Study on the various soil management practices on moisture conservation in soils considering semi-arid fruits Poonia S.P.1, Jhorar R.K.2, Jhorar B.S.2, Pankaj Y.K.3,*, Mali S.3, Kumar P.1, Prakash N.1 1International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, Patna-844128, Bihar 2College of Agriculture Engineering, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, Haryana 3Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa-848125, Bihar *Corresponding author: E-mail: yaswantkumar19994@gmail.com (Y.K. Pankaj)
Online published on 26 June, 2019. Abstract A field experiment was conducted at the RRS Balasmand and Dryland Agriculture Research Farm, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in the year of 2016–2017. Runoff through sheet and rill erosion significantly increased with increasing level of pond silt, land slope percentage and rainfall duration. About 45% of rainwater can be harvested at 8.2 cm hr−1 rainfall intensity and 6% soil slope amended with pond silt @ 300 t ha−1. Maximum soil loss was observed with 8.2 cm hr−1 rainfall intensity at 6% slope amended with @ 300 t ha−1 pond silt. Maximum soil moisture was conserved under polyethylene mulch as compared to other mulching practices i.e. residue mulch, soil mulch and control. Trenching with outward slope (5%) and FYM in trench was found most suitable soil manipulation technique to improve the fruit yield and quality. The NO3-N concentration was maximum at the end of water front, suggest that lower dose of nitrogenous fertilizer must be applied in sandy soil at one time. Top Keywords FYM, Rainfall, Runoff, Quality, Trenching. Top |