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Due to climate change phenomenon and substantial decrease in water resources, analyzing the streamflow trend is of significant importance. In the present study, investigation was carried out to find rainfall and streamflow trends in the Kosi river watershed at different timescales from 1986 to 2016. Kosi river is one of the principal rivers in the Kumaon region. The different methods employed for trend detection of streamflow and rainfall were the Mann–Kendall (MK) test and the Sen’s slope (SS) estimator. Results showed a statistically significant decreasing trend in pre-monsoonal and annual rainfall with a Sen’s slope of -2.27 and -1.49 mm/year, respectively. The decreasing trends in pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter streamflow were found during 1986–2016, which were not statistically significant. The results of the study help in understanding the variation and availability of rainfall and streamflow in different seasons of the year and motivate to adopt effective water management and agricultural practices for rainfed hills.

Agriculture in hill and mountain ecosystem is predominantly rainfed with common occurrence of moisture stress. Due to erratic rainfall and adverse topology in the Indian Himalaya Region (IHR), agricultural drought has become a prime concern. It is a natural disaster which evolves in time and their impacts generally last a long period of time. The present study attempts to characterize annual, seasonal and monthly temporal trend and rainfall pattern of 56 years long-term (1964-2019) and post-urbanization or recent (1980-2019) period using meteorological data of ICARVPKAS, Experimental Farm Hawalbagh, Almoraand Headquarter office, Almora observatory located in mid-Himalayan region of Uttarakhand state of India. Man-Kendall (α≤ 0.05; α≤ 0.10) test, Sen.’s slope and rainfall anomaly index (RAI) were employed for detecting trend, changes in magnitude of rainfall and identifying rainfall deficit year, respectively. The statistically significant (α≤ 0.05) decreasing trend was found during post-urbanization (1980-2019) with Sen.'s slope for pre-monsoon season (-2.38 mm/year) and annual rainfall (-7.26 mm/year) for Hawalbagh, while cold winter season shows statistically significant deceasing trend with Sen.'s slope (-2.00 mm/year) at Headquarter office, Almora. The decreasing trend in monsoon season (statistically significant at α≤ 0.10) was found during (1964-2019). However, both the station showed decreasing rainfall trend for pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, cold winter season and annual season. Results revealed that RAI analysis frequency of drought year was increasing in last 10 years.

For identification and adoption of improved and environmental friendly agricultural practices with minimum emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), observations were recorded for 3 years (2015–17) in a...

Lack of crop diversification with suitable vegetable-based cropping system is a major constraint in limiting the productivity and sustainability of north-western Indian sub-Himalayas. To find out a...

Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi's (AMF) role in plant nutrition and stress management is well known, but very few researches and studies have been conducted so far on the fungal ability to reduce different nutrient losses (runoff, leaching and volatilization) from the soil system. This important ecosystem service of AMF had been neglected largely. From the recent findings, it has been confirmed that mycorrhizal symbiosis has potential to check the losses of applied nutrients. The role of soil biota in nutrient cycling is indispensable and determines the nutrient availability to plants. Among these biota, AMF's association with plants is the most prevalent, but the exact mechanisms followed by AMF in nutrient cycling, transformation and reducing nutrient loss ability are still inconclusive. In this review, we will try to unlock this particular aspect of AMF which is important to achieve global food demand in a sustainable way.

Biomass of vegetation is a crucial variable for understanding the potential future changes of the climate system. In the present study dominant land use types i.e. agroforestry (AF), banjoak forest (BF), chirpine forest (CF), mixed forest (MF) and grasslands (GL) of Himalayan region was investigated for biomass production and carbon stock budgeting in vegetation as well as in soil. Among land use type's highest aboveground biomass was recorded in banjoak forest (BF), 0.69%, 9.42% and 40.16% more than chirpine forest (CF), mixed forest (MF) and agroforestry (AF). However it was more than 16 times higher than grasslands (GL). Herbage and/or crops aboveground biomass was 3.73%, 4.05%, 4.42% and 29.34% of the aboveground biomass of trees in BF, CF, MF and AF. Herbage aboveground biomass was 76.01% of total aboveground biomass in grasslands. Our results revealed that in AF crops biomass accounted for 19.41–26.60% and trees contributed 73.40–80.59% biomass in total biomass of land use. Likewise, similar contributions were recorded for belowground biomass and total biomass in land uses. Irrespective of land use types along elevation the total biomass including aboveground and belowground biomass significantly (P

Agriculture in hill and mountain ecosystems is predominantly rainfed with common occurrence of moisture stress. It is a natural disaster which evolves in time and its impacts last for a long time. In the present investigation, long-term monthly precipitation data for 40 years (1980–2019) were used for characterizing agricultural drought in Almora and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand in India. Different drought indices based on meteorological data like standard precipitation index (SPI), percentage of departure (Pd) and percent of normal (Pn) were used. Percentage of departure is calculated from deviation of monthly precipitation from the long-term average monthly precipitation. Percent of normal is calculated by dividing the precipitation by normal precipitation for time being considered. SPI values were calculated based on gamma distribution of long-term monthly precipitation data. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient between monthly percentage of departure and different SPI time scales (1, 3 and 6 months) were analyzed. SPI-1 (July and August) for both the stations showed very strong correlation with the corresponding monthly percentage of departure (r > 0.97) than SPI-3 and SPI-6. Therefore, it is suggested that SPI as a stand-alone indicator should not be interpreted to identify drought in a hilly region.

Millets are staple food in the developing world, especially in the drylands of Africa and Asia. Most of the millets are indigenous to Africa and later domesticated to other parts of the world. Globally, millets are cultivated in 93 countries and only 7 countries have more than 1 M ha acreage of millets. In general, more than 97% of millets production and consumption is by developing nations. It has been estimated that from 1961 to 2018 around 25.71% area under millets cultivation has been declined across the continents. However, global millet productivity has increased by 36% from 1961 (575 kg/ha) to 2018 (900 kg/ha). The average data of the last 58 years indicated that millet production reduced in most parts of the world, except Africa. The highest increment was recorded in West Africa, almost double than the 1960s. In Asia, although the area under millet cultivation has declined production trend showed a gradual increase, which led to productivity enhancement. In the Indian scenario, millet production was at peak during the 1980s, thereafter decreased gradually due to sharp reduction under cultivated area. India is the largest producer of millets with 37.5% of the total global output followed by Sudan and Nigeria. In terms of trade, the highest global import and export value of millets (155.26 and 127.60 million US$, respectively) were recorded during the year 2011–2017. The continuous downfall in the global area under millets may be attributed due to the area shifting for other crops, changed food habits, assured irrigation facilities, and ensured returns from major commercial crops.

The soil in this system is a living entity. The soil's living population of microbes is significant contributors to its fertility and must be protected. Organic agriculture nurtures the soil. Organic agriculture includes the interaction of humans, soil, landscape, plants, and animals. It maintains the relationships in a manner that ensures fairness, equity, respect, justice, and stewardship to all components. Organic food accounts for 1%–2% of food sales worldwide. In the future, growth is expected to range from 10% to 50% annually depending on the country. More than 71.5 million hectares of worldwide farmland are under organic management. Australia leads with 35.7 m ha, followed by Argentina (3.6 m ha) and China (3.1 m ha). The share of the world’s agricultural land for organic is 1.5%. The country with the highest organic share is Liechtenstein, with more than 38% of its agricultural land under organic management. There were almost 2.8 million organic producers worldwide. The country with the most organic producers is India (1.15 million), followed by Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Peru, and Turkey. Total retail sales of organic food amounted to almost 97 billion euros. The country with the largest market for organic food is the United States. Organic farming can meet the objectives of sustainable agriculture and the expansion of organic areas will increase continuously.

Climate is most important factor affecting agriculture, and issues related to climate and its implications have attracted attention of policy makers globally. The farm sector, particularly marginal ecosystems in mountains are vulnerable because of unpredictable variation and severe sink limitations. Efforts to impart resilience to farm and its allied sector are an urgent need. The climatic parameters play very important role to determine type of crops, cattle rearing and the life style adopted by the people. Moreover, weather has a significant impact on crop growth and development. Weather plays a vital role and affects the production and productivity of the crops. According to an estimate, weather contributes 67% variation in productivity and rest of the factors (soil, nutrient and management practices etc.) accounts for 33%. Therefore, there is a need of in-depth analysis of each meteorological parameters and identification of their trend over the years in order to identify and adapt suitable agriculture practices, better adaptable crops, varieties and their duration, time of field preparation, sowing time and irrigation as per the climatic conditions of the region. This will lead farming community to plan strategies of agriculture operation to obtain optimum yield. The climatic data from the meteorological observatory of ICAR-VPKAS, Hawalbagh located at mid hill condition (1250 m amsl) were analyzed for different periods (annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly). It was revealed that rainfall is decreasing over the years but significant (P

Water is essentially required by all the living systems including plants to maintain normal function of growth and metabolism. Drought stress in plants may affect several activities like cell elongation, morphology, nutrient availability due to the production of ROS and photo oxidation. Present study discusses various aspects of drought stress in plants and possible solutions to improve the tolerance. Application of plant growth promoting bacteria to ameliorate drought stress is undeniable in addition to several other ways to fight drought stress. Endophytic fungi are also reported to improve the stress management in plants as they colonize the plant roots and impart several benefits by providing essential metabolites related to resistance and development. Genetic engineering has always been a solution to stress management through the insertion or deletion of required genes. However, nanotechnology also offers ways to tolerate drought in plants as it improves the water use efficiency for plants and associated microbes. Future basic research at molecular level is still needed to explore the exact mechanisms lying beneath the stress tolerance strategies in plants. This may help in developing proper understanding between drought and plant metabolites and its application in future research.

A thorough knowledge of the effects of land use systems (LUS) on the soil carbon pool and soil total nitrogen (STN) are critical to planning effective strategies for adaptation and mitigation in future scenarios of global climate and land use systems. This study conducted with the objectives of investigating soil carbon, nitrogen storage and carbon management index (CMI) in different LUS under middle Indian Himalayan ecosystem, four LUS: barren land (BL), cultivated land (CL), grass land (GL) and forest land (FL) were selected in Indian mid-Himalaya. A total of 111 composite soil samples [4 treatment (land use systems) 3- soil depths (0–15, 15–30 and 30–45 cm) and 8, 11, 8 and 10 replication for BL, CL, GL and FL systems, respectively] were collected for laboratory analyses. Forest land use system has the highest Walkley-Black Carbon (WBC), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), carbon and nitrogen (C and N)-storage and CMI values while barren land use system having least amount of WBC, TC, TN, CN-storage and CMI. Land use system had minimum effect on non-labile carbon (NLC), lability of carbon (LC), lability index (LI) and carbon pool index (CPI) of the ecosystem. Moreover, TC and TN were increase in the grass and forest land as compared to barren and cultivated land. The TC concentration was highly correlated with TN (R2 = 0.88, p

Water and nutrient management are major corners in the improvement of productivity and sustainability of rainfed soybean-wheat cropping systems (SWCS). A nine-year-old (2006–2014–15) field experiment was started to explore the effects of recommended dose of farm yard manure (FYM) in SWCS, recommended dose of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (RDF) along with FYM, FYM + 50% NPK, NPK, FYMsoybean + NPKwheat and without application of NPK and FYM (CK) under rainfed (I0) and supplementary irrigation (I1) situation in SWCS. Results from nine years continuous fertilization of NPK + FYM showed significantly highest grain yield of wheat (2.70 and 3.80 t ha−1) and soybean (2.50 and 2.74 t ha−1) under rainfed (I0) and supplementary irrigation (I1), respectively as compared to rest of treatments. Significant (p

Himalayan ecosystems are complex, with fragile environment, rugged terrain, unique topography and sensitive to regional and global changes. This region harbours a variety of agricultural practices ...

Industrial agriculture inputs can diminish soil microbial biodiversity. The use of organic soil amendments may foster beneficial microorganisms. Organic production systems have increased in recent years, but we know little about the effect of these production practices on soil culturable microbial diversity compared to inorganic fertilization. Therefore, the objective of our research was to evaluate the effect of two levels (high and low) of three organic amendments (poultry manure, vermicompost and cattle manure) versus inorganic fertilization (IF) on soil culturable microorganism diversity and selected soil properties after six years under a gardenpea ( Pisum sativum var. hortense L.)-french bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) system in a sub-temperate soil of the mid-Himalayas. There was at least 31% greater population of beneficial microorganisms with application of high level (6 Mg ha −1 ) of poultry manure (PM 6 ) than IF in the surface soil layer (0–15 cm depth). The highest soil culturable microbial diversity index was recorded with PM 6 (0.562). Application of high level (6 Mg ha −1 ) of vermicompost (VC 6 ) yielded the highest Trichoderma species count, and PM 6 plots had similar values to VC 6 . The morning and afternoon surface soil temperature moderation during the coldest and hottest weeks with PM 6 amendment was 0.50 and 1.73 °C higher over IF, respectively. The soil cracking surface area under PM 6 was 112% less than IF (0.311 m 2 m −2 area). Application of PM 6 provided 38 and 29% higher gardenpea and french bean pod yields than IF, respectively. The soil organic carbon under PM 6 in the surface layer was about 9% greater than IF. Soil organic carbon markedly influenced soil culturable microbial diversity, moderation of soil temperature and other soil properties. Thus, application at 6 Mg ha −1 poultry manure for each crop is recommended over inorganic fertilizer for higher soil culturable microbial diversity under gardenpea-french bean system in this region and similar agro-ecologies.

Plant beneficial rhizospheric microorganisms (PBRMs) are rhizospheric microbes that are able to colonize rhizosphere and to improve plant growth, development and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by means of a wide variety of mechanisms like organic matter mineralization, biological control against soil-borne pathogens, biological nitrogen (N) fixation, potassium (K), phosphorous (P) and zinc (Zn) solubilization and root growth promotion. Improved grain production to meet the food demand of an increasing population has been highly dependent on chemical fertilizer input based on the traditionally assumed notion of ‘high input, high output’, which results in overuse of fertilizers but ignores the biological potential of roots or rhizosphere for efficient mobilization and acquisition of soil nutrients. A very interesting feature of PBRMs is their ability of enhancing nutrient bioavailability or NUE by ∼ 20-40% with various nutrients. Although chemical fertilization is a quick method, it is not recommendable economically and environmentally, especially if overused. Several PBRMs species have been characterized as biological N-fixer, P, K-solubilizing microorganisms while other species have been shown to increase the solubility of micronutrients, like those that produce siderophores for iron (Fe) chelation. The enhanced amount of soluble macro- and micronutrients in the close proximity of the soil-root interface has indeed a positive effect on plant nutrition. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the potential of various microbes to enhance plant productivity and yield in cropping systems. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these phenomena, the signals involved as well as the potential applications in a sustainable agriculture approach, and the biotechnological aspects for possible rhizosphere engineering are still matters of discussion.

To attain the sustained agriculture production, soil fertility, and its nutrient status should be optimal. Potassium is a crucial component of plant nutrition package that also limits crop quality and yield. Despite the sufficient level of K in soil, its deficiency is mainly because of inefficient utilization of different available forms by plants. The occurrence of potassium in complex mineral forms hinders its utility for plant growth. The plants have to face numerous deficiency symptoms due to unavailability of sufficient potassium required for their metabolism, which checks the productivity of crop. The potassium-solubilizing bacteria act as biofertilizers and can provide a sustainable solution to mineral deficiency in plants. Plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria can help in K solubilization in soil due to their versatile requirement for environmental and nutritional condition. The present study focused on overview on current trends, K-solubilizing mechanism and ability for growth promotion along with their present constraint and future scope to achieve sustainable agriculture production.

Microorganisms have a variety of evolutionary adaptations and physiological acclimation mechanisms that allow them to survive and remain active to face environmental stress. Among the mechanisms identified in microbes, tolerance to low temperatures is of paramount significance, considering the area of the earth’s surface that is exposed to varying degrees of low temperatures. Based on low temperature preference, microbes have been classified as psychrophiles or cold loving, and psychrotrophs or cold tolerant. Psychrophiles are exposed to extremes of cold for major part of the year, while psychrotrophs are exposed to transient cold conditions in nature. The ability of psychrotolerant bacteria to survive and proliferate at low temperatures implies that they have devised a number of mechanisms that help them to tide over the transient cold. These adaptations include lipid modification to maintain membrane fluidity, induction of specific proteins (Csp and Cap), synthesis and utilization of cryoprotectants, cold adapted enzymes, synthesis of ROS detoxifying enzymes, ice binding proteins, and RNA degradosomes. This review highlights the current knowledge on cold tolerance/adaptation mechanisms operating in psychrotolerant bacteria and their utility in alleviation of cold stress and modern biotechnology.

Exploring cold habitats offers untapped sites for screening and harnessing potential/novel psychrotrophic microbes bestowed with the characteristic to grow near 0 °C and optima lying in mesophilic range. These microbes are of great commercial importance and find multiple uses in different areas such as industries, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture as they are potential producers of enzymes, peptides, biodetergents, antibiotics and acquire multiple plant growth-promoting traits. Utility of such cold-active microbial strains is of immense need for high altitude agroecosystems due to the unique climatic conditions. Hence, it is crucial to identify, characterize, and conserve these beneficial microbes that maintain their functional properties under cold temperature conditions. This chapter is likely to provide some more insights into the recent developments associated with improvement and large-scale production of psychrotolerant microbes as well as scaling up for commercial production.

Beneficial microbes associated with plant roots play an important role to achieve higher agriculture production for burgeoning population in sustainable way. Among various microbes, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi interaction with higher land plants is unique as they occupy position both inside and outside of roots. AM fungi as a natural symbionts of land plants provide various ecological services, in particular by improving plant water and nutrition availability, soil health and fertility, alleviating stress condition and wasteland management. Mycorrhizae as a broader group of fungi include seven types of members, i.e. arbuscular, ecto, ectendo, arbutoid, monotropoid, ericoid and orchidaceous, while arbuscular and ectomycorrhizae are the most abundant and ubiquitous. In this chapter, we focus on AM fungi and provide an overview on mycorrhizal interaction, benefits, processes, production development and potential application domain under various conditions. Along with recent advances in AM fungi role under various stress condition, reclamation of problematic wastelands and production aspects, we also discuss about the basic features of AM fungi with past developments to provide an overall glimpse of this plant-fungal interaction. In spite of its growing trends, AM fungi’s current application and market sharing are far below to full potential. Regarding this, current challenges, constraints and strategies for future road map to overcome these problems are also discussed briefly.

The change in land use as well as elevation changes microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and water extractable organic carbons (WOC), which are important parameters of soil fertility and essential for sustainable management of any land use. In Central Himalaya watershed (2B4D6) the land use pattern varies with elevation. The present study aims to examine the soils (0-30 cm depth) of different land uses i.e. agroforestry, silvipastoral and grassland for microbial biomass C, N, microbial population and WOC along the elevation. Microbial biomass C, N, microbial population and WOC contents varied significantly (less than 0.005) among land uses and it increased along the elevation. Maximum microbial biomass C and N was recorded in agroforestry, silvipastoral and minimum in grassland. While, WOC highest in silvipasture, agroforestry and grassland. Land uses along elevation had strong positive correlation with microbial biomass C, N and WOC. Thus it is concluded that microbial biomass C, N, microbial population and WOC changes significantly (less than 0.05) in different land uses and along elevation gradient.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) contribute predominantly to soil organic matter by creating a sink demand for plant C and distributing to below-ground hyphal biomass. The extra-radical hyphae along with glomalin-related soil protein significantly influence the soil carbon dynamics through their larger extent and turnover period need to discuss. The role of AMF is largely overlooked in terrestrial C cycling and climate change models despite their greater involvement in net primary productivity augmentation and further accumulation of this additional photosynthetic fixed C in the soil. However, this buffering mechanism against elevated CO2 condition to sequester extra C by AMF can be described only after considering their potential interaction with other microbes and associated mineral nutrients such as nitrogen cycling. In this article, we try to review the potential of AMF in C sequestration paving the way towards a better understanding of possible AMF mechanism by which C balance between biosphere and atmosphere can be moved forward in more positive direction.

A total of 15 endophytic Bacillus thuringiensis isolates were obtained from root nodules of six legumes (soybean, ricebean, gahat, frenchbean, lentil and pea). All of these isolates were characterized by the presence of one of two different types of crystalline inclusions (spherical and bipyramidal) and tolerance to a wide pH range (4–10; optimum 7.0) and NaCl concentrations up to 8%. Genetic diversity among the B. thuringiensis isolates was determined by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR assays (rep-PCR) using the Bacillus cereus-repetitive extragenic palindromic, BOX, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence and (GTG)5 primers. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis proteogram of the B. thuringiensis isolates revealed the presence of two major polypeptides (24.4 and 131.0 kDa). Maximum crystal protein profile was observed in the B. thuringiensis isolates producing the spherical crystal, while those isolates producing the bipyramidal crystal protein showed four four major polypeptides (24.4, 33.8, 81.2 and 131.0 kDa). The purified crystal protein profile of the B. thuringiensis isolates revealed the presence of only one major protein of 130 kDa mass. Isolates VRB1 and VLG15 possessing the cry1 and cry2 family genes demonstrated 100% mortality against first-instar larvae of the Bihar hairy caterpillar (lepidopteran pest). Our study of the ecological and molecular diversity among newly identified B. thuringiensis isolates suggests that these could be useful in planning new strategies for integrated pest management in sustainable agricultural systems.

White grained finger millet genotypes has become a thrust area in finger millet breeding due to increased demand of non-glutinous food products and lesser acceptability of brown grained finger millet. Sixteen white grain finger millet lines were developed by crossing extra early maturing brown grained finger millet genotypes including adapted varieties with late maturing white grained finger millet genotypes. The quantitative data of 16 lines along with parents were subjected to multivariate analysis. A wide range of variation was observed for all the studied traits. The parental lines of brown and white grained finger millet genotypes exhibited extreme values for grain yield and days to maturity whereas, the developed white grained genotypes showed moderate values. Projections of genotypes in PCA biplot showed close association of newly developed white grain genotypes VL 427, VL 360, VR 485, VR 443, VL 366, VR 425B, VR 425A and VL 356 with VL 201 (brown type) because of earliness and high yield potential. The cluster analysis further indicated that white grained genotypes from second cluster are probable candidates for further testing and release, and further refinement in breeding strategy by hybridizing white genotypes from second cluster with brown genotype in third cluster for incorporating earliness and high yield.

This case study was conducted in Himalayan watershed to understand traditional farming and socio-economic status of the people in Kumaon Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. In spite of high literacy rate in this area, their livelihood security is reliant on traditional farming practices that include agroforestry beside forest produce. More than 85% farming is rainfed and managed in a traditional way. Land holding size owned by farmers in the area extended from 0.57 to 2.57 ha but majority of farmers (51–80%) had farms of size less than 0.50 ha. The study revealed that forests provided 73–79% of required energy from fuelwood and more than 81% fodder. Agroforestry, livestock (dairy and poultry/goat rearing) and labour employment are the major sources of income to the people in the watershed. The income of people was positively correlated with livestock rearing and traditional farming.

A field experiment was accompanied to scrutinize the effect of long-term (21-year) mineral and organic manure fertilizer treatments on carbon mineralization, glomalin related soil protein and some microbial characteristics of arable soils in Indian mid-Himalaya. The experiment was initiated in 1995 includes six treatments: Control, N 120, NPK, FYM, N + FYM and NPK + FYM. Long-term chemical fertilization has been reported to negative effects on soil biological properties, however, the impact of combined use of organic and inorganic fertilization on soil biological properties and its relationship remains poorly understood. Results showed that integrated use of organic and inorganic (NPK + FYM) for 21 years significantly increased in carbon mineralization, easily extractable glomalin related soil protein (EEGRSP) and total glomalin related soil protein (TGRSP). Soil microbial indices (microbial quotient: qMIC, microbial metabolic quotient: qCO2 and metabolic potential: MP) were enhanced in the NPK + FYM treatment as compared to rest of the treatments. The activities of seven enzymes, viz. dehydrogenase (DHA), β-glucosidase (β-GA), invertase (IA), acid phosphatase (Acid-PA), alkaline phosphatase (Alkaline-PA), arylsulphatase (ASA) and urease activity (UA) were significantly influenced by the application of NPK + FYM as compared rest of treatments. Soil fertilization with NPK and FYM was significantly higher fluorescein diacetate assay (FDA) activity as compared to other treatments. Soil microbial properties had strong positive correlation with qMIC, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil organic carbon (SOC), while qCO2 had negative correlation under both soil layers. Results showed that the 21-year fertilization experiment clearly indicated that NPK + FYM embodied the best management practice (BMPs) for soil biological sustainability and for sustainable food production.

Changes in land use affect microbial biomass carbon (MBC), nitrogen (MBN), and phosphorus (MBP), and microbial populations, important parameters to sustain ecological systems. MBC, MBN, MBP, and microbial populations vary markedly among land uses and with conversion of one land use to another. A literature survey suggests that forest lands have favourable influence on MBC, MBN, MBP, and microbial populations, followed by agroforestry, silvipasture, and agriculture, respectively. Microbial quotients also vary with land use and have strong positive correlations with MBC, MBN, and MBP. It is well established that population pressure is causing the conversion of forest lands to non-forest purposes. This conversion of forest land to agriculture and other uses affects the quantity of MBC, MBN, MBP, and microbial populations. The ratio of MBC to soil organic carbon (SOC), MBN to total N, and MBP to total P varies significantly. The soil microbial biomass (SMB) is lively and active in regulating the transformation of soil organic matter (SOM). These activities are vital for the cycling of nutrients in the soil. In general, the increased level of microbial biomass in the soil is beneficial and a decreased level is seen as harmful, provided it should improve or decrease the functional biology of the soil. Interpretation of soil microbial biomass parameters is very difficult. Here, we have tried to explain the importance of microbial biomass, its role and measurement, including examples from Indian Himalaya.

With the increasing world’s population, higher demand for sustainable food production so as to meet the requirement. It has increased tremendously due to excessive use of agrochemicals. Since, the imbalanced application of agrochemicals in agricultural field leads to soil and environmental degradation. Nowadays, the scientific community has shifted their focus on alternative eco-friendly management approach. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mycorrhizae has huge potential to substitute agrochemicals. These efficient eco-friendly microbes have different plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities; hence PGPR and mycorrhizae are gaining importance for restoring soil sustainability and agricultural productivity. Application of these efficient microbes in the soil–plant–environment system will be suitable strategies for improving the soil and crop productivity.

Adoption of agroforestry is paramount as a climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. The assessment of plant biomass is crucial for understanding the vulnerability of biological systems to climate change. In the present study, agroforestry systems viz., agrisilviculture (AS), agrihorticulture (AH), agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and agrisilvihorticulture (ASH) were investigated for biomass production and carbon stock in vegetation as well as in soil in the Indian central Himalaya along the elevation i.e. E1 (E2 (1100–1400 m), E3 (1400–1700 m), E4 (1700–2000 m) and E5 (>2000 m). Mean aboveground and belowground biomass were 73.9% and 26.1%, respectively, of total biomass (64.4 t ha−1) in agroforestry systems. Fodder and/or timber trees accounted for 31% (in AHS) to 74% (in AS) of total biomass, while fruit trees accounted for 18% (in ASH) to 73% (in AH) of total biomass. The contribution of agriculture crops to total biomass fluctuated between 19% (in ASH) and 26% (in AH). Total vegetation biomass, soil carbon and total carbon density in agroforestry systems increased significantly along the elevation, with maximum biomass at elevation E5 (32.0 t ha−1, 64.7 t C ha−1 and 96.7 t C ha−1). Total biomass of vegetation among agroforestry systems differed significantly. Soil carbon stock was highest in AHS (59.5 t C ha−1) and total carbon density (vegetation + soil) was highest in ASH (93.0 t C ha−1). Thus, in Indian Himalayas, vegetation biomass, carbon stock, soil and total carbon (vegetation + soil) stock increased along the elevation. Abbrviations: AG: aboveground; BG: belowground; WD: wood density; VOB: volume over bark; BEF: biomass expansion factor; AS: agrisilviculture; AH: agrihorticulture; ASH: agrisilvihorticulture; AHS: agrihortisilviculture; E: elevation; C: carbon; CO2: carbon-di-oxide; IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; DBH: diameter at breast height; AGBD: aboveground biomass density; BGBD: belowground biomass density; GSVD: growing stock volume density

Since reckonable understanding of yield response under long-term (16 year) conservation management practices is the key to improve the productivity and physico-chemical indicators of rice-wheat rotation, impact of long-term tillage and irrigation levels on productivity, yield trend, soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions, carbon pools and sequestration under rice-wheat rotation on sandy clay loam soil of the mid-Himalaya were quantified. A field experiment started from 2001 through 2016 to assess the effect of tillage alterations conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT) and four irrigation levels I1: pre-sowing (PS), I2: PS + crown root initiation (CRI), I3: PS + CRI + panicle initiation (PI)/flowering (FL), and I4: PS + CRI + PI/FL + grain filling (GF), applied at the critical growth stages to rice-wheat rotation. Results confirmed that irrigation management had a significant (p = 0.001) positive impact on grain yield of rice, wheat and system yield after 16 year continuous cropping. We also recoded that, plot with four irrigation (I4) had ∼ 28, 40 and 35 % higher grain yield of rice, wheat as compared to single irrigation or I1 (2.04, 2.99 and 5.05 Mg ha−1), respectively. Rice yield declined significantly (r = 0.68; p = 0.003) by 70 kg ha−1 year−1 under ZT plots than CT plots (52 kg ha−1 year−1). Decreasing trend of rice yield ranged from 42 kg ha−1 year-1 in four irrigations (I4) to 75 kg ha−1 year−1 single irrigation (I1). Whereas, wheat yield increased (58 kg ha−1 year−1) non-significantly over the years under ZT plots whereas under CT plots (-13.6 kg ha−1 year−1) it had declining trend with time. Unlike rice yield, impact of irrigation on wheat yield had positive trends or increasing trends with time. Plots under long-term ZT along with irrigation practice significantly increased total porosity and decreased pH and bulk density (BD) mainly in surface layer. Different pools of SOC were also significantly increased under ZT as compared to CT only in surface layer (0−15 cm). We conclude that, ZT system increased yield of wheat and diminished rice yield after 16 years of experimentation. But apart from yield, ZT also improved physico-chemical indicators of soil and enhanced carbon sequestration. The WUE of rice and wheat (4.20 and 11.0 kg ha−1 mm−1) had slightly higher under ZT as compared to CT. It is suggested that ZT is more desirable for efficient water utilization in such conditions. Frequent irrigation (I4) was more desirable for maintaining optimum moisture condition for sustainable crop production.

Livestock is an integral part of the hill ecosystem but due to the acute shortage of good sources of nutritious fodder during winter season, farmers face serious problems for livestock farming. The agri-horticulture system is an important agricultural practice where crops are grown under different fruit trees. It is widely practiced in the hilly ecosystem. The dual purpose wheat crop is capable of providing nutritious green fodder during the lean period mainly during the month of December-January, when it is most needed, with no detrimental impact on the eventual grain and straw yields. The VL Gehun 829 is one of the potential dual purpose wheat variety developed by the ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan which yielded 2.30 to 4.17 t ha−1 grain, 2.63 to 3.77 t ha-1 green fodder and 4.80 to 7.88 t ha-1 dry fodder under different fruit trees. Proximate composition of green fodder varied significantly under different fruit trees. Nutrient content of wheat green forage varied in dry matter (73.67–76.10%), crude protein (21.85–26.47%), crude ash (3.0–4.5%), crude fat (4.83–6.57%), crude fiber (13.10–15.87%), nitrogen free extractants (24.8–28.6%), total carbohydrate (38.37–43.21%) and total digestible nutrient (56.25–65.26%). Thus, this wheat cultivar (VL Gehun 829) can increase availability of nutritious green fodder for livestock rearing, which in turn can improve the prosperity of the hill farmers.

Carbon sequestration potential (CSP) and sustainability of gardenpea-french bean cropping system was assessed with farmyard manure (FYM) application vis-a-vis mineral fertilization as recommended NPK (NPK) and integrated nutrient management practices (INM) after six years’ cropping in Indian Himalayas. Application of 20 tons FYM ha−1 provided highest CSP (0.527 Mg C ha−1 year−1) in soil and sustainability index. With the help of quadratic equations, it was estimated that maximum profit (optimum yield) and turn over of invested money could be achieved with application of 20.0 and 15.6 t FYM ha−1, respectively. Application of 5.9 and 8.9 tons FYM ha−1 would substitute NPK and INM, respectively. Pod number plant−1 was the most important yield-contributing attribute as found from principal component analysis. Pod yield could be modelled through multiple linear equation with help of yield attributes.

In soil system, 90%-98% K reserves are non-exchangeable mineral sources and potassium solubilizing microbes (KSMs) can effectively dissolve this mineral. Nowadays focused research on efficient KSMs was started. These microbes are able to enhanced their root colonization and improve plant growth and development. They solubilize K-minerals through different mechanisms including chelation, acidolysis, lowering of pH, exchange reaction, complexation, biofilm formation and secretion of organic acid and polysaccharides. Bio-priming of seed/root through efficient KSMs resulted higher crop productivity, potassium use efficiency (KUE) and mitigate the K-deficiency in soils. In this article we are trying to summarize the KSMs current state of knowledge in agricultural crops. We highlighted the knowledge gaps and suggest future prospective of research, with hope that the use of KSMs in agricultural soil improved soil sustainability.

The increasing demand for crop production, given worldwide increases in the human population, puts pressure on moving natural resources towards sustainable development. This creates a big challenge for the upcoming generation. If improvement is not successful, there exists the unfortunate consequence that global food production may soon become insufficient to feed all of the world’s people. It is therefore essential that agricultural productivity be significantly increased in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach. Plant-beneficiary rhizobacteria (PBR) naturally activate microorganisms found in the soil. Because they are inexpensive, effective, and environmentally friendly, PBR are gaining importance for use in crop production by restoring the soil’s natural fertility and protecting it against drought and soil diseases, thereby stimulating plant growth. PBR decrease the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and artificial growth regulators; the intensive use of these inputs has led to severe health and environmental hazards, such as soil erosion, water contamination, pesticide poisoning, decreased groundwater table, water logging, surface crusting and depletion of biodiversity. The use of PBR has been proven to be an environmentally sound way of increasing crop yields by facilitating plant growth through either a direct or indirect mechanism with the aim of sustaining soil health over the long term.

A 9-year old experiment was conducted at Almora, India to study the effects of mineral sources of nutrients in different combinations with or without crop residue or farmyard manure (FYM) addition on crop productivity under a rainfed maize–wheat system. Plots under 100 % nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium (NPK) + FYM had maximum mean maize (5.00 Mg ha−1) and wheat (2.61 Mg ha−1) yields that were generally significantly higher than yields observed under other treatments. Total soil organic carbon (C) increased in all treatments except with mineral fertilization and control plots. While NPK treated plots had significantly higher benefit:cost ratio than NPK + FYM plots, organic C content in the NPK treated plots decreased over the initial soil and FYM treated plots had better soil physical and chemical properties than NPK only. Thus, the study showed that although the combined 100 % NPK and FYM application had higher productivity of the maize–wheat system, the same is as remunerative as 50 % NPK + FYM, if the cost of FYM was considered. However, depending upon the resource availability, farmers can also apply Kudzu, maize stalk and wheat straw annually along with adjusted dose of NPK to a crop and full dose of NPK to the other crop as the alternate options.

Sustainability of agricultural systems has become an important issue all over the world. Hence, sustainability and climate resilience of gardenpea–french bean cropping system was evaluated by yield trends, C sequestration and emission reduction and soil properties as affected by four application rates of farmyard manure (FYM) (5–20 t ha −1 ) vis-a-vis mineral fertilization, integrated nutrient management (INM) practices as 50% recommended NPK + FYM at 5 t ha −1 and un-amended control after six years of cropping in the Indian Himalayas. The highest sustainable yield index of 0.606 was achieved with the application of 20 t FYM ha −1 (FYM 20 ). The carbon sequestration potential of FYM 20 plots was about 459 and 193% more than NPK and INM plots, respectively. The same plots reduced 53 and 24% carbon equivalent emission with comparison to NPK and INM application, respectively. The soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) under FYM 20 plots was 22 and 11% higher than NPK and INM plots. The soil cracking volume under FYM 20 plots (57 cm 3 m −2 area) was very less compared to NPK (324 cm 3 m −2 area) and INM (154 cm 3 m −2 area) plots. The morning soil temperature (0–15 cm depth) in coldest week of last year experimentation under FYM 20 plots was moderated by 0.60 and 0.47 °C than NPK and INM plots, respectively. Successive increase of FYM level improved soil organic C, microbial colony formation unit, dehydrogenase activity, bulk density and soil cracking surface area and the best values for all soil properties were recorded under FYM 20 plots. Application of 20 t FYM ha −1 produced 54 and 29% higher gardenpea equivalent pod yield of the system than mineral fertilization and INM, respectively. The principal component analysis revealed that soil CEC was the most important property (among the selected soil parameters) contributing to the pod yield. Soil organic carbon markedly improved other soil properties as evident from correlations. Organic production system with FYM 20 t ha −1 could be recommended for climate resilient sustainable yield and better soil property of gardenpea–french bean cropping system than mineral fertilization and INM in the Indian Himalayan regions.

Under off-seasonality, high-value vegetable cultivation in the greenhouse is more profitable and gaining more acceptances day by day. This study aims to analyze the energy requirement and energy input–output relationship with the economics of vegetable-based cropping sequences viz., tomato nursery–tomato–pepper–onion nursery (CS1), tomato nursery–pepper–soil treatment–cucumber (CS2), tomato nursery–tomato–soil treatment–cucumber (CS3), tomato nursery–cucumber–soil treatment–pepper (CS4), and tomato nursery–tomato–soil treatment–pepper (CS5) in greenhouse conditions of Indian sub-Himalayas. The five sequential treatments were statistically analyzed in randomized block design with four replications. Results reveal that cucumber production required highest input energy (1,059.9 MJ/100 m2) than tomato or pepper. The highest input (3,477.4 MJ/100 m2) and output (4,787.5 MJ/100 m2) energy was observed with CS3. Crop protection (28.9–55.7 %), manures and chemical fertilizers (17.5–33.1 %), and plant stacking, training and pruning (16.3–21.9 %) consumed the bulk of the energy for all cropping sequences. The CS3 with the highest tomato equivalent yield produced the highest net energy (1,310.1 MJ/100 m2), energy productivity (0.63 MJ/100 m2), energy intensiveness (0.297 MJ/100 m2), and benefit/cost ratio (1.82). Energy consumption in the form of indirect (70.6–80.2 %) and non-renewable (83.9–85.7 %) energy was higher than direct and renewable energy, respectively. Considering these, CS3 (tomato nursery–tomato–soil treatment–cucumber) cropping sequence will be a more suitable option for greenhouse cultivation.

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) Pseudomonas lurida-NPRp15 and Pseudomonas putida-PGRs4 possessing multiple plant growth-promoting traits were isolated from rhizoplane of pea and rhizosphere of garlic, respectively. The effects of individuals and combinations of Pseudomonas spp. with effective root nodulating symbiotic nitrogen fixing Rhizobium leguminosarum-FB1 on plant growth, nutrient uptake and yield of the rajmash plant were studied under greenhouse conditions. Bacterial inoculation resulted in significantly higher values for plant dry biomass, N, P, K, Zn and Fe contents as compared to the uninoculated control. Furthermore, dual inoculation of P. lurida-NPRp15 with R. leguminosarum-FB1 significantly increased root and shoot dry weight, nodulation, nutrient uptake, pod yield, and nutrient content of pods of rajmash VL63 compared to controls, single and triple inoculation. The results of the study indicate the potential of harnessing the benefit of plant growth-promoting and nitrogen-fixing micr...

Psychrotolerant Pseudomonas isolates (RT5RP2 and RT6RP) isolated from the rhizoplane of wild grass at 3,100 and 3,800 m above mean sea level, respectively, from Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand (India), were found to solubilize Udaipur rock phosphate (URP). Both isolates grew at temperatures ranging from 4 to 30 °C. Kinetics of phosphate solubilization by the bacterial strains showed a nonlinear regression of the rate of P solubilization, which fitted best in the power model, and showed a declining trend across three different temperatures. Under pot culture conditions, bacterization of lentil seeds (cv. VL Masoor 507) with the psychrotolerant Pseudomonas strains when combined with URP as a sole source of phosphorus resulting in significant enhancement in P uptake of the plants, compared to the application of rock phosphate alone.