Impact of cropping intensity on soil properties and plant available nutrients in hot arid environment of North-Western India

In order to maintain crop productivity in arid western plain of India, there is a need for understanding the nutrient supplying capacity of soil, which poses many challenges for crop production. We studied four different levels of crop intensification, namely barren land, low, medium and high crop intensity and assessed their impact on soil properties and available nutrients. High intensity showed higher accumulation of available-nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the 0–15 cm depth and then decreased with increasing depths. Higher depletion of available potassium (K) in the surface layer was observed in medium and high cropping intensities. Data indicated that the crop intensification led to an increase in availability of micronutrients. Changes in soil pH and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) had strong influence on the distribution of micronutrients. A highly significant correlation coefficient between available nutrients and organic carbon showed that soil organic matter is the main governing factor for sustainable crop production in arid environment.