1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture:
TOWARDS SOIL SUSTAINABILITY
11–13 June 2024 • Lublin–Nałęczów, Poland

https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.1.04
Published online: 4 October 2024

Resilience through diversification
Jince Mary M. Joy¹*, Jacob John², A.V. Meera²

¹ Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
² Integrated Farming System Research Station, Kerala Agricultural University, Trivandrum, 695522, Kerala, India
* Corresponding author:

Abstract
The impact of climate change on agriculture is being felt all over the world. India is more vulnerable to these changes as a large proportion of its population is dependent on agriculture, thereby causing excessive pressure on its natural resource base coupled with poor coping mechanisms. Crop diversification ensures better chances of survival under natural disasters or to pest and disease attacks. Greater diversity of cropping systems can also build ecosystem resilience in fields by reducing weed infestation and can reduce the need for herbicides, thus lowering input and application cost for farmers. This ultimately results in a reduction of hunger and food insecurity. In this backdrop, a study was carried out at the Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during kharif, rabi and summer seasons of 2019–2020 to investigate the impact of different rice based cropping systems on weed dynamics, soil carbon dynamics and CO₂. The field experiment was carried out at the Integrated Farming System Research Station, Karamana, during 2019–2020 in randomized block design with eleven cropping systems (T₁ rice – fallow – fallow; T₂ rice – rice – fallow; T₃ rice – dhaincha – cowpea; T₄ (rice + dhaincha) – rice – green gram; T₅ rice – cassava – amaranthus; T₆ rice – cassava – cowpea; T₇ rice – para grass – fodder cowpea; T₈ rice – fodder cowpea – fodder maize; T₉ rice – okra – culinary melon; T₁₀ rice – okra – yard long bean; T₁₁ rice – rice – amaranthus), each replicated thrice. In treatment T₄, dhaincha was used for brown manuring. It was raised as an intercrop by sowing seeds at 20 kg/ha two days after transplanting rice and was later incorporated by spraying 2,4-D at 1 kg/ha at 50% flowering stage (45 DAS). T₁₀ produced the lowest weed dry matter at 20 DAS (46.95 g/m²) and 40 DAS (33.15 g/m²). Treatment T₁₀ had the highest weed smothering efficiency at 20 DAS (38.07%) and 40 DAS (63.20%) at the end of the crop cycle. Significantly higher organic C (1.94%, 1.86%), labile C (2310 mg/kg, 1614 mg/kg) and water-soluble C (33.69 mg/kg, 21.70 mg/kg) at 0–15 cm were recorded in T₉ at the end of the crop cycle. At the end of crop cycle, T₁₀, T₅ and T₆ recorded the highest urease (91.07 mg/g/h), acid phosphatase (31.16 μg/g/h) and dehydrogenase activity (34.51 μg/g/h), respectively. Results from CO₂ emission study revealed that in rabi, T₅ (281 ppm) and T₆ (283 ppm), with cassava exhibited lower CO₂ emissions. It could be concluded that, among different rice based cropping systems in lowlands, T₁₀ performed better in terms of weed and soil carbon dynamics. Cropping systems with cassava during the rabi season had lower CO₂ emissions.

Keywords: cropping system, resilience, weed, soil carbon, CO₂ emission

How to cite
Joy J.M.M., John J., Meera A.V., 2024. Resilience through diversification. 1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture: Towards Soil Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.1.04