Agricultural management practices and soil quality-A study on agricultural lands of Hanna Village, Balochistan, Pakistan

Agricultural management practices influence soil health.In this study,agricultural lands of cold arid Hanna village,Balochistan,Pakistan,were studied to assess soil properties and the abundance of soil macrofauna species.Five orchards,five tree-based intercropping（TBI） systems,two croplands and a barren unprotected rangeland were sampled.Soil properties,such as texture,concentrations of organic matter（SOM）,organic carbon（SOC）,mineral nitrogen and bioavailable phosphorus,pH and electrical conductivity were analyzed.The abundance and species of soil surface-dwelling and upper soil layerdwelling（0-5 cm） macrofauna were also measured.Orchards and croplands were older than TBI systems.Results revealed that SOM and SOC ranged between15.05 to 32.87 g kg-1 and 8.97 to 19.06 g kg-1respectively.The highest concentration of SOM and SOC were found in the fields of 22 yrs old orchard(32.87±5.87 g kg-1 SOM and 19.06±3.40 g kg-1 SOC)and in a most diversified field under 3 years of TBI management system(26.21±2.94 g kg-1 SOM and15.20±1.70 g kg-1 SOC).The most diversified TBI field had two ant species co-existing（Solenopsis invicta and Camponotus pennsylvanicus）.The diversified TBI fields despite of being younger（3 to 6 years） than other fields,had more diversified soil macrofauna and some of them also had higher concentrations of SOM and SOC.Generally,the agricultural systems under reduced tillage practice and had been receiving both synthetic and organic fertilizers（manure）,also had significantly higher concentrations of SOM and SOC than the same agricultural systems（cropland or orchards）,which were under intense tillage practice or receiving no fertilizer input.Our results demonstrate that the diversified cropping systems with the reduced（shallow） tillage and the amendment of both synthetic and organic fertilizers,promoted soil quality in this cold-winter desert.This study is a source of evidence for the farmers of this region,which highlights the importance of conservation agriculture and crop diversification under TBI system for improving soil quality.It warrants further investigation to evaluate biological indicators of soil health（soil microbial biomass,microbial diversity,microfauna,mesofauna and macrofauna） being influenced by various management practices in this region.Furthermore,the relationship between soil quality and crop production under various management practices in this region needs to be evaluated.Such an extensive study will further help encourage farmers to adopt the best management practice in their fields.