Influence of Prosopis cineraria based agroforestry system on soil attributes in rainfed arid western Rajasthan

The experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station (SKN Agriculture University) Fatehpur-Shekhawati, Sikar (Rajasthan) during 2016-2019 to find out the distribution pattern of soil pH, EC, OC and available nutrients (N, P, K and S) under Prosopis cineraria (khejri) based agroforestry system in comparison to the sole cropping system. The results envisaged that soil pH was lower in P. cineraria-based agroforestry system (7.80) than sole cropping-based system (7.85) at 0 to 15 cm soil depth and the corresponding values were 7.99 and 8.02 at 15 to 30 cm soil depth. No significant difference was observed in electrical conductivity (EC) between the systems and cropping pattern at both the soil depths, except cropping pattern at 0 to 15 cm soil depth. Organic carbon (OC) content increased significantly in P. cineraria-based agroforestry system in comparison to the sole cropping system at both soil depths. However, the interaction between systems and crops was found significant only at 0 to 15 cm soil depth. Available nitrogen content (kg/ha) was significantly higher (97.90 and 79.55) in P. cineraria-based agroforestry system in comparison to the sole cropping system (83.09 and 58.24) at both the soil depth, respectively. Available phosphorus content (kg/ha) in soil was significantly higher (15.58 and 10.89) in P. cineraria-based agroforestry system in comparison to the sole cropping system (12.94 and 9.84) at both the soil depth. Available potassium content (kg/ha) was also found to be significantly higher in P. cineraria-based agroforestry systems (283.77 and 256.87) in comparison to sole cropping systems (271.71 and 247.80) at different soil depths, respectively. The available sulfur content was also found to be significantly higher in P. cineraria-based agroforestry system. The study indicated that P. cineraria trees improved soil conditions beneath their canopies in comparison to the sole crop.