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Influence of leguminous cover crops on microbial and selected enzyme activities in soils of a plantation
Author(s) -
Dinesh R.,
Suryanarayana M. A.,
Shyam Prasad G.,
Bandyopadhyay A. K.,
Nair A. K.,
Sharma T. V. R. S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1522-2624(199901)162:1<57::aid-jpln57>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - cover crop , arylsulfatase , soil water , agronomy , biomass (ecology) , chemistry , total organic carbon , horticulture , biology , environmental chemistry , ecology , enzyme , biochemistry
A study dealing with ecological sustainability of plantation based land use initiated in 1991 in a 19 yr old coconut plantation consists of growing certain leguminous crops like Atylosia, Pueraria, Centrosema and Calopogonium as soil cover in separate plots with lemon grass as live bounds. These cover crops are grown during the rainy season and incorporated into the soil towards the end of the monsoon every year. The effect of such cover crops on soil microbial counts (total counts, fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria), biomass C, organic C, total N and on the activity of enzymes like urease, amidase, L‐glutaminase, aryl sulphatase and dehydrogenase was determined in soils (Ap horizon) collected from these plots after 5 years. Soils with cover crops registered significantly higher microbial biomass, biomass C, organic C and total N compared to control. Consequently, all the enzymes were activated to different degrees in soils with cover crops. Significant and positive relationships of enzyme activities with organic C, mineral N and total N suggested that growing cover crops, increased C turnover and N availability and therefore, provided a conducive environment for microbial proliferation, enzyme synthesis and accumulation in the soil matrix.