Organic amendments and conservation tillage improve cotton productivity and soil health indices under arid climate

Long-term different tillage system field trials can provide vital knowledge about sustainable changes in soil health indices and crop productivity. This study examined cotton productivity and soil health indices under different tillage systems and organic materials. The present study was carried out at MNS University of Agriculture, Multan to explore the effect of different tillage systems: conventional tillage (T 1 ), conservation tillage (T 2 ), and organic materials: control (recommended dose of synthetic fertilizers; 160:90:60 kg ha −1 NPK), poultry manure (10 t ha −1 PM), compost (10 t ha −1 CM), farmyard manure (20 t ha −1 FYM), and biochar (7 t ha −1 BC) on cotton productivity and soil health indices. Two years field trials showed that different tillage systems and organic materials significantly improved the growth, morphological, and yield attributes of cotton and soil health indices. The cotton showed highest seed cotton yield (3692–3736 kg ha −1 ), and soil organic matter (0.809–0.815%), soil available nitrogen (74.3–74.6 mg kg −1 ), phosphorus (7.29–7.43 mg kg −1 ), and potassium (213–216 mg kg −1 ) under T 2 in comparison to T 1 system during both years of field experiment, respectively. Similarly, PM (10 t ha −1 ) showed highest seed cotton yield (3888–3933 kg ha −1 ), and soil organic matter (0.794–0.797%), nitrogen (74.7–75.0 mg kg −1 ), phosphorus (7.39–7.55 mg kg −1 ), and potassium (221–223 mg kg −1 ) when these are compared to FYM (20 t ha −1 ), CM (10 t ha −1 ), and BC (7 t ha −1 ) during both years of field experiment, respectively. These findings indicate that conservation tillage system with application of 10 t ha −1 PM are the best practices for the sustainable cotton production and to ensure improvement in the soil health indices under arid climatic conditions.