Tillage, green manuring and crop residue management impacts on crop productivity, potassium use efficiency and potassium fractions under rice-wheat system

The conventional crop production practices including intensive tillage and open field residue burning in world’ largest rice-wheat system (RWS) are adversely affecting productivity besides deteriorating natural resources ecosystems’ sustainability. In order to improve productivity, potassium (K) use efficiency apparent K balance, adoption of conservation a RWS with management is considered highly effective. We therefore, studied the effect wheat straw retention green manure (GM) rice (main plot treatment), subsequent (sub-plot treatments) on its transformation amongst different fractions variable solubility. These results revealed that along GM significantly (p < 0.05) increased yields by ∼5.3–6.7% ∼10.2–16.9%, compared (CT) without GM. Green manuring during intervening period (CTRW0+GM) grain uptake ∼36.2% than plots no-GM (CTRW0). However, it ∼29.8% under CTRW25+GM, CTRW25-GM treatment. As CTRW0, CTRW0+GM reciprocal internal 3.8 kg Mg−1 yield (∼29.5%). CTRW25+GM RIUEK 3.3 (∼22.4%), (CTRW25). Although, balance was net negative for CTRW25, ZTWR100 treatments, yet there decreased mining 56–262 ha−1 (∼11.9–61.2%) CTRW25 over CTRW0 ZTWR0. yield, were related enrichment water soluble K, exchangeable non-exchangeable-K, hydrochloric acid extractable-K, lattice-K total ∼1.3, 3.4, 18.6, 11.0 34.1%, respectively due retention, no residue. Therefore, puddled transplanted (CTR) (CTRW25+GM), zero (ZTWR100) emerged as valuable technological options mitigating soil degradation effects food grains north-western India.