Impact of Alternative Crops and Cropping Systems for Sugarcane on Soil Chemical Properties in Northern Transition Zone of Karnataka, India

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Hukkeri, Belagavi, Karnataka, India, during 2018-19 and 2019-20 to study the impact of alternative crops and cropping systems for sugarcane on soil chemical properties. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with 11 treatments, each replicated thrice. The treatment included various cropping systems such as soybean-sorghum-ridge gourd, pigeon pea + green gram-beans,  pigeon pea + soybean(1:1) - cowpea, soybean - wheat - groundnut, groundnut - sorghum - sesame, maize - cabbage - fallow, soybean - wheat - green gram, maize - wheat - sesame, Bt cotton - groundnut, sugarcane + onion (1:2) and sole sugarcane. The results showed that alternative crop and cropping systems did not significantly differ in soil electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and organic carbon (OC). However, specific systems exhibited higher levels of certain nutrients, with sugarcane + onion (1:2) recording the highest available nitrogen and potassium. Other systems, such as maize-wheat-sesame and soybean-wheat-green gram, also showed higher available nitrogen and potassium. The cropping systems did not differ significantly in soil available phosphorus status, and the range of secondary nutrients and micronutrients varied across systems. Overall, the study suggests that incorporating high-biomass producing crops like legumes, green manure in rotation can improve soil properties and provide long-term nutrient requirements, outperforming cereal-based systems.