Table 3.
Effect of different CSA-based scenarios on MBN (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 | 4.3Bb | 6.0C | 4.7C | 9.2C | 11.1C |
| 2 | 5.7A | 12.9A | 7.2B | 12.8B | 19.1B |
| 3 | 6.1A | 8.7B | 7.6B | 14.5AB | 17.1B |
| 4 | 4.5B | 9.1B | 11.1A | 15.9A | 23.3A |
| Sub-surface soil (15−30 cm depth) | |||||
| 1 | 2.3B | 4.9B | 3.6B | 6.9C | 8.3C |
| 2 | 4.2AB | 5.6B | 3.9B | 10.5B | 16.9A |
| 3 | 3.8AB | 5.3B | 3.1B | 12.2A | 12.2B |
| 4 | 5.7A | 6.9A | 5.7A | 8.7C | 13.5B |
| Main effects | P- value | |
| Scenario (S) | NS | |
| 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 nitrogen, 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).