Impact of integrated farming system on residue recycling, nutrient budgeting and soil health

Abstract

In this study, the effects of integrated farming system on residue recycling and soil quality in rice-based integrated farming systems have been examined. The effective nutrient budget for nitrogen was found higher with rice-fsh-poultry-cowpea and the negative values were obtained for rice-chili and rice-baby corn systems. However, the effective budgets for phosphorus and potassium were negative in all these cropping systems. The results indicated that, about ten tonnes of organic matter was recycled, and the major share was from the dairy unit (~52%) in the form of dung and cow urine. Total internal nutrient supply due to recycling was estimated at 55 kg of nitrogen, 17 kg phosphorus and 76 kg of potassium, which is equivalent to 118 kg urea, 106 kg single super phosphate and 126 kg muriate of potash, thus reduction in cost of inputs. In the rice+fsh+poultry-cowpea system, the indices of soil quality showed higher values, which indicated the improvement in soil fertility due to availability of poultry manure, plankton production, and the continuous fsh activity. The current study confrmed that available N, DHA, Zn, B and Fe as the key indicators of soil quality under humid tropics of west coast India, which greatly influence the soil functions and soil productivity. The study conclusively reveals that integration of dairy, fshery, poultry components with diversifed cropping systems in coastal lowland ecosystem is essential to improve the nutrient use effciency and for enrichment of soil fertility