Impact of conversion of grassland to agroecosystem on soil organic carbon content in dry tropics

Abstract

The conversion of grassland to agroecosystem leading to loss of soil organic carbon is a major global challenge. Although the tropical soils are known to be vulnerable to the loss of carbon due to land use change yet, limited information is available, especially in the dry tropics. The present study was aimed to analyze the impact of conversion of grassland to agroecosystem in the dry tropics on the content of soil organic carbon, soil carbon stock, bulk density and porosity. This study was conducted in the experimental plots of Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University. The soil organic carbon content was higher in the grassland (0.81%) than the agroecosystem (0.57 %). Same trend was observed in the case of soil carbon stock and soil porosity whereas the trend of the bulk density was reverse. It may be suggested that to increase the soil organic carbon and soil carbon stock in agroecosystems, management practices involving higher organic matter input to the soil should be recommended so that the agroecosystem would lead not only to long term sustenance of soil fertility and productivity but also sequester atmospheric carbon into the soil of dry tropics.