The impact of different soil orders and land use systems on the distribution of physico-chemical properties is the most critical matter to address in order to maintain sustainable agricultural production. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to study the variation in the physico-chemical characteristics of soil in diverse land use systems (LUSs), i.e., agriculture, horticulture, and forestry, under major soil orders (entisol, inceptisol, and alfisol) in the Majha region of Punjab. A total of 225 depth-wise (at 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm, 60–80 cm and 80–100 cm) soil samples were collected from three land-use systems under different soil orders. The mean values of the physico-chemical properties ranged from 6.80–7.50, 7.64–8.34 and 6.94–7.87 for pH; 0.13–0.42, 0.19–0.54 and 0.19–0.46 dS m⁻¹ for EC; 0.14–0.99, 0.21–0.69 and 0.15–0.72% for OC; 0.75–2.07, 1.07–3.32 and 0.93–2.29% for CaCO₃; 7.77–41.84, 10.56–40.23 and 7.24–39.51 kg ha⁻¹ for P; and 98.37–334.68, 94.51–230.18 and 93.01–367.39 kg ha⁻¹ for K under different land uses in soil orders entisols, inceptisols and alfisols, respectively. Soil parameters including pH, CaCO₃, and phosphorus (P) distribution differed significantly among soil orders; however, soil EC, organic carbon (OC) and available potassium (K) did not. The inceptisols under the agricultural land use system (ALUS) had the highest soil pH, EC, and CaCO₃ values. The highest soil OC content was found in entisols under forest land use systems (FLUS), followed by horticultural land use systems (HLUS). The highest values of soil-available phosphorous (P) were found in FLUS under inceptisols, while the highest amounts of soil-available potassium (K) were found in entisols and alfisols under ALUS and FLUS, respectively. Thus, the distribution of physico-chemical properties under different LUSs in each soil order is highly variable and does not follow any particular trend. In general, soil properties such as OC, P, and K content decreased with an increase in soil depth, while pH and CaCO₃ values increased with depth in all land uses and soil orders. There was a positive correlation between soil OC and EC, as well as available P and K in the soils investigated. The available P and K are negatively correlated with soil pH and CaCO₃ content in the soil. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that soil pH and OC were the most variable soil parameters, which influence the availability of other physico-chemical properties under different soil orders and land use systems. Therefore, it is suggested that the land use systems play an important role in the distribution of physico-chemical properties of soil in different soil orders. The results of the study will help students, researchers, and agricultural management staff in managing different land uses for maintaining soil fertility and productivity in alluvial soils of North-western India.

Groundwater and soil potassium deficiencies are present in northern India. Sugarcane is a vital crop in the Indian Punjab; it is grown on approximately 91,000 hectares with an average yield of 80 tonnes ha⁻¹ and a sugar recovery rate of 9.59%. The role of potassium (K) fertilizer under both sufficient and deficient irrigation in ratoon sugarcane crops is not well documented. We conducted a split-plot ratoon cane experiment during 2020–2021 at the Gurdaspur Regional Research Station of Punjab Agricultural University, India, on K-deficient soils. Main treatments were fully irrigated (I₁) and water stressed (I₀) conditions, with sub-treatments reflecting K fertilizer application rates of 0 (M₁), 67 (M₂), 133 (M₃), and 200 (M₄) kg K ha⁻¹. The ratoon sugarcane performance was assessed in terms of growth, productivity, sugar quality and incidence of key insect pests. At harvest, trends in the growth and yield parameters in I₁ were improved over the I₀ treatment, with cane height (+12.2%), diameter (+3.3%), number of internodes (+5.4%), biomass yield (+7.6%) and cane yield (+5.9%) all higher, although little significant difference was observed between treatments. Ratoon cane yield under irrigation was 57.1 tonnes ha⁻¹; in water-stressed conditions, it was 54.7 tonnes ha⁻¹. In terms of sugarcane quality parameters, measured 12 months after harvesting the initial seed crop, values of Brix (+3.6%), pol (+3.9%), commercial cane sugar percentage (+4.0%) and extractable sugar percentage (+2.8%) were all higher in the irrigated treatments than the water-stressed plot. Irrigated treatments also had a significantly lower incidence of two key insect pests: top borer (Scirpophaga excerptalis) was reduced by 18.5% and stalk borer (Chilo auricilius) by 21.7%. The M₃ and M₄ treatments resulted in the highest cane yield and lowest incidence of insect pests compared to other K-fertilizer treatments. Economic return on K-fertilizer application increased with increasing fertilizer dosage. Under the potassium-deficient water-stressed conditions of the region of north India, a fertilizer application rate of 133 kg K ha⁻¹ is recommended to improve ratoon sugarcane growth, yield, and quality parameters and economic returns for sugarcane farmers.

The nutritional value of Glycine max L. (soybean) and its yield potential for improving sustainability of agricultural systems has resulted into its increased production. Soybean crop has potential to replace the rice crop in the rice-wheat cropping system. However, the crop has shown high sensitivity towards iron (Fe) deficiency, and thus recorded major yield and nutritional quality losses. Thus, a three-year field experiment was planned to compare the impact of the application rate (0.5% and 1.0%) and number of sprays of FeSO₄ on yield, Fe nutrition, and economic outcomes of soybeans. The Fe application posed a beneficial impact on the studied parameters due to an increase in enzymatic activity of Fe-containing enzymes. Among various treatments, maximum increase in grain and straw yield (3064 and 9341 kg ha⁻¹, respectively) was obtained with 0.5% FeSO₄ application at 30, 60, and 90 DAS over the control (2397 and 6894 kg ha⁻¹, respectively). Similar results were attained for grain Fe concentration (69.9 mg kg⁻¹) and Fe uptake in grain and straw (214 and 9088 g ha⁻¹, respectively). The results were statistically non-significant, with the treatment in which 0.5% FeSO₄ was applied at 30 and 60 DAS. The economic returns of soybean cultivation were also highest with 0.5% FeSO₄ application at 30, 60, and 90 DAS with highest benefit; the cost (3.02) followed by treatment in which 0.5% FeSO₄ was applied at 30 and 60 DAS. Thus, 0.5% FeSO₄ application at 30, 60, and 90 DAS can be recommended for soybeans grown on sandy loam soil followed by 0.5% FeSO₄ application at 30and 60 DAS to harness maximum yield, Fe concentration, and profitability.