Potential of conservation tillage and altered land configuration to improve soil properties, carbon sequestration and productivity of maize based cropping system in eastern Himalayas, India

Poor soil properties especially low soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrient and water retention capacities are major concern for sustainable agriculture in Himalayas. Field experiments were conducted to assess the effects of six combinations of tillage [conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT)] and land configurations [flat bed planting (FB), ridge and furrow planting (RF), and raised bed planting (RB)] on productivity and carbon (C)-sequestration potential of maize [(Zea mays L.) for green-cob in summer]-maize (for grains in rainy season)-field pea [(Pisum sativum L. in winter] cropping system under humid mildtropical climate of Tripura, India. The maize under NT-FB in 2012 and NT-RF in 2013 produced significantly higher green cob yield than that under CT-RF. However, in rainy season, CT produced higher maize grain yield than NT systems. Field pea seed yield was significantly the highest under NT-RB. After two cropping cycles, NT systems had higher available N, P, K and 18.6-31.4% higher soil moisture content after rainy season maize than CT system. The highest SOC-stock (0-30 cm) was observed under NT-FB, whereas, SOC-sequestration rate was maximum under NT-RB (0.85 Mg ha-1 year-1). Therefore, NT based systems can enhance the productivity and improve SOC-sequestration in cultivated soils of eastern Himalayas. Hence, study recommended adoption of NT-RB/NT-FB to raise maize-maize-field pea system for improving productivity, improving C- sequestration and soil properties in the eastern Himalayas and similar eco-regions elsewhere.