​Effect of Different Crop Sequences on Soil Nutrient Status, Nutrient Uptake and Crop Yield in Western Himalayas of India

Background: The field experiment was conducted during 2018-19 experimental farm of Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur (H.P.), India. The experiment comprised of ten treatments (maize-wheat, maize-wheat + gobhi sarson, dhaincha-cabbage-frenchbean, sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean, maize + soybean chickpea + linseed, rice-wheat + gram, hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid), hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-ryegrass + berseem, babycorn-broccoli-frenchbean and okra-turnip-tomato) which was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. Methods: The present investigation was conducted during October 2018-October 2019 (Kharif and Rabi seasons) at an elevation of 1100 m amsl at a latitude of 32°04’N and longitude of 76°35’ E at Bhadiarkar Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The soil of the experimental area falls in the order of Alfisols with Paleudalf as the great group as per the Udic Moisture Regime. During kharif and rabi season the crop varieties were applied with the recommended dose of N, P2O5 and K2O (kg ha-1). The source of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potash. Result: In terms of food for human consumption, highest yield was obtained under the okra-turnip-tomato cropping sequence followed by dhaincha-cabbage-frenchbean and sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean. While in terms of fodder yield, highest was obtained under hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid) cropping sequence followed by hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-ryegrass + berseem. Highest maize grain equivalent yield was obtained with okra-turnip-tomato crop sequence. All other treatments remained superior in comparison to the maize-wheat crop sequence. Maize + soybean-chickpea + linseed emerged to be the best treatment with the highest benefit cost ratio. The treatment comprising okra-turnip-tomato sequence also proved to be the second-best treatment followed by hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid). Sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean recorded the highest uptake of the available nutrients from soil which was followed by babycorn-broccoli-frenchbean. There was net loss of available nutrients although the loss was less in the sequences with multiple crops during the year. The treatments had no significant effect on the pH and organic carbon content of the soil.