Assessment on the Impact of Various Agroforestry Systems on Soil Quality Parameters

Abstract

An experiment was conducted during month of February 2022 at Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to identify the effect of different agroforestry systems on soil quality parameters. Soil samples were collected from nine different agroforestry systems from three major agroforestry sites such as agrisilviculture, silvihorticulture and silvipasture systems. Soil was analysed for soil quality parameters viz., pH, EC, bulk density, porosity, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium and available micronutrients. Different agroforestry systems show their effect as variations in soil physical and chemical properties. Results from the study reveals that the agroforestry system Acacia leucophloea + Guinea grass shows higher fertility status than other agroforestry systems. This system was noticed to have higher amount of available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium and available micronutrients compared to other agroforestry systems taken into account for research. Casuarina equisetifolia + Sorghum agroforestry system was observed to have low available P, available K and available micronutrients than other systems. Further studies are needed to define an agroforestry system for proper land use management and improving fertility status of the soil by including other soil quality parameters viz.,  biological and microbial parameters.