A comprehensive review of soil quality indicators under diverse land uses in rainfed areas

Soil quality is essential for maintaining environmental sustainability and supporting ecosystem services. However agricultural practices, including excessive tillage, unbalanced fertilizer application, and monocropping, have significantly degraded soil quality. This review analyzes existing studies on how land use and management practices impact soil quality indicators and assesses sensitive indicators under rainfed conditions. We conducted a systematic literature review using the Web of Science and ScienceDirect databases to identify relevant research on land use, management practices, and soil quality indicators. We included 16 research articles from 954 publications using the PRISMA guidelines. The analysis revealed that the most sensitive soil quality indicators were soil organic carbon (SOC), available macronutrients, mean weight diameter, and microbial biomass, with declining trends. Management practices such as conservation tillage, agroforestry, organic amendments, and crop diversification promote proper soil functioning and sustainable productivity. Forest and agroforestry systems enhance SOC and microbial activity, whereas conventional agriculture degrades these properties. Agri-horticulture maintains better soil quality than degraded croplands in the rainfed regions. This review found that improper land use and management result in soil degradation, impacting soil quality and ecosystem services. Future studies should focus on region-specific indicators, long-term monitoring, and sustainable land management practices supported by policy and technology to ensure agricultural resilience.