Sixty-Month Study on Litter Production, Changes in Soil Chemical Properties and Productivity Under Poplar (Populus deltoides) Intercropped with Wheat

Abstract

Quantity of litterfall, its chemical composition, nutrient addition and changes in chemical constituents of soil were studied under agroforestry systems involving Populus deltoides with intercrop of wheat (UP-2338) at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Rampur, U.P., India. Each clone of P. deltoides had significantly more diameter and height in pure stands than its respective clone intercropped with wheat. There was decrease in grain yield of wheat due to presence of trees. Poplar trees intercropped with wheat produced higher quantity of litter than pure stands. The litter produced by the intercropped stands had higher N, P, K contents than pure stands. The concentration of nutrients in the litter decreased with increasing age of the stands. Similarly, the total addition of nutrients (N, P, K) through litterfall to the soil was higher in intercropped than that of pure stands. It increased as the age increases. The available N, P, K contents of soil under the pure stands was higher than the soil of the intercropped stands. Maximum amount of N and K was found in the superficial layer of the soil which decreased with increasing depth. Most of the phosphorus was accumulated in the soil at the depth of 15 - 30 cm in all the stands.