Effect of Graded Levels of Surface Crop Residue Application Under Minimum Tillage on Carbon Pools and Carbon Lability Index in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)-Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) System in Rainfed Alfisols

A long term experiment (2005–2012) was conducted in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India. The aim of this experiment was to study the long-term impacts of graded levels of surface crop residue application on carbon (C) pools, aggregate associated C, C lability index and their relationship with crop yield. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design (RBD) with minimum tillage (MT). Experimental treatments comprised of four levels of surface application of sorghum crop residues (@ 0, 2, 4 and 6 t ha^?1). The test crops, sorghum and cowpea, were grown in rotation yearly. Based on the pooled analysis of long term data (2005–2012), the study revealed that the surface application of sorghum residue @ 6 t ha^?1 and 4 t ha^?1 recorded 21% and 16% higher sorghum grain yields, respectively over control (no residue) whereas, the corresponding increase in the cowpea yield was 50% and 60%, respectively. Besides, the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC), inorganic carbon (IC), total carbon (TC), particulate organic carbon (POC) in the top surface soil (upper layer, 0–5cm depth) were found significantly higher than the sub-surface soil (lower layers, 5–15 cm depth) in all the treatments. Storage of soil C was assessed in soil aggregates fractions, and it was found that the smaller size aggregate fractions (0.053mm) contained significantly (p = 0.05) higher content of SOC compared to the large sized fractions (2 mm). The amount of very labile fraction of C extracted with 12 N H₂SO₄ was significantly higher (1.04 g kg^?1) with the application of sorghum stover @ 6t ha-¹ compared to other residue level treatments, in the 0-5 cm soil layer. The Lability Index (LI) increased with the increase in the amount of residues applied and was significantly higher in the surface soils compared to subsurface soil. The results of this study will be highly relevant and of significant value from the view point of managing SOC and its different pools in soil under abiotically stressed semiarid tropical Alfisols soils.