An on-going long term field experiment started in Rabi 1995 at the Research Farm of the Department of Soil Science, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana (India) under the pearl millet-wheat cropping system was selected to study the effect of long-term application of organic manures and fertilizers on soil organic carbon and microbiological properties. Highest soil organic carbon (SOC: 1.18 %), dissolved OC (DOC: 64.74 mg kg⁻¹) content, microbial biomass C (MBC: 618.40 mg kg⁻¹), dehydrogenase (DHA: 72.83 μg TPF g⁻¹ 24 hr⁻¹), alkaline phosphatase (APA: 685.44 μg PNP g⁻¹ soil hr⁻¹) and aryl sulfatase (ASA: 12.56 μg PNP g⁻¹ soil hr⁻¹) activities were observed with the application of 15 Mg FYM+150 kg N+30 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹. Integrated application of chemical fertilizers with pressmud showed superiority in the improvement of microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN: 73.73 mg kg⁻¹) and urease activity (69.54 μg NH₄⁺ g⁻¹ hr⁻¹) than FYM or poultry manure plus NP. Beneficial impacts of the sole application of organic manures on SOC, DOC, MBC content, DHA, APA, and ASA were found in order as: FYM > pressmud > poultry manure. Impacts of nutrient management practices on soil carbon fractions decreased with depth. Poultry manure application, either alone or in combination with NP fertilizers was inferior to FYM and pressmud. The SOC had a positive relationship with MBC (R² = 0.95) and MBN (R² = 0.75) and, also showed a highly positive and significant correlation with microbiological properties of soil. This dynamic equilibrium among soil properties indicated that the nutrient management practices that improve SOC could lead to improve soil fertility and accrued microbiological properties in these soils. This study revealed that conjuctive use of organic manures and chemical fertilizers have positive impact on soil fertility and microbiological properties as compared to sole application of organic manures or fertilizers; and among organic manures, FYM was superior to pressmud followed by poultry manure.

Residue management has become a new challenge for Indian agriculture and agricultural growth, as well as environmental preservation. The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) is predominantly followed cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP), resulting in generating a large volume of agricultural residue. Annually, India produces 620 MT of crop residue, with rice and wheat accounting for 234 MT of the surplus and 30% of the total. Farmers are resorting to burning crop residue due to the short window between paddy harvest and seeding of rabi season crops, namely wheat, potato, and vegetables, for speedy field preparation. Burning of residues pollutes the environment, thus having adverse effects on human and animal health, as well as resulted in a loss of plant important elements. This problem is particularly prevalent in rice-wheat-dominant states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. If we may use in situ management as residue retention after chopper and spreader, sowing wheat with Happy seeder/zero drill/special drill with full residue load, full residue, or full residue load incorporation with conventional tillage, burning is not the sole approach for residue management. In addition, off-farm residues generated are being utilized for animal feed and raw materials for industries. While there are regional variations in many mechanization drivers and needs, a wide range of mechanization components can be transported to new places to fit local conditions. This article focuses on innovations, methods, and tactics that are relevant to various mechanization systems in particular geographical areas. This article also stresses the need for a thorough analysis of the amount of residue generated, residue utilization using modern mechanical equipment, and their positive and negative effects on crop yield and yield attributes, weed diversity, soil physic-chemical, biological properties, beneficial, and harmful nematode populations in the IGP, which will aid researchers and policymakers in farming research priorities and policy for ensuring sustainability in RWCS.

Atrazine (AT) is a triazine herbicide widely used to control weeds in several crops. De-isopropylatrazine (DIA) and de-ethylatrazine (DEA) are two of the eight primary metabolites produced by AT breakdown in soil and water. The physico-chemical properties of the soil determine their final fate. So, this study aimed to assess the function of clay loam and sandy loam soils in determining their ultimate fate and the potential ecological risks to non-target species during their persistence in soil and transportation to water bodies. The soil in pots was spiked with standard solutions of AT, DEA, and DIA at 0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg for the persistence study. The leaching potential was determined by placing soils in Plexi columns and spiking them with 50 and 100 µg standard solutions. Liquid-liquid extraction was used to prepare the samples, which were then analyzed using GC-MS/MS. The dynamics of dissipation were first-order. AT, DEA and DIA disappeared rapidly in sandy loam soil, with half-lives ranging from 6.2 to 8.4 days. AT and its metabolites had a significant amount of leaching potential. In sandy loam soil, leaching was more effective, resulting in maximal residue movement up to 30-40 cm soil depth. The presence of a notable collection of residues in leachate fractions suggests the potential for surface and groundwater contamination. In particular, DEA and DIA metabolites caused springtail Folsomia candida and earthworm Eisenia fetida to have longer and greater unacceptable risks. If the residues comparable to the amount acquired in leachate fractions reach water bodies, they could cause toxicity to a variety of freshwater fish, aquatic arthropods, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates. Future studies should take a more comprehensive approach to evaluate ecological health and dangers to non-target species.

Resource conserving and eco-friendly interventions through improved crop establishment are the need of time to produce more with less resources, and mitigating climatic vulnerabilities and protecting environmental quality in the rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) of India. In this context, seven years (2010–2017) field experimentation at Karnal, Haryana, India revealed that the weed infestation was more intensified and diversified in direct seeded rice (DSR) than puddled transplanted rice (PTR), and even eliminating puddling in rice-induced more infestation ofPhalaris minorin succeeding wheat crop. Residue retention in zero-till (ZT) DSR and rotating conventional till (CT) DSR with PTR reduced weed pressure compared to continuous DSR. Root knot and plant parasitic nematodes were less in DSR than PTR but reverse was true for saprozoic nematodes in DSR and ZT situations. CTDSR, ZTDSR (with or without residues), and ZT/CT machine-transplanted rice (MTR) produced grain yields at par (P = 0.05) with PTR. The grain yield of ZT wheat (5.03–6.90 t ha⁻¹) in sequence with CT/ZT rice establishment (DSR/MTR) was 0.3–0.6 t ha⁻¹higher than what it was attained after puddled rice systems. Net returns from DSR/MTR-based cropping systems were higher than PTR, with 22–31% saving of labor. Irrigation water productivity was also higher under DSR (27.5–29.9 kg ha-cm⁻¹) than PTR (23.7 kg ha-cm⁻¹), with 17.5–22.8% reduction in irrigation input. There was also improvement in soil health under ZTDSR/MTR (higher OC, N, P and K, and lower bulk density) compared to PTR. Overall, the resource conservation and soil health improvement through these planting methods signaled toward system stability over trade-offs in RWCS.