Background: Legume is an essential alternative approach in the organic agricultural system to produce ecologically safe nitrogen (N),&nbsp;while restoring soil health in an appropriate mode to supply nutrients for subsequent crops. The experimental study was conducted in the summer (March) 2024 at Tamil Nadu rice research institute, Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu to study the residual effect of Sunnhemp varieties either alone or incorporation along with rice stubbles and their impact on nutrient availability of soil, soil organic carbon and yield attributes of succeeding rice in sunnhemp-rice cropping system. 
 
Methods: The field trial was set up in a split-plot design with fivefold replication during the summer of 2024, with the main plot consisting of two Sunnhemp varieties (V1&nbsp;- ADT 1, V2&nbsp;- CO 1) and the subplot comprising of Rice residues (W1&nbsp;- Without residues, W2&nbsp;- With residues). The treated Sunnhemp varieties were ADT 1 and CO 1; the succeeding rice variety was ADT 57. 
 
Result: The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the two varieties in terms of nutrient release pattern. The residual effect of Sunnhemp variety (ADT 1) with residues (V1W2) contributed sustained release of nitrogen (143.4 kg/ha), phosphorus (22.9 kg/ha) and potassium (56.4 kg/ha). The increase in soil organic carbon from the initial level was also 0.036% throughout the crop growth, which has greatly influenced the growth and yield attributes and eventually resulted in the highest grain and straw yield of the succeeding rice crop.

Residual Management of Sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea) Varieties in Releasing Soil Nutrients and Their Impact on Succeeding Rice Crop

Background: Recycling of crop residues has gained attention over the past few decades due to its influence in sustaining the soil fertility and crop production. In this context, it is of crucial to study the effect of crop residue type, placement and tillage on decomposition and nutrient release in tropical agriculture.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: We conducted a litter bag decomposition experiment to evaluate the rate of mass loss, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) mineralization from crops residues. We used residues of cotton, maize and cowpea. 
 
Result: Result indicated that cowpea and cotton residues decomposed more rapidly than maize residues, with mass loss of 50-65% occurring within 40 days of placement. Plough depth placement resulted in faster decomposition than deep placement, with 78% of initial mass and nutrient contents lost at the end of 120 days. Over 50% of nutrient mineralization occurred in the first 30 days of decomposition from cowpea residues. At the end of the 120th day, 0.28%, 0.19% and 0.30% of total nitrogen content remained out of 2.15%, 0.86% and 1.22% of the initial total nitrogen in cowpea, maize and cotton residues, respectively. More than 48% of residue breakdown and nutrient mineralization occurred in the first 40 days of decomposition, suggesting that farmers can boost crop growth by choosing crop residues with a low and medium C:N ratio and placing residues at a plough depth (0-15 cm) using reduced tillage practices.

Exploring the Impact of Tillage Methods on Crop Residue Decomposition and Nutrient Release: A Litter Bag Study

Background: This study evaluates the benefit of zero tillage over conventional tillage for cultivating field pea (Pisum sativum L.) varieties in rice fallow system (RFS) during winter season of 2023 at Hengbung, Manipur. The study is conducted to compare the productivity of the two varieties V1-Aman (IPF 5-19), V2-Prakash (IPFD 1-10) with tillage practices, W1-zero tillage and W2-conventional tillage. Soil analysis after harvest is recorded for studying the residual effect. 
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Methods: The experimental design adopted is split plot design where the field pea variety, V1&nbsp;and V2&nbsp;is assigned in subplots and the tillage practices, W1&nbsp;and W2&nbsp;is assigned in the mainplots. The study involves four treatments (T) which are T1@V1W1, T2@V1W2, T3@ V2W1&nbsp;and T4@ V2W2 in 1hectare experimental farm at FGI, Hengbung in RFS replicated five times. The data for agronomic parameters were recorded and Soil chemical analysis for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were recorded to study the residual effect. 
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Result: The recorded agronomic parameters and their residual effect on soil nutrient indicates that zero tillage demonstrated better performance over conventional tillage with both the varieties. There is significant difference between the two varieties and also the nutrient released in soil after harvest where V1&nbsp;shows better performance in yield and nutrient release over V2&nbsp;and within the same varieties the treatment T1 and T3 shows better performance. The overall findings suggest that zero tillage significantly enhances the crop output of field pea cultivation in RFS.

Residual impact of Zero Tillage and Conventional Tillage on the Productivity of Field Pea Variety Aman (IPF 5-19) and Prakash (IPFD 1-10) under Rice Fallow System

<div style="text-align:justify">Photo selective shade net is a product made of plastic fibers connected together with each other, forming a regular porous structure and allowing gases, liquid and light to pass through. It has a capacity to selectively filter the intercepted solar radiation, in addition to their protective function. Vegetables are considered as protective food which are highly perishable in nature. High temperature due to global warming, climate change and excessive use of chemicals are some of the burning issues of vegetable production. Photo selective shade net can be a partial solution for these problems. Vegetable crops grown under different photo selective shade net shows productive responses thus by application of various Photo selective shade nets we can improve the quality as well as production of vegetable crops.</div>

Photo Selective Shade Net: An Effective Tool to Reduce the Impact of Global Warming and Pesticide Residues in Vegetable Production: A Review

Background: One of the main reasons for India&rsquo;s decreased food production is the depletion of soil fertility. The primary causes of soil deterioration are lack of awareness among farmers and lack of land use regulations. By limiting the erosion and enhancing the nutrients available to the crops, conservation agriculture increases the organic matter content of the soil and contributes to the improvement of field conditions. But compared to conventional agriculture, the practise of conservation agriculture is less advanced. And also there is a dearth of research on the use of crop residues for the management of soil fertility. So this study was undertaken in order to examine the impacts of crop residue, inorganic fertilizers and cropping system as a component of an integrated crop residues and fertility management system on nutrient uptake and net returns of greengram. 
 
Methods: The experiment consists of strip plot design and was carried out during 2020-21 and 2021-22 under zero till conditions at college farm, Rajendranagar, PJTSAU to study the effect of previous crop residues and fertility levels on succeeding greengram.&nbsp; 
 
Result: According to the data, greengram absorbed more nutrients at various growing stages. The residual effect of incorporation of residues treated with microbial consortia composed of Trichoderma viridae, Aspergillus awamori and Phanerocheate spp. along with 300:100:100 kg ha-1 of N, P2O5 and K2O (125% RDF) and phosphorous supplied in the form of single super phosphate (SSP) resulted in significantly higher financial returns. In greengram, residue incorporated plots outperformed residue burning, removal and retention plots with 125% RDF in terms of nutrient uptake, as well as monetary returns like gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio. In a similar vein, yield in residue-incorporated plots was higher than it was in residue-removal and in-situ burning plots during summer, 2021 and 2022.

Nutrient Uptake and Economics of Summer Greengram as Influenced by Residual Effect of Paddy Residues and Fertility Levels

Background: Farmers&rsquo; conventional tillage and residue removal practices in rice-maize-greengram systems in India are input-intensive, costly and soil degradative. A number of soil quality issues have emerged due to continuous cropping and burning of residues threatening the sustainability of rice based cropping systems for the last more than four decades. Nevertheless, the in-situ or in-field decomposition of crop residue using microbial inoculum is rarely studied. This necessitated the use of microbial consortia developed by a combination of potent strains of fungi which can perform harmoniously for rapid decomposition of crop residues. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted during 2020-21 and 2021-22 with eight residue-management treatments and three fertility levels to zero till maize at college farm, Rajendranagar, PJTSAU using strip plot design and the residual effect on the succeeding greengram was studied. 
 
Result: Greengram growth and yield were significantly higher under residual effect of incorporation of residues treated with microbial consortia consisting of Trichoderma viridae, Aspergillus awamori and Phanerocheate spp. along with 300:100:100 kg ha-1 of N, P2O5 and K2O (125% RDF) and P supplied in the form of single super phosphate (SSP) under zero tillage during summer, 2021 and 2022. Growth parameters like plant height, leaf area index, dry matter production and yield attributes like number of pods plant-1, pod length and number of seeds pod-1 in greengram were higher under residue incorporated plots compared to residue burning, removal and retention plots with 125% RDF.

Residual Effects of Microbial Treated Paddy Residues Applied to Zero Till Maize on Growth and Yield of Summer Greengram

Background: To work out the residual effect of rice residue, FYM and fertilizers on summer moong (Vigna radiate L.) in Rice-potato-summer moong cropping system. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: The present study was carried out at research farm, department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with two factors. Factor A contains&nbsp; five nutrient management treatments in potato (Rice residue+ 125 % NPK + 25 t ha-1&nbsp;FYM, Rice residue+ 100%&nbsp; NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM, Rice residue+ 75 % NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM, Rice residue + 125% NPK + 0 tha-1&nbsp;FYM and Without rice residue + 100% NPK+ 50 tha-1&nbsp;FYM) and factor B contains three&nbsp; nitrogen levels in&nbsp; summer moong&nbsp; (0 kg ha-1&nbsp;N, 6.25 kg ha-1&nbsp;N and 12.5 kg ha-1&nbsp;N ). 
&nbsp; 
Result: The plant height, branches, dry matter accumulation, LAI and chlorophyll content index were significantly affected with the treatments applied to preceding potato crop. The application of rice residue+ 125% NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM to potato crop resulted significantly higher plant height, branches, dry matter accumulation, LAI and chlorophyll content index of moong crop as compared to rice residue+ 75% NPK + 25 t ha-1&nbsp;FYM and rice residue+ 125% NPK + 0 tha-1&nbsp;FYM while at par to rice residue+ 100% NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM and without rice residue + 100 % NPK+ 50 tha-1&nbsp;FYM. The significantly higher biometric parameters were observed with 12.5 kg ha-1&nbsp;N which was significantly higher than the 0 and 6.25 5 kg ha-1 N. The application of rice residue+ 125% NPK + 25 t ha-1&nbsp;FYM to potato crop resulted significantly higher yield and yield attributing characters as compared to rice residue+ 75% NPK + 25 t ha-1&nbsp;FYM and rice residue+ 125% NPK + 0 tha-1&nbsp;FYM while at par to rice residue+ 100% NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM and without rice residue + 100% NPK 50 tha-1&nbsp;FYM. The application of higher dose of nitrogen @ 12 kg ha-1&nbsp;also significantly increased the yield and yield attributing characters as compared to lower doses of summer moong. The nutrients uptake ( N,P and K) was also maximum with rice residue+ 125% NPK + 25 t ha-1&nbsp;FYM which was at par to rice residue+ 100% NPK + 25 tha-1&nbsp;FYM and without rice residue + 100% NPK+ 50 tha-1&nbsp;FYM while significantly higher than other treatment. The application of higher dose of nitrogen @ 12 kgha-1&nbsp;in summer moong also significantly increased the nutrient uptake and protein content as compared to lower doses.

Residual Effect of Rice Residue, Fym and Fertilizers on Growth, Yield and Quality of Summer Moong (Vigna radiata L.) in Rice-Potato-Summer Moong Cropping System

<div>Background: Weeds are the most critical pest, which cause the highest yield reduction in food grain crops. Weeds interfere with maize growth by competing one or more growth limiting factors, controlling of weeds in maize during the critical period assumes great importance for realizing higher yield. Unavailability of relatively cheap labour in time necessitated the use of herbicides in maize. Residual impact of herbicides caused significant influence on germination and growth of succeeding crop. 
 
Methods: The field experiment was carried out during kharif 2019 at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai to evaluate the residual effect of herbicides used in preceding maize on succeeding blackgram. Treatments were application of pre emergence herbicide atrazine at 0.25 kg ha-1 or pendimethalin 1 kg ha-1 applied singly on 3 days after sowing and in combination with post emergence herbicide tembotrione 120 g ha-1 or halosulfuron methyl 90 g ha-1 on 25 DAS, weed free check, unweeded check in maize crop. 
 
Result: Among the weed control treatments, pre emergence herbicides atrazine 0.25 kg ha-1 or pendimethalin 1 kg ha-1 singly and in combination with post emergence herbicides tembotrione 120 g ha-1 or halosulfuron methyl 90 g ha-1 applied in maize crop did not caused any phyotoxicity and residual impact on succeeding blackgram. However, the highest plant height (29.5 cm), dry matter production (1.17 g plant-1) and seedling vigour index (1473) of succeeding blackgram was recorded in atrazine at 0.25 kg ha-1 as pre emergence at 3 DAS followed by tembotrione at 120 g ha-1 as post emergence at 25 DAS.</div>

​​Preceding Maize Crop Herbicide Residual Effect on Germination, Growth and Vigour of Succeeding Blackgram

<div style="text-align: justify;">Crop residue management (CRM) through conservation agriculture can improve soil productivity and crop production by preserving soil organic matter (SOM) levels. Two major benefits of surface-residue management are improved organic matter (OM) near the soil surface and boosted nutrient cycling and preservation. Larger microbial biomass and activity near the soil surface act as a pool for nutrients desirable in crop production and enhance structural stability for increased infiltration. In addition to the altered nutrient distribution within the soil profile, changes also occur in the chemical and physical properties of the soil. Improved soil C sequestration through enhanced CRM is a cost-effective option for reducing agriculture&#39;s impact on the environment. Ideally, CRM practices should be selected to optimize crop yields with negligible adverse effects on the environment. Crop residues of common agricultural crops are chief resources, not only as sources of nutrients for subsequent crops but also for amended soil, water and air quality. Maintaining and managing crop residues in agriculture can be economically beneficial to many producers and more importantly to society. Improved residue management and reduced tillage practices should be encouraged because of their beneficial role in reducing soil degradation and increasing soil productivity. Thus, farmers have a responsibility in making management decisions that will enable them to optimize crop yields and minimize environmental impacts. Multi-disciplinary and integrated efforts by a wide variety of scientists are required to design the best site-specific systems for CRM practices to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability while minimizing environmental impacts.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Crop Residue Management for Sustenance of Natural Resources and Agriculture Productivity</div>

<div>Background: Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important cereal crop and its demand is increasing due to its versatile use but the productivity in India is still low. The basic requirement for improving the crop productivity is soil fertility and it is highly related with soil organic matter. Due to unavailability of organic manure and their higher cost, cheaper the organic source available at farm should be explored to meet the requirement. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted at College Agronomy Farm, B.A. College of Agriculture, AAU, Anand during summer-kharif seasons of years 2017 and 2018 to examine the impact of legume crop residue and nitrogen levels on maize crop. Experiment comprised of three legume crops grown in summer season viz., green gram, groundnut and cluster bean, two residue management treatments viz., residue removal and incorporation and three nitrogen levels in kharif maize viz., 100%, 75% and 50% recommended dose of nitrogen. 
 
Result: Results indicated that cluster bean-maize sequence provided the highest leaf area and leaf area index at 60 days after sowing, chlorophyll content and dry matter production at 30 and 60 days after sowing and crop growth rate for of maize crop. Incorporation of legume residues also had significant effect on plant height, dry matter production and chlorophyll content; leaf area and leaf area index at 60 days after sowing and crop growth rate and absolute growth rate of maize crop. Application of 100% RDN beneficially affected all the growth parameter and indices. Overall, summer legume cropping with their residue incorporation and higher nitrogen levels favourably impacts on various growth parameters and growth indices of maize crop.</div>