Soil chemical properties, nutrient and microbial dynamics under mango-based agroforestry system

Improper management in old mango orchards renders them senile and less productive. Intercropping with suitable and synergistic crop improves the fertility and maintains soil health. Field experiment was conducted during 2022–2023 to find out the effect of intercropping with 4 crops: Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) and kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall. ex Nees) on the soil physico-chemical properties and microbial population in a 29 years old mango orchard located in the sub-tropics of Jammu Shivaliks, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The results of the study revealed that the intercropping was effective in bringing about slight improvement in all the physico-chemical properties such as soil moisture, bulk density, cation exchange capacity (CEC), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium clearly signifying that intercropping in old orchards will built the fertility level on long term basis. The microbial count showed a decreasing trend at the depths 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm, which might be due to no tillage prior to the experimentation, but it could be postulated that with continuous cropping, intercultural operations and consequent soil health improvement the microbial load would increase in the long run.