Nutrient dynamics associated with leaf litter fall under agroforestry systems in semi-arid region of Haryana

Abstract

Present study was carried out to quantify the nutrient addition rates through litter fall under two agroforestry systems viz., Kinnow + Eucalyptus + wheat and Kinnow + wheat. Leaf litter was collected monthly from September 2017 to August 2018 at forestry research farm, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. These samples were immediately used for analyzing different nutrients. The leaf litter fall differed significantly under studied agroforestry systems. The higher annual leaf litter production was recorded in Kinnow + Eucalyptus system (7.25 t/ha) than that recorded in Kinnow + wheat system (2.61 t/ha). The Eucalyptus-based system produced significantly higher amount of N, K, Ca, Mg and S through leaf litter as compared to Kinnow alone. The N and K contribution through leaf litter fall under Kinnow + Eucalyptus based system was 94.1 and 19.1 kg ha^-1 year, respectively. Higher C: N ratio was also observed under Eucalyptus (32.8) as compared to Kinnow alone (29.5). The amount of micronutrients returned through annual litter fall in studied systems also differed significantly. The annual input of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu under Kinnow + Eucalyptus system was 105.2, 829.3, 117.3 and 837.5 g ha^-1 year^-1, respectively which was significantly higher than Kinnow alone system. Based on results of present study, it is concluded that leaf litter fall under agroforestry systems enhances the nutrients in the soil which may help in improving overall soil health.