Conservation tillage and nutrient management practices in summer rice (Oryza sativa L.) favoured root growth and phenotypic plasticity of succeeding winter pea (Pisum sativum L.) under eastern Himalayas, India

Anup Das; Krishnappa Rangappa; Savita Basavaraj; Utpal Dey; Meghna Haloi; Jayanta Layek; Ramkrushna Gandhiji Idapuganti; Rattan Lal; Nishant A Deshmukh; Gulab Singh Yadav; Subhash Babu; Shishomvanao Ngachan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07078

Conservation tillage and nutrient management practices in summer rice (Oryza sativa L.) favoured root growth and phenotypic plasticity of succeeding winter pea (Pisum sativum L.) under eastern Himalayas, India

Heliyon. 2021 May 25;7(5):e07078. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07078. eCollection 2021 May.

Authors

Anup Das¹, Krishnappa Rangappa¹, Savita Basavaraj^{1

2

3}, Utpal Dey^{4

5}, Meghna Haloi¹, Jayanta Layek¹, Ramkrushna Gandhiji Idapuganti^{1

6}, Rattan Lal⁷, Nishant A Deshmukh¹, Gulab Singh Yadav⁸, Subhash Babu^{1

8}, Shishomvanao Ngachan¹

Affiliations

¹ ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya 793103, India.
² ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Indi 586 209, India.
³ UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
⁴ Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sipahijala, Tripura, India.
⁵ Central Agricultural University, Imphal, India.
⁶ ICAR- Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
⁷ Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, OSU, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁸ ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 1100012, India.

Abstract

Low soil moisture during dry season, poor soil properties and lack of adequate crop varieties are the major constraints for sustainable intensification of eastern Himalayas in changing climate. Suitable varieties, tillage alteration and integrated nutrient management with emphasis on locally available crop residues/plant biomass may help addressing these issues. The role of minimum tillage (MT) and no-till (NT), and organic matter substitution on conferring of favourable root environment, improvement in morpho-physiology and subsequent productivity of the crops are not objectively studied in Himalayan ecosystems. Thus, a six year field study was conducted for examining the residual effect of tillage and nutrient management (NM) practices applied to summer (rainy) rice (Oryza sativa L) on root growth-attributes and impact on morpho-physiology of succeeding winter pea (Pisums ativum L.) grown uniformly under NT. Higher root surface area, total root length, root volume, root length ratio (RLR) and root tissue densityin pea crop were observed under residual effect of conventional tillage (CT) relative to NT and MT. In addition, significantly higher values of functional root traits viz., root length ratio (RLR), root mass ratio and root finenessin pea were observed under CT and application of 50% NPK and 100% NPK relative to other tillage and NM practices. However, increased root exudation was observed under NT and MTalong with organic residue addition. Noticeable changes in stress responsive morpho-physiological traits like enhanced chlorophyll pigmentation and favourable leaf characteristics were observed in pea crop grown under NT with 50% NPK+weed biomass (WB)/green leaf manure (GLM) applications. Higher leaf area expansion and thickness were recorded with optimum turgidity under NT and MT than that under CT. Comparative increase in green pod and stover yield of pea with enhanced partition efficiency and harvest index were recorded under MT/NT along with 50% NPK+WB/GLM application than that under CT and other NM practices. Thus, adoption of MT/NT along with 50% NPK+WB/GLM in summer rice is recommended for inducing favourable root environment and optimised pea production in succeeding winter season in study region of the Eastern Himalayas, India and other similar agro-ecosystems.

Keywords: Hill ecosystem; Morpho-physiology; Root architectural plasticity; Root exudation; Root: shoot ratio; Tillage.