Soil CO2 Emission under Different Tillage Practices in Major Soils of Kerala

摘要

International responsibility is increasing in India to adopt a more pro-active role in greenhouse gas emission. Hence, it is important to develop a clear understanding of our emission inventory towards reducing Carbon dioxide (CO_(2)) emissions. Soils are an important pool of active carbon and tillage can lead to carbon emission from agricultural soils. This study assess the quantity of CO_(2) release from three major soils (red loam, coastal sandy and paddy field soil) of Kerala under different tillage practices(conventional, with cultivator and with rotovator) and to optimize the tillage practices with minimum CO_(2) emission. The CO_(2)emission from soil surfaces was measured using base trap method with Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as base. The influence of soil temperature, soil moisture content, organic matter in soil, soil pH, bulk density, atmospheric temperature and relative humidity on CO_(2) emission was assessed. The conventional tillage resulted in the maximum CO_(2 )emission followed by the tillage with cultivator and the least value was observed when tilled with rotovator. The maximum CO_(2) emission was observed in the paddy field soil followed by red loam and the least value was observed from the coastal sandy. The major quantity of CO_(2) was released just after the breakage of soil in all kind of tillage methods and became almost equal to the undisturbed condition after two hours of ploughing. The bulk density of soil was negatively correlated, organic carbon content was positively correlated, soil temperature was positively correlated and atmospheric temperature was positively correlated with CO_(2 )emission from the red loam soil in all the tillage practices. No significant correlation was obtained between relative humidity and soil moisture with CO_(2)emission.Tillage with rotovator contributed the minimum CO_(2) to atmosphere and significantly affects the concentration of CO_(2)in the atmosphere, ultimately contribute in mitigation of global warming.