Sequestered organic carbon status in the soils under different land uses in northern region of Haryana.
Gupta M. K., Sharma S. D., Manoj Kumar
Author Affiliation: Forest Soil & Land Reclamation Division, Forest Research Institute, P.O. New Forest, Dehra Dun - 248 006, Uttarakhand, India.
Annals of Forestry 22 : 19-32
Abstract : Soil organic carbon (SOC) stock was estimated in five land uses viz. forests, plantations, horticulture, agriculture and agroforestry in northern Haryana, comprising Ambala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula and Yamunanagar districts. Total 1560 soil samples were collected from 223 sites from a depth of 0-30 cm. In forest area, the SOC under miscellaneous forest was maximum followed by chir, dhak and sal. Difference in the SOC stock under different species in the forests was statistically non-significant. Under plantation land use, organic carbon stock in the soils under neem was highest followed by eucalyptus, khair, teak, poplar and shisham. The SOC under neem was significantly higher than that under teak, poplar and shisham. Under horticulture land use, the amount of SOC was non-significantly different under ber, aonla, mango, guava and citrus. However, the amount was highest in ber and lowest in citrus orchard. In agroforestry land use, bajra-poplar and rice-poplar model held more than three times high soil organic carbon as compared to haldi-poplar model. Wheat-poplar and wheat-eucalyptus model held nearly double organic carbon in their soils in comparison to haldi-poplar model. Over all, in northern region of Haryana, maximum SOC stock was under forests (57.96 t ha-1) followed by plantation (39.46 t ha-1), horticulture (38.02 t ha-1), agroforestry (30.10 t ha-1) and the minimum SOC stock was under agriculture land use (24.94 t ha-1). SOC stock under forests was statistically significantly different from the SOC stock under plantation, agroforestry, agriculture and horticulture.