A field trial was conducted at the Agroforestry Research Field, Faculty of Forestry, BAU, Ranchi, under a subtropical humid climate in Northeast India during 2023-2024 to assess the physico-chemical properties of soil in alley cropping and sole cropping systems at two depths (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm). The study involved four-year-old hedgerows of Tephrosia candida (Hoary Pea) intercropped with arable crops (during both Kharif and Rabi seasons) in a Randomized Block Design with four replications and ten treatments, viz., T1 (T. candida + Soybean/Linseed), T2 (T. candida + Finger millet/Field pea), T3 (T. candida + Peanut/Lentil), T4 (T. candida + Black gram/Mustard), T5 (T. candida + Sesame/Chickpea), and sole cropping without hedgerows: T6 (Soybean/Linseed), T7 (Finger millet/Field pea), T8 (Peanut/Lentil), T9 (Black gram/Mustard), and T10 (Sesame/Chickpea).The results revealed that soil under T. candida-based alley cropping exhibited a considerable increase in pH across all treatments at both depths. Electrical conductivity also showed an improving trend under intercropping. Soil Organic Carbon (OC,%) significantly improved in alley cropping compared to sole cropping at both depths. A marked increase in the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium was recorded in the soil across all treatments under alley cropping, particularly within the 0-15 cm soil depth. However, a consistent decline in the availability of essential nutrients (N, P, K, and OC) was observed in the subsoil layer (15-30 cm) under both alley and sole cropping systems. In contrast, soil pH exhibited a progressive increase with depth, indicating depth-dependent variation in soil chemical properties. The study clearly indicates that T. candida-based alley cropping serves as an effective and sustainable agroecological strategy for maintaining and improving soil health over extended periods.
Building similarity graph...
Analyzing shared references across papers
Loading...
Kushmita Dhan
Anil Kumar
PR Oraon
International Journal of Research in Agronomy
Building similarity graph...
Analyzing shared references across papers
Loading...
Dhan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
www.synapsesocial.com/papers/68bb49c46d6d5674bccff81d — DOI: https://doi.org/10.33545/2618060x.2025.v8.i9sa.3711