Improving nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies through inclusion of forage cowpea in the rice–wheat systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

In high productivity zones of Indo-Gangetic Plains in south Asia, the rice–wheat system is stressed due to production fatigue as evidenced by declining soil organic matter content, low efficiency of fertilizer use and diminishing rates of factor productivity. We, therefore, conducted field experiments at Modipuram, India, to conserve soil organic carbon, improve N and P use efficiency, and increase yields of rice–wheat system through inclusion of forage cowpea during the summer before cultivating the rice–wheat system. Cowpea forage harvested at 50 days removed greater amounts of N and P through aboveground biomass than those recycled through belowground roots and nodules. The NO₃-N in soil profile below 45 cm depth after wheat harvest was greater under fallow during summer than under cowpea, suggesting that cowpea minimized NO₃-N leaching beyond 45 cm depth. Similarly, in the treatments receiving both 120 kg N and 26 kg P ha⁻¹, NO₃-N in soil below 45 cm depth was lower compared to those receiving N or P alone. After three crop cycles, soil OC content in 0–15 and 15–30 cm depths was greater compared to initial OC in plots having cowpea. P applied at 26 kg ha⁻¹ increased available P content over initial P content, and also over P content of soil under no P treatments. The available P content was, however, invariably low under summer cowpea plots as compared to that under no cowpea ones. With continuous rice–wheat cropping, the bulk density (BD) of soil increased over the initial BD at different profile-depths, more so at 30–45 cm depth in no cowpea plots, but inclusion of summer cowpea helped decreasing the BD in the surface (0–15 cm) and sub-surface (15–30 and 30–45 cm) soil layers. Summer cowpea grown on residual fertility after wheat harvest did not influence rice yield, but increased wheat grain yield (P<0.05 during the terminal year), when both the crops received fertilizer N and P at recommended rates. Skipping of N or P or both, however, resulted in consistently low yield of these crops under summer cowpea treatments than those under no cowpea treatments, although the differences were not necessarily significant every year. The use efficiency of applied N and P fertilizers in rice and wheat, measured as agronomic efficiency and apparent recovery, was increased with the use of fertilizer N and P at recommended rates, and also with inclusion of summer cowpea.