Sustainability in agroecosystems: Management strategies involving herbicides and organic inputs

Abstract

Long-term sustainable management of agroecosystems has now become a global challenge, along with the major objective of maximizing the crop yield. This has led to the switching of research focus, from ‘high input and maximum yields’ to ‘low input and high efficiency sustainable agriculture’. Such approaches have generated renewed and wide interest in ecological aspects of crop production and sustainable agriculture. Organic inputs, rather than the chemical fertilizers are now considered to have the potential to conserve the soil fertility, in terms of a greater soil C storage, the soil microbial biomass, and the crop productivity in the tropical dryland rainfed agroecosystems, especially in the dry tropics of the Indian subcontinent. Weed infestation is a severe problem in agroecosystems, especially in rainfed croplands, as compared to the irrigated systems. The application of herbicide is a common method to control the weeds. Since the continuous and extensive use of herbicides may differently affect the soil organic matter dynamics, therefore, concerns are raised for the long-term sustainability of agroecosystems. The application of high-quality organic resources along with herbicide, not only negates the harmful side effects of these farm-chemicals, but also benefitted the first crop, in terms of improving the soil microbial biomass, the soil carbon sequestration potential, the soil N balance, and the total crop productivity, whereas these benefits were observed in the subsequent crop, when low quality inputs were added along with the herbicides. The combined application of herbicides with the organic inputs of contrasting resource qualities may thus help in, not only sustaining the long-term soil fertility and productivity, but also, in mitigating the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration through its sequestration in agroecosystem soils. © 2018 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.