Table 2.
Effect of different CSA-based scenarios on MBC (μg g−1 dry soil) during wheat crop growth stages (2 yrs’ mean).
| Scenariosa | Sowing | Crown Root Initiation | Tillering | Panicle initiation | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface soil (0−15 cm depth) | |||||
| 1 | 29.9Cb | 65.8C | 44.8C | 73.3C | 133.3D |
| 2 | 56.6A | 77.1AB | 60.6B | 115.3B | 171.7C |
| 3 | 52.1A | 74.2B | 67.9A | 123.2A | 187.6B |
| 4 | 42.9B | 81.7A | 66.4A | 126.8A | 210.0A |
| Sub-surface soil (15−30 cm depth) | |||||
| 1 | 19.2B | 44.2C | 29.1B | 58.6C | 82.6C |
| 2 | 37.7A | 55.8B | 34.8B | 99.5B | 143.6B |
| 3 | 37.5A | 50.0BC | 34.6B | 117.9A | 171.2A |
| 4 | 39.7A | 68.9A | 51.1A | 113.5A | 188.8A |
| Main effects | P- value | |
| Scenario (S) | <0.05 | |
| Depth (D) | <0.05 | |
| Growth stage (GS) | <0.05 | |
| Year (Y) | NS | |
| Interaction effects | ||
| GS × S | <0.05 | |
| S × Y | <0.05 | |
| GS × Y | <0.05 |
Where; CSA- climate smart agriculture, MBC- Microbial biomass carbon, Sc1: conventional rice-wheat system, Sc2: partial CSA based rice-wheat-mungbean system, Sc3: full CSA based rice-wheat-mungbean system, Sc4: full CSA based maize-wheat-mungbean system.
a
Refer Table 1 for scenario description.
b
Means followed by a similar uppercase letters within each column are not statistically different (P ≤ 0.05, Duncan’s multiple range test).