhibited significantly higher carbon-consumption (668.9 kg CE ha−1) and carbon-output (21431.3 kg CE ha−1) while maintaining significantly higher carbon-efficiency (32.0) and carbon sustainability index (31.0). TPC-O-FC + FM had least carbon-footprints (0.07 kg CE kg−1 SCEY) while conventional-CWCS exhibited 2-folds higher carbon-footprints. Legume-imbedded TPC-based cropping systems markedly increased the soil physical (bulk-density, water-stable-aggregates), chemical (SOC, available-NPK) and biological properties (soil-microbial-biomass-carbon, dehydrogenase and ergosterol activity) over the conventional CWCS and DCS-O systems. Overall, Bt-cotton transplanting led system-intensification upholds great importance in enhancing the system crop and water-productivity, profitability, energy-productivity, resource-use-efficiency and soil-health with minimal carbon-footprints in semi-arid agro-ecosystems of south Asia.
•Higher productivity, water-saving (60%) & radiation-use efficiency (10.7%) in TPC.•TPC-based systems (TPCBS) enhanced crop (26.1%) & water productivity (19.3%).•Improved energy-output (6.8%) and energy-productivity (16.7%) in TPCBS.•TPCBS enhanced carbon-output, carbon-efficiency with ∼20% less carbon-footprints.•TPCBS as viable options for improving yields, soil health & ecosystem services.
Conventional agriculture is energy and carbon intensive. Single and double-crop basis residue-mulching in zero-tilled crop-sequences may minimize carbon-footprint with improved crop and energy ...productivity in water-scarce ecologies. Zn-fertilization is also vital for drought-stress tolerance besides enhanced productivity and quality in Zn-deficient arid-soils. Hence, we compared the single and double-crop basis residue-mulching alongwith Hydrogel and Zn-fertilization in zero-tilled pigeonpea-wheat system. Results showed that double-crop residue-mulching + Hydrogel exhibited ∼22.3 and 17.1% higher system-productivity over no-residue and single-crop residue-mulching plots while maintaining higher net-returns (1315 US$/ha). Crop-residue covering consumed considerable energy (77.3–89.1% of total consumption) and carbon (5–10 folds). Thick residue-cover (8 t/ha/year) under double-crop residue-mulching + Hydrogel exhibited significantly higher energy-output (238,328 MJ ha−1), energy-intensiveness (107.3 MJ/US$) and specific energy (20.15 MJ kg−1) compared to single-crop residue-mulching; whereas energy-use efficiency, energy productivity and profitability were higher under no-residue cover. Zn-fertilization (5 kg ha−1) alongwith Zn-solubilizer in both crops also enhanced the biomass and energy productivity over sole-Zn or no-Zn. Interestingly, carbon footprints increased with residue-covering (4–8 t/ha/year) while least under no-residues. Therefore, farmers should preserve a balance while mulching the residues in single or both crops besides necessitating Zn-fertilization in Zn-deficient arid and semi-arid regions where livestock equally competes for residues as quality fodder.
•Higher yield, energy output and profits in double-crop residue mulching in zero-tilled (ZT) sequence.•Zn plus Zn-solubilizer enhanced yield, profits and energy-use over sole use or no-Zn.•Crop residue covering consumed higher energy and carbon input and production costs.•Single-crop residue mulching more carbon and energy-use efficient over double-crop mulched plots.•Higher energy and carbon use efficiency in no-residue plots in ZT system.
Maize is an important industrial crop where yield and quality enhancement both assume greater importance. Clean production technologies like conservation agriculture and integrated nutrient ...management hold the key to enhance productivity and quality besides improving soil health and environment. Hence, maize productivity and quality were assessed under a maize-wheat cropping system (MWCS) using four crop-establishment and tillage management practices FBCT-FBCT (Flat bed-conventional tillage both in maize and wheat); RBCT-RBZT (Raised bed-CT in maize and raised bed-zero tillage in wheat); FBZT-FBZT (FBZT both in maize and wheat); PRBZT-PRBZT (Permanent raised bed-ZT both in maize and wheat, and five P-fertilization practices P
(100% soil applied-P); P
+ 2FSP (50% soil applied-P + 2 foliar-sprays of P through 2% DAP both in maize and wheat); P
+ PSB + AM-fungi; P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP; and P
(100% NK with no-P) in split-plot design replicated-thrice. Double zero-tilled PRBZT-PRBZT system significantly enhanced the maize grain, starch, protein and oil yield by 13.1-19% over conventional FBCT-FBCT. P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP, integrating soil applied-P, microbial-inoculants and foliar-P, had significantly higher grain, starch, protein and oil yield by 12.5-17.2% over P
besides saving 34.7% fertilizer-P both in maize and on cropping-system basis. P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP again had significantly higher starch, lysine and tryptophan content by 4.6-10.4% over P
due to sustained and synchronized P-bioavailability. Higher amylose content (24.1%) was observed in grains under P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP, a beneficial trait due to its lower glycemic-index highly required for diabetic patients, where current COVID-19 pandemic further necessitated the use of such dietary ingredients. Double zero-tilled PRBZT-PRBZT reported greater MUFA (oleic acid, 37.1%), MUFA: PUFA ratio and P/S index with 6.9% higher P/S index in corn-oil (an oil quality parameter highly required for heart-health) over RBCT-RBCT. MUFA, MUFA: PUFA ratio and P/S index were also higher under P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP; avowing the obvious role of foliar-P and microbial-inoculants in influencing maize fatty acid composition. Overall, double zero-tilled PRBZT-PRBZT with crop residue retention at 6 t/ha per year along with P
+ PSB + AMF + 2FSP while saving 34.7% fertilizer-P in MWCS, may prove beneficial in enhancing maize productivity and quality so as to reinforce the food and nutritional security besides boosting food, corn-oil and starch industry in south-Asia and collateral arid agro-ecologies across the globe.
Excessive use of chemicals to enhance soil nutrient status and crop yield has resulted in a decline in soil health. Organic farming promotes organic amendments, which help to balance the ecosystem. ...Understanding the dynamic patterns of belowground microbial populations is essential for developing sustainable agricultural systems. Therefore, the study was designed to evaluate the effect of different agri-practices on rhizospheric bacterial diversity and crop yield in an Indian agricultural system. A 3-year field experiment was set up in a randomized block design using Cajanus cajan as a model crop, comparing conventional farming with organic practice (with animal manure and bio-compost as amendments). Plant and rhizospheric soil samples were collected at the harvest stage for assessing various growth attributes, and for characterizing rhizospheric bacterial diversity. Enhanced crop productivity was seen in conventional farming, with a 2.2-fold increase in grain yield over control. However, over the 3 years, an overall positive impact was observed in the bio-compost-based organic amendment, in terms of bacterial abundance, over other treatments. At the harvest stage of the third cropping season, the bacterial diversity in the organic treatments showed little similarity to the initial bacterial community composition of the amendment applied, indicating stabilization along the growth cycles. The study emphasizes the significance of the choice of the amendment for ushering in agricultural sustainability.
Indian basil (Ocimum basillicum), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) leaves are a good source of aromatic oils; however, their extraction volume is low. Hence, two ...pre-treatment systems (ohmic-heating and ultrasonic) were devised for extraction of essential oils (EO) from the leaves of these three plant spp., which consequently enhanced the EO yield and saved the time and energy. First of all, an experimental set-up was developed for ohmic-heating pre-treatment which was subjected to the optimization of electric conductivity of lemongrass and coriander leaves at 26.25 V/cm and for Indian basil at 22.5 V/cm voltage gradient. An Experimental setup was also developed for ohmic heating-assisted hydro-distillation (OHD). Finally, conventional Clevenger hydro-distillation (CHD), OHD, ultrasonic-assisted conventional hydro-distillation (UACHD) and ultrasonic-assisted ohmic-heating hydro-distillation (UAOHD) methods were evaluated for their effectiveness in the extraction of the EOs. The OHD took 3.5 h time with 410 W power consumption compared to 5 h time and 500 W power consumption in CHD of sleeted leaves. Likewise, a saving of ~ 86% in time and 74% in energy consumption was observed for EO extraction through UAOHD over CHD. Quantity of EOs extracted from all three aromatic plant spp. leaves followed the trend of UAOHD > UACHD > OHD > CHD methods, respectively. Overall, ultrasonic pre-treatment coupled with ohmic-heating assisted hydro-distillation (UAOHD) proved as an innovative and effective clean EO extraction technology which took shorter extraction time and lesser energy consumption with better EO yield over the UACHD, OHD and CHD methods from the leaves of Indian basil, lemongrass and coriander.
In agriculture, soil health is disturbed by various anthropogenic activities, including applications of chemicals, and highly mechanized cropping methods, leading to a gradual loss in soil fertility ...and microbial diversity. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to shift towards eco-friendly and sustainable agri-management practices. The practice of conservation agriculture (CA) is considered a holistic approach towards sustainability due to minimum soil disturbance and permanent soil cover. The present study aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of the impact of CA practice on dynamics of rhizospheric bacterial community in comparison to conventional agriculture (CT) and organic agriculture (OA). Field experiments were set with
Cajanus cajan
as a model crop under CA, CT, and OA modules, comprising of different applications of tillage, crop residue retention, crop bedding pattern, and nutrient applications for three consecutive cropping seasons (2017–2019). Soil microbial activities were evaluated using various enzymatic assays. Enhanced soil microbial activity was observed under CA- and OA-based modules compared to the CT modules. For assessment of the resident rhizospheric bacterial community 16S rRNA PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was performed. Abundance of dominant bacterial taxa (
α-Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes
) was estimated by qPCR. Definite shifts were evident in bacterial community structure under conservation regimes with relatively higher Margalef Species Richness and Shannon–Wiener indices in CA compared to CT and OA. Additionally, CA exhibited a higher abundance of dominant bacterial groups in comparison to CT. A noteworthy correlation could be drawn among agri-management practices' performance and dynamics of bacterial community structure. The study brings forth the positive impact of CA-based farming practice on soil health in terms of enhancing bacterial community abundance and diversity.
PDF
