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Purpose: Zinc (Zn) deficiency in soils and crop plants is a global concern, undesirably influencing crop productivity, crop quality and human health. Farmers add Zn to soil through different agro-inputs by various means, which influences its behaviour in soil-plant systems. Efficient soil Zn management by estimating soil Zn fractions and assessing their contribution towards phyto-availability of Zn, crop yield and crop Zn uptake is therefore crucial for achieving sustainable crop yield. Methods: We carried out the present study to assess the impact of different nutrient management practices (NMP) for 20 years on yield, Zn uptake by maize (Zea maysL.), and Zn distribution in Vertisol. The NMP practices consisted of different levels of nitrogen (N) - phosphorus (P) - potassium (K) supplied through inorganic fertilizers and various organic materials such as farmyard manure (FYM), poultry manure, urban compost, maize residue, Gliricidia sepiumloppings alone or in combination. Results: Application of 5 Mg FYM ha−1along with 75% of soil-test-crop response (STCR) based NPK resulted in highest grain and stover yield. Zinc content and uptake by maize grain varied significantly, and ranged from 19.6 to 29.3 mg kg−1and from 34.2 to 167 g ha−1, respectively under different treatments. Annual addition of 20 Mg FYM ha−1recorded the highest soil organic carbon content of 8.94 g kg−1. Addition of 1 Mg poultry manure ha−1with 75% STCR based NPK, 5 Mg urban compost ha−1with 75% STCR based NPK, and 2 Mg Gliricidia sepiumloppings ha−1along with 5 Mg maize residue mulch ha−1and 5 Mg FYM ha−1to soil recorded relatively higher levels DTPA-Zn of 2.48, 2.32 and 2.18 mg kg−1, respectively. Different treatments significantly influenced sorbed (Sorb-Zn), easily reducible Mn bound (ERMn-Zn), carbonate bound (Carb-Zn), organic matter bound (OM-Zn), Fe and Al oxide bound (FeOX-Zn) and residual (Res-Zn) Zn in soil. Zinc fractions in soil across the different treatments followed the order: Res-Zn (~ 71– 81%) > ERMn-Zn (~ 9.48–11.9%) > Sorb-Zn (~ 3.16–5.32%) > FeOX-Zn (~ 2.61–7.38%), Carb-Zn (~ 2.35–3.67%), OM-Zn (~ 0.19–0.64%), and water-soluble Zn (WS-Zn) (≤ 0.19%). DTPA-Zn was positively and significantly correlated with WS-Zn, Sorb-Zn, ERMn-Zn, Carb-Zn, OM-Zn and FeOX-Zn. Path coefficient analysis revealed direct effect of Sorb-Zn, ERMn-Zn and Carb-Zn on Zn uptake by maize crop. Conclusion: Integrated use of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients (5 Mg FYM ha−1+ 75% of STCR based NPK) found to be superior for achieving higher maize yield and soil Zn availability. Various Zn fractions contributed Zn fractions towards Zn availability in soil, yield, Zn content and uptake by maize. This information is useful for managing Zn in soil-plant systems for higher yield and Zn uptake by maize under different nutrient management scenarios.

One of the main issues influencing the quality of the soil and agricultural productivity is land degradation. In degraded lands, crop cultivation is not sustainable without adopting resource conservation practices. Agroforestry systems that incorporate canopy management practices have the potential to significantly contribute to the restoration of degraded land by preserving natural resources. We hypothesized that restoring degraded land through a combination of tree planting, shade-loving crop cultivation, canopy management, and land management practice could result in significant improvements in soil fertility, productivity, and carbon sequestration. To test this hypothesis, an experiment was conducted involving a combination of Mulberry (Morus albaL.) and Turmeric (Curcuma longa) in conjunction with canopy management practices including coppicing pollarding and lopping. This experiment, designed as a randomized block design (RBD) with eight treatments, evaluated the impacts on soil erosion, soil health, and carbon sequestration over four years. The results revealed that mulberry under coppicing combined with turmeric treatment reduced the runoff by 45.3% and 28.7% compared to cultivated fallow and sole turmeric, respectively. Sole mulberry under coppicing treatment showed even greater efficacy, reducing soil loss by 73.3% and 57.8% over cultivated fallow and sole turmeric, respectively. Additionally, the mulberry under coppicing combined with turmeric treatment decreased the losses of N, P, and K by 31.8%, 63%, and 22.5%, respectively, compared to sole turmeric. Moreover, the mulberry under pollarding combined with turmeric enhanced SOC stock and SOC sequestration rates by 23.3% and 107.4%, respectively, over fallow and sole turmeric. This treatment also increased soil moisture and turmeric yield by 25% and 17.6%, respectively, over sole turmeric. Furthermore, sole mulberry under lopping treatment produced the highest above-ground biomass (AGB), carbon stock (CS), and carbon sequestration (CSe), followed by lopping combined with turmeric and pollarding combined with turmeric. Hence, the adoption of a mulberry-based agroforestry system with canopy management practices system could be a sustainable technique for restoring the degraded land. Therefore, this system could be recommended for improving soil fertility, reducing soil degradation, and improving productivity, particularly in the Western Himalayan region of India or similar agro-climatic regions worldwide.

Groundwater and its upcoming crisis are the present-day concern of the scientist. This research mainly focuses on responses of groundwater dynamicity to some important drivers, viz. agricultural yield, groundwater irrigated area, groundwater draft, landuse/landcover, and stage of development. The result of this study has been done under three sections. In the first section, the spatiality of groundwater has been discussed where it has been noticed that the western side of the district groundwater level is near the surface due to low drafting and low agricultural yield. Moreover, hard rock geology in the western part disappoints the drilling process. On the eastern part, rich alluvial soil influences high agricultural yield hence groundwater level lowering down rapidly. In the second section, the nature of groundwater levels has been analyzed through the boxplot, and cluster diagram, where boxplots have been drawn over different geological facies, which depicts groundwater is highly fluctuating in hard clay geology. For example, high agricultural intensity and high groundwater draft is the characteristic feature of hard clay geology. The dendrogram in cluster analysis represents a homogeneous groundwater level fluctuating station in three different time series. Last section deals with the future of groundwater level where an artificial neural network (ANN) model has been applied to extract the predicted groundwater level for 2030. This type of environmental analysis, such as groundwater fluctuations in relation to different sensitive parameters and the use of a machine learning model, would aid potential researchers and communities in making wise groundwater use decisions.