International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

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International Journal of Sediment Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsrc

Original Research

Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon

sequestration and soil quality under cashews
Gopal Ramdas Mahajan a, *, Bappa Das a, Sandrasekaran Manivannan b,
Begur Lakshminarasimha Manjunath c, Ram Ratan Verma d, Sujeet Desai a,
Rahul Mukund Kulkarni a, Ashish Marotrao Latare e, Reshma Sale a, Dayesh Murgaonkar a,
Kiran Puna Patel a, Shaiesh Morajkar a, Ashwini Desai a, Natasha Barnes f, Heena Mulla g
a
Natural Resource Management, ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Old Goa, Goa, 403 402, India
b
ICAR - Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Regional Centre, Fern Hill Post, Udhagamandalam, Tamil Nadu, 643 004, India
c
Division of Fruit Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560 089, India
d
Division of Crop Production, Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226 002, India
e
Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221 005, India
f
Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR e National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403 004, India
g
Goa University, Taleigaon Plateau, Goa, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Land degradation is becoming a serious problem in the west coast region of India where one of the
Received 18 January 2020 world's eight biodiversity hotspots, the ‘Western Ghats’, is present. Poor land management practices and
Received in revised form high rainfall have led to increasing problems associated with land degradation. A long-term (13-year)
27 July 2020
experiment was done to evaluate the impact of soil and water conservation measures on soil carbon
Accepted 28 July 2020
Available online xxx
sequestration and soil quality at three different depths under cashew nut cultivation on a 19% slope. Five
soil and water conservation measures - continuous contour trenches, staggered contour trenches, half-
moon terraces, semi-elliptical trenches, and graded trenches all with vegetative barriers of Stylo-
Keywords:
Land degradation
santhes scabra and Vetiveria zizanoides and control were evaluated for their influence on soil properties,
Microbial activity carbon sequestration, and soil quality under cashews. The soil and water conservation measures
Microbial biomass carbon improved significantly the soil organic carbon, soil organic carbon stock, carbon sequestration rate and
Minimum dataset microbial activity compared to the control condition (without any measures). Among the measures
Soil erosion tested, continuous contour trenches with vegetative barriers outperformed the others with respect to
Western Ghats soil organic carbon stock, sequestration rate, and microbial activity. The lower metabolic quotient with
the measures compared to the control indicated alleviation of environmental stress on microbes. Using
principal component analysis and a correlation matrix, a minimum dataset was identified as the soil
available nitrogen, bulk density, basal soil respiration, soil pH, acid phosphatase activity, and soil avail-
able boron and these were the most important soil properties controlling the soil quality. Four soil
quality indices using two summation methods (additive and weighted) and two scoring methods (linear
and non-linear) were developed using the minimum dataset. A linear weighted soil quality index was
able to statistically differentiate the effect of soil and water conservation measures from that of the
control. The highest value of the soil quality index of 0.98 was achieved with continuous contour
trenches with a vegetative barrier. The results of the study indicate that soil and water conservation
measures for cashews are a potential strategy to improve the soil carbon sequestration and soil quality
along with improving crop productivity and reducing the erosion losses.
© 2020 International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation/the World Association
for Sedimentation and Erosion Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: gopal.soil@gmail.com, gopal.mahajan@icar.gov.in (G. R. Mahajan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
1001-6279/© 2020 International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation/the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research. Published by
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
2 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
1. Introduction
Land degradation, a decline in soil quality (SQ) due anthropo-
genic activities has been a serious global issue during the 20th
Century and it will remain at the top of the international agenda in
the 21st Century as well (Lenka et al., 2012a). At the global level,
land degradation is important because of its impacts on food se-
curity and the environment. As per the latest estimates of degraded
and wastelands in India, the extent is 120 m ha comprising 36.6% of
the total geographical area of the country (Maji et al., 2010). Among
different types of land degradation, water erosion (more than 10 t
soil loss/ha/y) is a major contributor with an area of 73.3 m ha (25%
of the total geographical area of India). The land degradation is
increasingly extending along the Indian coastline for about
7,517 km (Venkataraman, 2012). Land degradation is becoming a
serious problem on the west coast of the country where one of the
world's eight biodiversity hotspots, the Western Ghats, is present
(Mythili & Goedecke, 2016; Sharma, 2009; Verma et al., 2018). The
State of Goa is a world-famous tourist destination and it is endowed
with vast biodiversity. Due to soil erosion, iron ore mining,
seawater intrusion and salinization and rampant urbanization, the
pace of the land degradation has been doubled over past two de-
cades (Sharma, 2009; Venkataraman, 2012; Verma et al., 2018).
Land degradation is a process wherein the soil structure and
other important properties deteriorate which poses a serious threat
to soil quality and health (Ahmad et al., 2013). Furthermore, it re-
duces the land productivity and impairs various ecosystem services
essential for the sustenance of overall human welfare
(Bhattacharyya et al., 2015; Nkonya et al., 2016). The land degra-
dation impacts productivity in two ways ea decline in soil quality
on the site where degradation occurs and deposition of sediment
off-site (Eswaran et al., 2001; Lal, 1990) and it could cause up to a
50% decline in productivity (Eswaran et al., 2001). The most
important land degrading process in this context is water erosion.
The largest terrestrial carbon (C) pool on the earth is soil which
holds about three times higher C than the earth's atmosphere (Ciais
et al., 2013; Jobbagy & Jackson, 2000). The relatively larger size and
longer residence time (about ~1,200 y) of the pool makes it a po-
tential carbon sink to sequester the atmospheric carbon (Post et al.,
1982). Inappropriate land use, unscientific soil management and
land degradation are the factors most responsible for soil carbon
depletion and strongly affect the carbon sequestration potential of
soils (Lal, 2004; Mchunu & Chaplot, 2012). However, rehabilitation
of degraded soils could be one of the viable and potential ways to
increase the carbon sink (Lal, 2004; Lenka et al., 2012a, 2013). The
agricultural and degraded soils with a carbon sink potential of
50%e60% of the historic carbon loss can offset 5%e15% of total
global fossil fuel emission. Further, the soil carbon sequestration
plays a pivotal role in enhancing food security and reducing land
degradation (Lenka et al., 2013). On the contrary, the continuous
land degradation process increases the net carbon flux to the at-
mosphere by higher emission and reduced carbon sink potential of
soils (Lenka et al., 2013). Thus, management practices which could
reduce the carbon efflux from soil and increase the carbon influx
are of paramount importance. A gliricidia hedgerow planting on a
5% and 10% slope with a trench planting of gliricidia was found to be
the most effective soil and moisture conservation measure for
finger millet cultivation to significantly improve the soil organic
carbon stock (20.36 Mg C/ha up to 0e0.2 m) and carbon seques-
tration rate (1.70 Mg C/ha/y up to 0e0.2 m) in addition to reducing
erosion and nutrient losses (Hombegowda et al., 2020). Use of
vegetative barriers of two species (Stylosanthes hamata and natural
grass) with two conservation methods (trench and no-trench
planting) on a degraded hillock under cashews and guava
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
improved the soil organic stock up to 34e40 Mg C/ha compared to
21 Mg C/ha for the control (Lenka et al., 2012a).
Soil biological and enzyme activity are important drivers of the
soil functioning and contribute to biogeochemical cycling, trans-
formation of the organic matter, and mineralization of nutrients
and their availability to plants (Costantini et al., 2018). The soil
enzyme activities are widely acknowledged as sensitive indicators
of the soil quality and health and key indicators of changes in the
soil management, soil health, microbial activity structure and pat-
terns, ecological stress, etc. The soil enzymes are synthesized by the
microbes, plant roots, soil fauna, etc. The process of soil erosion
causes loss of the fertile soil eroding away the soil organic matter
and other nutrients with it and further deteriorates the vegetation
growth. Poor aggregation due to erosion also exposes the soil
organic carbon (SOC) to further loss. The SOC being food for mi-
croorganisms could be the limiting factor reducing microbial ac-
tivity. Further, poor vegetation growth and microbial activity could
lead to poor soil enzyme activities.
While investigating the effects of erosion on soil functions in the
European vineyards, Costantini et al. (2018) found a reduction in
the soil biological activities, particularly the ability of the microbes
to decompose the soil organic matter due to the land degradation
caused by erosion. They also reported the trend of microbial and
enzyme activities is similar to that of SOC stock in degraded and
non-degraded lands. Yang et al. (2015) observed that erosion
negatively affects the soil microbial properties and the soil nutrient
accumulation and mineralization ability of soils for eroded slopes in
different watersheds in China. Thus, microbial and enzyme activity
encapsulates important and complex information about the soil
ecosystem in a very simple and informative manner.
The average annual rainfall of the west coast region of India is
2,888 mm and 80% of this is received from June to September.
Higher rainfall causes runoff and soil erosion on steep slopes.
Cashews are is one of the major crops which are grown on most
suited to steep slopes or hillocks. In India, there are about 3,900
cashew processing industries where around 1.5 million people,
especially women, are employed and area under the cashew crop is
1.105 million hectares (Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa
Development [DCCD], 2019). The productivity of cashews in this
region is low and one of the reasons could be the moisture stress
during the post-monsoon season which adversely affects the
flowering and fruit setting and ultimately the yield. Thus, a two-
pronged strategy that could reduce land degradation and increase
the soil C sequestration, and thereby increase the cashew nut
productivity is required (Lenka et al., 2013). Application of soil and
water conservation (SWC) measures with suitable land-use sys-
tems seems to be a viable option under such a situation.
The concept of the SQ incorporates the soil physical, chemical,
and biological indicators into a structure or index for assessing the
soil resources (Davari et al., 2020). The SQ could be affected by land
management practices and land-use changes (Marzaioli et al.,
2010) as these can deteriorate the soil's physical, chemical and
biological quality (Qi et al., 2018). The changes in the attributes of
the SQ and its processes can further influence crop growth and soil
productivity (Tellen & Yerima, 2018). Thus, understanding the
relation between the SQ and land-use changes and management
practices is necessary. The attributes of the SQ are strongly related
to the slope position, gradient, and aspect (Khormali et al., 2009;
Nabiollahi et al., 2018a). Of these, the slope gradient has greatest
influence on the SQ as it affects the other soil properties and crop
yield the most (Ceddia et al., 2009; El Kateb et al., 2013; Paz-Kagan
et al., 2016; Saha et al., 2010).
SQ assessment approaches might be helpful to give better ideas
about the nature, characteristics, quality, and productivity of soils
prone to erosion and could be useful in sustainable planning and
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
utilization of soils for alternative purposes. The lands with large
slope gradients that were converted to agriculture from forests are
characterized by low values of the SQ indices (SQIs) and suggest the
use of sustainable practices for recovering the SQ (Nabiollahi et al.,
2018a). They reported a song and negative correlations of SQIs with
the soil loss rate and it was largest for the weighted SQIs. Land
degradation activities reduced the SQ by 44.5% when analyzed
using non-linear scoring of MDS approach (Davari et al., 2020). All
the SQIs developed and tested by Nabiollahi et al. (2018b) were
significantly greater in the forest land than the croplands clearly
indicating that the SQ is considerably reduced by deforestation.
They suggested the use of best management practices to reduce
erosion and land degradation and maintain and improve the SQ to
keep the lands productive.
SQIs have been widely used by the researchers to evaluate SQ
under a variety of production systems and climatic conditions
(Askari et al., 2015; Askari & Holden, 2014; Basak et al., 2016; Cheng
et al., 2016; Guo et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2014; Masto et al., 2007;
Mishra et al., 2017; Ngo-Mbogba et al., 2015; Ram et al., 2016;
Shahid et al., 2013; Sharma et al., 2005, 2008). The SQ assessment
approaches might be helpful to give better ideas about nature,
characteristics, quality and productivity of soils prone to erosion
and could be useful in sustainable planning and utilization for
alternative purposes. Owing to the negative impact of land degra-
dation on crop yield and soil properties, the assessment of the SQ
under the best management practices to reduce soil erosion and
land degradation is required.
Thus, the current study was undertaken on a thirteen-year-old
SWC experiment with the objectives 1) to study the effects of
SWC measures on C sequestration, soil organic carbon stock (SOCS)
and microbial activity and 2) to identify a suitable soil quality
indexing method using minimum data set (MDS) of soil properties
to understand the effect of SWC measures on SQ. The innovation of
the current study was to use the concept of SQ to understand the
impacts of the SWC to reduce erosion loss and crop productivity,
carbon sequestration, and SQ under cashew cultivation. To achieve
this, different bioengineering measure (SWC measures) we imple-
mented and evaluated for their effect on several soils related pa-
rameters and further the information was attempted to encapsulate
in a form of suitable SQI.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental site
The experiment was done at Block C research farm of the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research e Central Coastal Agricultural
Research Institute, Old Goa, Goa, India. The experimental site was
located at 15
290 2800 N and 73
5501400 E (69 m above mean sea
level). The mean slope of the experimental area was 19%. The study
area has a warm tropical climate with an average annual temper-
ature of 27.9
C. The soil temperature regime is iso-hyperthermic.
The average rainfall of the area is 2,885.5 mm with 122 rainy
days. The rainfall distribution is unimodal. The southwest monsoon
contributes a major portion of the rainfall (more than 80%). The
month of July receives maximum the rainfall.
The experimental site was under conditions of bushes and
sparse wild cashew plants and forest trees before the study was
done. It was not cultivated with any crop in the past. The experi-
mental site was cleared to establish the experimental conditions.
While clearing the land due care was taken to remove the roots and
any other kind of biomass so as to nullify the effect of the root
biomass of previous plants on the soil properties. Slight re-
finements were done to the natural slope to maintain a uniform
slope of 19%. The observations were made after 13 years in the
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
3
current study and this is a sufficiently long time to negate the effect
of the root biomass on the parameter studies. Moreover, the
method of clearing the land was the same for the entire study area
suggesting uniform (more or less) soil properties at the start of the
experiment. The soil of the experimental site was predominantly
lateritic with soil pH of 5.5. The soil is characterized by a reddish-
brown, medium acid, and gravelly clay loam Aehorizon and a
dark red, medium acid, and clay loam to gravelly clay Behorizon.
The soils of the study area fall under Typic ustorthents as per the U.S.
Department of Agriculture classification (Soil Survey Staff, 1999).
The water holding capacity of the soil was moderately low. Before
the start of the experiment, the soil had electrical conductivity (EC)
of 0.10e0.14 dS/m, cation exchange capacity of 11.8e12.7 cmol (pþ)/
kg, and SOC content of 0.79%e1.10%. The soils were low (44e107 kg/
ha), low to medium (10e13 kg/ha) and medium (128e226 kg/ha) in
soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively.
The initial soil fertility analysis was done for samples drawn from
0 to 0.3, 0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m depths.
2.2. Experimental details
The experimental area was divided into six uniform size (75 m
 17.5 m) runoff plots. Five different types of SWC measures were
imposed on five different plots and one plot was kept as a control,
i.e., without any conservation measures (Fig. 1a). The five SWC
measures studied were continuous contour trenches, staggered
contour trenches, graded trenches, half-moon terraces, and semi-
elliptical trenches all with vegetative barriers of Stylosanthes sca-
bra and Vetiveria zizanoides. Detailed descriptions of the treatments
are as follows:
 Treatment 1 - Continuous contour trenches þ Stylosanthes
scabra þ Vetiveria zizanioides (continuous contour trench): The
trenches are applied over the field length with a top width of
0.45 m, bottom width of 0.30 m, and depth of 0.45 m were made
continuously along the contour at a vertical interval of 1 m. Two
rows of Stylosanthes scabra followed by one row of Vetiveria
zizanioides at a spacing of 0.5 m were planted as vegetative
barriers on the downstream side of the trench bund.
 Treatment 2 - Staggered contour trenches þ Stylosanthes
scabra þ Vetiveria zizanioides (staggered contour trench): The
trenches 2 m length with a top width of 0.45 m, bottom width of
0.30 m, and depth of 0.45 m were prepared in a staggered
manner of an aligned contour at a vertical interval of 1 m. Two
rows of Stylosanthes scabra followed by one row of Vetiveria
zizanioides at a spacing of 0.5 m were planted as a vegetative
barrier on the downstream side of the trench bund.
 Treatment 3 - Graded trenches þ Stylosanthes scabra þ Vetiveria
zizanioides (graded trench): The trenches are applied over the
field length with a top width of 0.45 m, bottom width of 0.30 m
and depth of 0.45 m, and were dug with 1% grade. Two rows of
Stylosanthes scabra followed by one row of Vetiveria zizanioides
at a spacing of 0.5 m were planted as vegetative barriers on the
downstream side of the trench bund.
 Treatment 4 - Semi elliptical trenches þ Stylosanthes
scabra þ Vetiveria zizanioides (semi-elliptical trench): Trenches
of 2 m in length, top width of 0.45 m, bottom width of 0.30 m
and depth of 0.45 m were dug in respect to each plant in a semi-
elliptical manner on the upstream side of the plant. Two rows of
Stylosanthes scabra followed by one row of Vetiveria zizanioides
at a spacing of 0.5 m were planted as vegetative barriers on the
downstream side of the trench bund.
 Treatment 5 - Half-moon terraces þ Stylosanthes
scabra þ Vetiveria zizanioides (half-moon terrace): The semi-
circular terraces were placed on the downstream side of the
4 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1. Schematics of the (a) soil and water conservation measures (treatments) laid out in the field for experiment and (b) soil sampling scheme.

plant constructed at a distance of 1.5 m radius. Inward slope was
maintained and two rows of Stylosanthes scabra followed by one
row of Vetiveria zizanioides at a spacing of 0.5 m were planted at
the edge of the terrace.
 Treatment 6 - Control: Without any SWC measure.
The cashew variety ‘Goa Cashew 1’ was planted at a spacing of
4 m  4 m (high-density cropping model) in a square pattern. The
planting of the grafts was done in June 2001. During the initial years
of establishment a uniform amount of irrigation water was pro-
vided during the post-monsoon months. The recommended culti-
vation practices and plant protection measures were applied
uniformly to all the treatments (Manivannan & Korikanthimath,
2007). The amounts of the fertilizer nitrogen (N), phosphorus
pentoxide (P2O5) and potassium oxide (K2O) applied were as per
the age of plants as follows e one year old e 100:80:0 kg/tree, two-
year-old e 200:80:60 kg/tree, three-year-old e 400:120:120 kg/
tree and four-year-old and above e 500:125:125 kg/tree. Fertilizer
nutrients were applied to a 10e15 cm deep trench opened around
the plant as per the recommended distance and it was covered with
the soil (Manivannan & Korikanthimath, 2007). The weed man-
agement operations were done during every monsoon season and
post-monsoon manually and using a brush cutter to keep the
experimental plot clean and for in situ organic matter addition. The
field view of the selected treatments in the experimental field at
various stages is shown in Fig. 2.
2.3. Runoff, soil and nutrient losses
For estimation of the runoff and soil loss, a randomized block
design with three replications was utilized; however, time replica-
tion was followed for monitoring hydrological parameters for five

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Fig. 2. Field photographs of the (a) control plot and (b) continuous contour trench with vegetative barriers at the beginning, (c) establishment of vegetative barrier plot with
continuous contour trench and (d) continuous contour trench with vegetative barriers with a well-grown cashew crop.

years (2002e2006) (Manivannan & Korikanthimath, 2007). At the
downstream outlet of each treatment plot, a 60 cm H type flume
structure was constructed. Daily runoff was determined from the
runoff hydrograph recorded by the automatic water stage level
recorder installed on the stilling wells which were constructed near
the 60 cm H Flume structure. An N-2 model Coshocton wheel
sampler was installed at the outlet of the H flume in all the experi-
mental plots. The discharge from the measuring H flume fell upon a
water wheel inclined slightly from vertical. A sampling head, with a
narrow opening along its top was mounted on the wheel. For a
revolution, the slot cut across the water jet from the flume and ex-
tracts a small portion of the flow. The extracted portion or sample
poured through a closed conduit to a sample storage tank. The runoff
collected in silt collecting tanks was thoroughly mixed and imme-
diately a representative sample was drawn in a 1,000 ml plastic
bottle. Silt in the runoff samples was allowed to settle down. After
draining the excess water, the soil was placed in a hot air oven and
dry weight was recorded. The soil loss was estimated in proportion
with the total runoff that occurred in a particular rainfall event. From
the individual event, the annual soil loss was estimated out and
converted to a sediment yield per unit area. The total nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium content of the silt samples were esti-
mated and their losses per unit area were calculated using the data
on soil loss (Manivannan & Korikanthimath, 2007).
2.4. Soil sampling
The soil sampling was done from 0 to 0.3, 0.3e0.6, and
0.6e0.9 m depths by using a soil sampling auger. The sampling was
done during January 2014, i.e., after the 13th year of establishment
of the experiment. The detailed sampling scheme used in the cur-
rent investigation is shown in Fig. 1b. The experimental plots were
divided into three different terrains e upper, middle, and lower.
From each of terrain, soil samples were collected from 0 to 0.3,
0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m depths with three replicates. The samples
from similar depths were mixed to compose a sample representa-
tive of the terrain. This way for each plot, a total of nine soil samples
were collected and three representative soil samples from three
different terrains were prepared for further laboratory analysis.
Depth-wise soil core samples also were collected separately for
measurement of the bulk density (BD) and for this purpose a core
sampler was used. The sample was drawn very close to the sample
collected for analysis of the other soil properties. The depth-wise
undisturbed soil cores collected were capped with plastic caps
and transported to the laboratory for further analysis. As per Lee
et al., (2009), suggested corrections to BD measurements for esti-
mating soil organic carbon stock under simulated tillage and
reduced tillage up to a depth of 0.40 m. The experimental site they
used was planted to wheat (Triticum aestivum), maize (Zea mays),
sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and ‘Sierra’ chickpea (Cicer arieti-
num cv. Sanford). In the present study, no-tillage operation was
carried out after planting and imposing the soil and water con-
servation measure except the application of the fertilizer, irrigation,
etc. to the basins of the plants. The Cashew is a perennial and
plantation crop and required less or minimum tillage operations
unlike the field crops. The interspace between the cashew plants
was also not intercropped to get accurate measurements of the soil
and runoff loss under the solo crop and to assess the effect of SWC
measures. The samples collected for the BD measurement were not
disturbed and BD was measured in each core sample collected
without mixing of samples to prepare replicates.
2.5. Soil analysis
The collected soil samples were analyzed for physical, chemical
and biological properties using the standard methodology. The
soil BD was determined using the core method (Black et al., 1965).
The SOC was determined using the Walkley and Black's
wetedigestion method (Jackson, 1973). The soil available nutri-
ents were estimated as - soil available nitrogen (N) by alkaline
potassium permanganate method (Subbaiah & Asija, 1956), soil
available phosphorus (P) by a colorimetric method (Bray & Kurtz,
1945), and soil available potassium (K) in ammonium acetate
extract using a flame photometer (Jackson, 1973). The 0.15% cal-
cium chloride (CaCl2) extractable sulphur (S) (Williams &
Steinbergs, 1959) and hot water-soluble boron (B) (Gupta, 1967)
were estimated using a spectrophotometer.
2.6. Soil organic carbon stock and SOC sequestration rate
The SOC Stock was calculated for the incremental layers of
0e0.3, 0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m. The calculation was done using the

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
6 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
measured SOC, BD, and depth or thickness of each layer separately.
The SOC stock was calculated using the formula given below
(Hombegowda et al., 2016; Lenka et al., 2013; Saha et al., 2010; van
Straaten et al., 2015).
SOC stock (Mg C/ha) ¼ (SOC (%)/100)  BD (Mg/m3)  Soil thickness
(m)  10,000 (1)
Further, the total SOC stock up to 0.9 m was calculated by
summation of the SOC stock of 0e0.3, 0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m.
The soil C sequestration rate (CSR) was calculated by comparing
the SOCS for a particular treatment to that of the control plot. The
total SOC sequestered was the difference between the SOC stock for
a given treatment and that for the control. The CSR was calculated
using the following formula,
SOC sequestration rate (CSR) ¼ (CCt  CC)/n
where CSR ¼ SOC sequestration rate (Mg/ha/y), CCt ¼ SOC stock for
a given conservation treatment, Cc ¼ SOC stock for the control, and
n ¼ number of intervening years between the initial, and the year of
comparison.
2.7. Soil microbial and enzyme activities
The field moist soil samples were gently sieved through a 2 mm
sieve and were used for determining soil biological parameters.
One of the basic soil microbial properties, i.e., basal soil respiration
(BSR) was determined using the incubation and titration method
(Anderson, 1982). Sieved field moist soil (10 g) was weighed and
placed in an airtight 1 L capacity conical flask. A vial containing
20 ml of 1M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was kept hanging and a
conical flask was air tightened. The soil was allowed to incubate at
28 ± 2
C for 10 days. The amount of (CO2eC) evolved and trapped
in alkali was estimated by adding phenolphthalein and titrating
against 0.5M hydrochloric acid (HCl). Before titration, a saturated
barium chloride (BaCl2) solution was added to precipitate the car-
bonates and bicarbonates as barium carbonate.
The microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in moist soil was deter-
mined immediately after sampling by the fumigation extraction
method (Vance et al., 1987). Chloroform fumigated and unfumi-
gated soils (20 g) were extracted with 100 ml of 0.5M potassium
sulphate (K2SO4). The MBC in the extract was estimated after
oxidation with 0.2N potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) at 100
C for
half an hour. The MBC was calculated using the formula,
MBC¼ (Cf  Cuf)/Kex
where MBC is soil microbial biomass carbon in mg/kg soil, Cf and Cuf
are 0.5M K2SO4 extractable organic carbon in fumigated and
unfumigated soils, respectively, and Kex is the efficiency of extrac-
tion, a value of 0.45 has been used for the calculation. The moisture
content of the same soil samples was determined simultaneously
for calculating the MBC.
The MBC as a fraction of SOC was expressed in percentage terms
and computed from MBC and SOC values. The metabolic quotient
(qCO2) was calculated as a ratio of BSR to MBC and expressed as mg
CO2eC per mg MBC per day (Anderson & Domsch, 1993).
The dehydrogenase activity (DHA) was estimated using the
triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) method (Tabatabai, 1982) and
it was expressed as microgram triphenylformazan (TPF) formed per
gram of soil per day. The acid phosphatase activity (PHA) was
determined by measuring the amount of the para-nitrophenol
released as a microgram per gram soil per day. The urease activ-
ity was estimated as the amount of urea hydrolyzed during
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
incubation (Tabatabai, 1982) and was expressed as microgram s
urea hydrolyzed per gram per hour.
2.8. Statistical analysis
The data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and the results were compared at a 5% level of signifi-
cance. The effect of treatments, i.e., SWC measures, on the soil
properties and SQ was tested using Tukey's Honest Significant
Difference (HSD) method (Tukey, 1977). Scoring and indexing were
performed using Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Office 2010). All the
statistical analysis were done using the Statistical Analysis System
(SAS) version 9.3 software (SAS Institute, 2012).
(2) 2.9. Soil quality index (SQI)
The soil properties which differed significantly (p < 0.05) due to
the SWC measures were identified and considered for analysis
using the principal component analysis (PCA) (Hotelling, 1933)
(Rotation method - varimax with Kaiser normalization) for MDS
development. Amongst all the principal components (PCs), only
those with eigenvalues > 1 and which contributed at least 5% of the
variance present in the dataset were chosen. Further, the soil
properties having an absolute value within 10% of the highest
loading factor in a given PC were identified to consider for the MDS.
Correlation between the variables identified in each PC was done to
identify the redundant variables. If the correlation coefficient be-
tween two variables was >0.75, the variable with the highest PC
score was retained and considered as a variable for the MDS. The
PCA and correlation analysis were used to reduce the dimension-
ality of the dataset and identify meaningful underlying variables for
the formation of the MDS (Doran & Parkin, 1994). The SQIs were
computed using a scoring function analysis framework. The SQIs
were developed using three steps as follows: Step 1: a selection of
indicators or appropriate soil properties, Step 2: scoring of the in-
dicators through a transformation of soil properties (indicators)
into unitless scores, and Step 3: aggregation into an index (Fig. 3).
Each indicator was transformed into a unitless combinable score
ranging from 0 to 1 using two general standard scoring functions
(SSF) for SQIs, i.e., linear and non-linear scoring (Table 7). The
suitable scoring algorithm was selected based on the influence of
each indicator on the quality of soils. The ‘positive’ SSF was used
when increase in the indicator or property value is associated with
increase in the SQ and thus imply that higher the indicator value
(3) high is better is the SQ. The linear (LP(x)) and non-linear (NLP(x)
scores) for a positive function were calculated as follows:


x  LT
LP ðxÞ ¼ 0:1 þ  0:9 (4)
O  LT
1
NLP ðxÞ ¼  b (5)
1þ x
LB
where x is the observed value of the soil variable, LT is a lower
threshold, O is the optimum value, LB is a lower baseline of a soil
variables, and b is the slope of the equation (see Table 7 for other
parameters).
The ‘negative’ SSF was used when increase in the indicator or
property value is associated with decrease in the SQ and thus
implying that lower the indicator value better is the SQ. The linear
(LN(x)) and non-linear score (NLN(x)) for a negative function was
calculated as follows:
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 3. Schematics of the process for soil quality index development.


xO
LN ðxÞ ¼ 1   0:9
UT  O
1
NLN ðxÞ ¼  b
1þ x or in filtering the sediment. Temporary ponding of the water above
UB
where UT is an upper threshold, and UB is an upper baseline of a
soil variable (see Table 7).
The indicators that are positively related to SQ up to an optimum
value or range beyond which they negatively impact the SQ, third
function, ‘optimum’ SSF was used. In this function, all the values for
a variable within the optimum value or range were given a score of
1, while the positive or negative function was implied depending on
the effect of that variable on SQ. The indicator weights of the MDS
variables were determined as the ratio of percentage variance
explained by a PC to cumulative percent variation explained by all
the PCs. Further, the additive SQI (SQIA) and weighted additive SQI
(SQIW) were computed as follows,
X
n significant effect on soil pH, no specific trend was observed in the
SQIA ¼ Si =n
i¼1
X
n type of soil reaction and it is due to the presence of a high amount
SQIw ¼ Wi Si
i¼1
where, Wi is the indicator weight, Si is the score of the indicator and
n is the number of indicators. The SQIA and SQIW computed using
the linear score are denoted as linear SQIA (SQILA) and linear SQIW
(SQILW) and those using non-linear scores are denoted as non-
linear SQIA (SQINLA) and SQIW (SQINLW).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Soil and nutrient loss through runoff
Table 2 lists the data on the runoff, soil and nutrient loss, and
crop productivity. Based on the five year average of observations,
the continuous contour trench was found to be the best treatment
for conserving soil and water, with the lowest runoff loss (12.8%, the
runoff as a percentage of rainfall) and soil loss (12.3 t/ha). The
highest runoff loss (23.1%) and soil loss (23.6 t/ha) were recorded
for the control plot. The reduction of runoff and soil loss in the
continuous contour trench compared to the control plot was 44.5%
and 47.8%, respectively. A similar trend also was found for total N, P
and K loss. As the runoff and soil loss was reduced for continuous
contour trench, the nutrients flowing along with runoff also were
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
7
reduced. The highest nutrient losses were recorded for the control
plot. In general, the order of the treatments for the loss parameters
was continuous contour trench < staggered contour trench < semi-
elliptical trench < graded trench < half-moon terrace < control. The
full-length physical barrier across the plot for the continuous
contour trench reduces the velocity of runoff and allows water it to
infiltrate from the trench. The continuous contour trenches divide
the plot into compartments and reduce the erosive power of the
runoff. This could be the probable reason for the best performance
among all the treatments studied.
Rejani and Yadukumar (2010) reported a reduction in runoff loss
in cashew crop using staggered contour trenches with coconut
husk burial (20% of rainfall), modified crescent bund (27% of rain-
fall), and reverse terrace treatment (27% of rainfall) compared to the
control plot (37% of rainfall). The current study revealed a reduction
in soil loss with SWC treatments which was attributed to the
reduction in runoff and its flow velocity. The grass hedges effec-
(6) tively block the flowing water and filter the sediment through the
grass hedge strips and the final flow velocities for Bahia, Vetiver,
and Daylily were found as 0.12, 0.17, and 0.19 m/s (Cao et al., 2015).
(7) These grasses exhibited similar efficiencies in reducing the soil loss
the barriers reduces the runoff velocity and promote the sediment
deposition, and further the runoff was delayed due to detention
storage created by the barriers (Adhikary et al., 2017). A reduction
in nitrogen loss of 80.9%e85.0% and phosphorus loss of 91.2%e
92.5% with two contour hedgerows intercropping over control was
observed by Wang et al. (2012), and this reductions were attributed
to two major mechanisms of reduced runoff volume and sediments
loss. Gliricidia with trench planting reduced the loss of N, P and K by
62%e65%, 54%e58% and 51%e56%, respectively compared control.
3.2. Soil physical and chemical properties
The data on the effect of the SWC measures on the soil pH, EC
and BD are listed in Table 3. Although the SWC measures had a
(8) treatments or depths. The soil pH at different depths 0e0.3,
0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m varied as 5.23e5.77, 5.39e5.84 and
5.41e5.70, respectively. The soils of the experiment had an acidic
(9) of oxides and hydroxides of iron and aluminum (Singh et al., 2017a;
Verma et al., 2018). As expected, the EC was insignificantly affected
by the SWC measures.
The soil BD was found to have statistically significant differences
for the SWC measures used and depths of study. The SWC measures
had comparatively lower BD than the control (1.06 Mg/m3) and the
order was found to be continuous contour trench (0.94 Mg/m3),
staggered contour trench (0.96 Mg/m3), semi-elliptical trench
(0.98 Mg/m3), graded trench (0.99 Mg/m3), and half-moon terrace
(1.02 Mg/m3). In general, the BD increased with depth. The BD is an
indicator of soil health and generally known to be affected by soil
cover, organic matter, soil structure, compaction, and soil porosity.
The soils with loose, well aggregated, porous structure and those
rich in soil organic matter have lower BDs. The better performance
for BD of the continuous contour trench treatment might be due to
the better root growth as a combined effect of trenching and the
vegetation barrier (Table 2). The current observations are consis-
tent with those by Lenka et al. (2012b).
It is evident from Table 1 that the SWC treatments reduce the
runoff significantly. A higher runoff percentage indicates the sus-
ceptibility of soil to erosion and it could be result of lower organic
matter and aggregates in the soils. Further, the eroded particles fill
the pore spaces and reduce the porosity, increasing BD and runoff
losses. The depth-wise increase in BD might be due to an increase in
8 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
the compaction of subsurface soil layers and reduced root growth
as the depth progressively increases. As pointed out earlier, BD
determines soil aggregate formation affecting the soil water infil-
tration rate, and thus, storage of water in the soil profile, improving
the moisture content of the soil. The current study showed a
beneficial effect of the lower BD on the yield of cashews more
particularly for the best treatment, continuous contour trench (2.9 t
nut/ha; Table 1). Low BD might have helped with better retention of
moisture which is one of the limiting factors at the time of flow-
ering and fruiting in the summer.
The SWC measures affected the available N, P, S and B content
significantly (p < 0.05); however, among the depths the effect was
insignificant (Table 2). In general, the lowest values of these nu-
trients were for the control plot, whereas the trend in different SWC
measures was as follows: continuous contour trench > staggered
contour trench > semi-elliptical trench > graded trench > half-
moon terrace. The continuous contour trench had significantly
higher values of the available N, P, K, S, and B as 217e251 kg/ha,
8.92e10.2 kg/ha, 126e211 kg/ha, 16.9e18.2 mg/kg and
0.89e1.07 mg/kg, respectively. Higher available N and S content
could be attributed to higher litter input through higher leaf
biomass production and increased organic matter accumulation
due to the SWC measure and its subsequent mineralization
(Schnitzer & Khan, 1975). Subsequently, increased microbial ac-
tivity and organic matter decomposition result in the formation of
the organic acid which might have helped to solubilize the native as
well as the applied phosphate (Arcand & Schneider, 2006;
Gyaneshwar et al., 2002; Schneider et al., 2019).
The available K was significantly higher for the SWC treatments
compared to the control at 0e0.3 m of depth, however, differences
in K insignificant at depths of 0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m. This effect
might be due to the loss of K along with the soil and runoff loss from
surface and leaching losses in the subsurface. The S is less miner-
alizable compared to C and N. The current study showed an in-
crease in the available S content in soil for different SWC treatments
compared the control. According to Schoenau and Malhi (2008)
conservation management practices reduce the loss of the mobile
inorganic form of S (sulphate, SO2 4 ), improve soil organic matter
and accelerate the S mineralization rate. This might be due to better
retention of soil moisture, thus, favoring microbial activity thereby
releasing the inorganic form of S.
The SWC measures effectively improved available B and its
concentration ranged from 0.53 to 0.90 mg/kg for different treat-
ments compared to the control (0.50 mg/kg). The B availability as
influenced by the SWC measures followed a similar trend as that of
N, P, and S.
3.3. Soil organic carbon (SOC) content, soil organic carbon stock
(SOCS), soil organic carbon sequestration rate (CSR)
The effect of the SWC treatments on the SOC content was sig-
nificant (p < 0.05) for all the three depths (Table 3). The trend of the
SOC content at different depths was 0e0.3 m (1.23%e
2.37%) > 0.3e0.6 m (0.73%e2.18%) > 0.6e0.9 m (0.62%e2.04%). The
SOC content decreased with the increasing depth. The highest SOC
content (2.37%) was measured for the continuous contour trench
treatment at a shallower depth of 0e0.3 m. The SOC content was
increased by 111%e115% in 0e0.3 m, 198%e229% in 0.3e0.6 m, and
159%e229% in 0.6e0.9 m depth compared to the control plot and
the initial value of the continuous contour trench treatment,
respectively. The interesting thing noticed was that, although the
SOC content was lower at deeper soil depths, the increase
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
compared to the control plot and initial value was higher at deeper
depths. Thus, SWC measures not only improved the SOC content of
the upper depths but also at the lower depths. The SOC deposited at
lower depths is less affected by the erosion losses and oxidation to
become carbon dioxide.
The effectiveness of the treatments to improve the SOC content
can be ranked as continuous contour trench > staggered contour
trench > semi-elliptical trench > graded trench > half-moon
terrace > control. When comparing the initial SOC values with the
control plot, there was a reduction in SOC content at 0.3e0.6 and
0.6e0.9 m depths, whereas at the 0e0.3 m depth SOC remained
more or less the same. Closer SOC content up to 0.3 m depth
initially in soil water conservation treatments and in the control
plot might be due to a reduction in soil erosion because of the
vegetation developed to cover the soil surface due to high rainfall.
The decrease in SOC content in the control plot as compared to the
initial value at the lower depth (0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m) could be
attributed to the clearing of the land which eventually stopped
deep root growth and allowed the former roots to decompose. The
treatments including Stylosanthes scabra, a quick and thick N fixing
perennial forage legume, which has added and deposited the fresh
biomass present above and below the ground, and their continuous
turnover resulted in increased SOC content (Lenka et al., 2013;
Montagnini & Nair, 2004; Oelbermann & Voroney, 2007). The in-
crease in SOC content in upper depths (0e0.3 m) might be due to
the deposition of fresh leaf litter biomass and fine root growth of
Stylosanthes scabra and Vetiveria zizanioides compared to lower
(0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m) depths. Moreover, the vegetative barriers
of two rows of Stylosanthes scabra and one row of Vetiveria ziza-
nioides might have prevented the loss of SOC through sedimenta-
tion of runoff. If a profile depth up to 0e0.9 m is considered,
continuous contour trench increased SOC content by 168%
compared to the control plot. All the treatments significantly
improved the SOC compared to the control except the half-moon
terrace.
The study site is located in the North Goa district of the State of
Goa. The SOC content of the North Goa district ranges from 0.21% to
6.15% and has an average value of 1.99%. The cashew-based crop-
ping systems had an average SOC content of 2.55% (Verma et al.,
2018). As per the land resource inventory of Goa at 1:10,000
scale, the areas similar to the experimental site have been reported
to have SOC content as high 3.99% in topsoil layers and 1.76% in the
0.56e0.9 m layer (Singh et al., 2017a). Thus, it is evident from the
studies reported that the plantation crop-based system had high
SOC content. Higher SOC could be attributed to the carbon build up
in areas under the forest and plantation crops where the rate of
litter addition is high and the rate of decomposition is slow (García-
Palacios et al., 2013; Verma et al., 2018).
Cultivation of the plantation crops like cashews under such soil
situations has been prevalent in the West Coast region of India. In
the current study, the magnitude of increase in mean SOC
(0e0.9 m) for the continuous contour trench was 168% over the
control and 137% over initial values. At 0e0.3 m depth, the SOC
increase for the continuous contour trench was 137% over the
control and 115% over the initial values. Lenka et al. (2013) found an
increase up to 122% over the initial value after six years of appli-
cation of the SWC measures of trenching and vegetative barriers for
fruit crops on a hillock with slopes varying from 15% to 20%. The
SWC measures of hedgerows (Gliricidia sepium and Indigofera
teysmanni) and grass filter strips (a local species -Saccharum spp.)
could improve the SOC content by 41.5% up to a depth of 0e0.3 m
on a 2%e5% slope in five years (Lenka et al., 2012b).
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

Table 1
Runoff loss, soil loss, nutrient loss and productivity of cashew nut under different soil and water conservation measures under cashew nut.

Treatment Percentage of runoff to rainfall (%) Soil loss (t/ha) N loss (kg/ha) P loss (kg/ha) K loss (kg/ha) Productivity (t/ha)

Continuous contour trench 12.8 (44.5) 12.3 (47.8) 16.2 0.3 19.2 2.9
Staggered contour trench 15.1 (34.6) 15.1 (36.0) 18.0 0.5 28.1 2.6
Semi-elliptical trench 16.1 (30.3) 17.1 (27.5) 18.7 0.8 30.8 2.6
Graded trench 17.8 (22.9) 18.3 (22.4) 19.7 1.2 35.4 2.4
Half-moon terrace 18.1 (21.6) 19.2 (18.6) 19.5 1.2 32.2 2.4
Control 23.1 23.6 35.8 1.9 52.0 0.8

(Source: Manivannan & Korikanthimath, 2007).

Values in the parenthesis indicate reduction percentage over control treatment.

Table 2
Depth-wise soil physical and chemical properties under different soil and water conservation measures after 13 years under cashew cultivation.

Treatment 0e0.3 m 0.3e0.6 m 0.6e0.9 m Mean

pH1:2.5
Continuous contour trench 5.41 ± 0.06ABa#,$ 5.51 ± 0.06ABa 5.62 ± 0.09Aa 5.51 ± 0.05C
Staggered contour trench 5.23 ± 0.05Bb 5.39 ± 0.05Bb 5.59 ± 0.04Aa 5.4 ± 0.06C
Semi-elliptical trench 5.77 ± 0.13Aa 5.84 ± 0.06Aa 5.67 ± 0.14Aa 5.76 ± 0.06A
Graded trench 5.37 ± 0.15ABa 5.47 ± 0.14Ba 5.41 ± 0.04Aa 5.42 ± 0.06C
Half-moon terrace 5.49 ± 0.03ABb 5.63 ± 0.01ABa 5.7 ± 0.03Aa 5.61 ± 0.03ABC
Control 5.61 ± 0.05ABa 5.63 ± 0.04ABa 5.67 ± 0.04Aa 5.63 ± 0.02AB
Electrical conductivity (dS/m)
Continuous contour trench 0.09 ± 0.01Aa 0.04 ± 0.00Ab 0.03 ± 0.00Ab 0.05 ± 0.01A
Staggered contour trench 0.11±0Aa 0.03 ± 0.00Ab 0.03 ± 0.00Ab 0.06 ± 0.01A
Semi-elliptical trench 0.07 ± 0.02Aa 0.04 ± 0.00Aa 0.04 ± 0.01Aa 0.05 ± 0.01A
Graded trench 0.07 ± 0.01Aa 0.04 ± 0.01Aa 0.04 ± 0.00Aa 0.05 ± 0.01A
Half-moon terrace 0.08 ± 0.01Aa 0.03 ± 0.00Ab 0.03 ± 0.00Ab 0.05 ± 0.01A
Control 0.07 ± 0.02Aa 0.05 ± 0.01Aa 0.03 ± 0.01Aa 0.05 ± 0.01A
Bulk density (Mg/m3)
Continuous contour trench 0.92 ± 0.00Eb 0.94 ± 0.00Eab 0.96 ± 0.01Ca 0.94 ± 0.01E
Staggered contour trench 0.95 ± 0.01Db 0.96 ± 0.01DEab 0.97 ± 0.00BCa 0.96 ± 0.00DE
Semi-elliptical trench 0.98 ± 0.00Ca 0.97 ± 0.00DCa 0.98 ± 0.00BCa 0.98 ± 0.00DC
Graded trench 0.99 ± 0.01BCa 1.00 ± 0.01BCa 0.99 ± 0.00BCa 0.99 ± 0.00BC
Half-moon terrace 1.01 ± 0.01Ba 1.02 ± 0.00ABa 1.02 ± 0.02Ba 1.02 ± 0.01B
Control 1.03 ± 0.00Ab 1.04 ± 0.01Aab 1.11 ± 0.03Aa 1.06 ± 0.01A
Soil available nitrogen (kg/ha)
Continuous contour trench 217 ± 15.1Aa 234 ± 4.18Aa 251 ± 50.2Aa 234 ± 15.9A
Staggered contour trench 184 ± 4.18ABb 213 ± 0.00ABa 180 ± 4.18ABb 192 ± 5.53B
Semi-elliptical trench 155 ± 4.18BCa 167 ± 16.7BCa 146 ± 18.2ABCa 156 ± 7.85B
Graded trench 109 ± 18.2Ca 125 ± 7.24Ca 100 ± 0.00BCDa 112 ± 6.76C
Half-moon terrace 41.8 ± 8.36Da 71.1 ± 15.1Da 66.9 ± 8.36CDa 59.9 ± 7.17D
Control 25.1 ± 0.00Da 37.6 ± 7.24Da 37.6 ± 7.24Da 33.5 ± 3.62D
Soil available phosphorus (kg/ha)
Continuous contour trench 10.2 ± 1.14Aa 9.91 ± 0.42Aa 8.92 ± 0.94Aa 9.69 ± 0.49A
Staggered contour trench 5.92 ± 0.63Ba 5.03 ± 0.75Ba 5.49 ± 0.77Ba 5.48 ± 0.38B
Semi-elliptical trench 4.71 ± 0.16BCa 3.49 ± 0.07BCb 3.28 ± 0.04BCb 3.83 ± 0.23C
Graded trench 4.1 ± 0.09BCa 2.93 ± 0.04Cb 3.10 ± 0.06BCb 3.38 ± 0.19CD
Half-moon terrace 3.17 ± 0.13Ca 2.64 ± 0.03Cb 2.71 ± 0.09Cb 2.84 ± 0.1CD
Control 2.89 ± 0.06Ca 2.25 ± 0.06Ca 2.25 ± 0.32Ca 2.46 ± 0.14D
Soil available potassium (kg/ha)
Continuous contour trench 211 ± 14.3Aa 154 ± 13.5Ab 126 ± 10.8Ac 163 ± 11.6A
Staggered contour trench 209 ± 16.2Aa 146 ± 15.6Ab 124 ± 11.6Ac 159 ± 14.8A
Semi-elliptical trench 212 ± 19.7Aa 152 ± 19.4Ab 118 ± 14.3Ac 130 ± 15.3A
Graded trench 203 ± 21.5Aa 148 ± 20.1BAb 113 ± 12.8Ac 154 ± 16.4A
Half-moon terrace 216 ± 13.5Aa 149 ± 13.9Ab 119 ± 13.6Ac 161 ± 13.8A
Control 179 ± 16.9Ba 146 ± 15.4Ab 122 ± 10.8Ac 152 ± 16.4A
Soil available sulphur (mg/kg)
Continuous contour trench 16.9 ± 0.47Aa 16.5 ± 0.13Aa 18.2 ± 0.47Aa 17.2 ± 0.32A
Staggered contour trench 13.1 ± 0.91Ba 13.7 ± 0.72Ba 15.8 ± 0.79Aa 14.2 ± 0.58B
Semi-elliptical trench 9.85 ± 0.94Cb 12.1 ± 0.22Bab 12.7 ± 0.13Ba 11.5 ± 0.51C
Graded trench 8.04 ± 0.52Cb 7.91 ± 0.65Cb 11 ± 0.13Ba 8.99 ± 0.56D
Half-moon terrace 3.5 ± 0.6Db 5.57 ± 0.13Dab 7.00 ± 0.81Ca 5.36 ± 0.59E
Control 1.94 ± 0.22Db 4.54 ± 0.26Da 5.06 ± 0.39Ca 3.85 ± 0.50E
Soil available boron (mg/kg)
Continuous contour trench 0.89 ± 0.02Aa 0.74 ± 0.03Aa 1.07 ± 0.37Aa 0.90 ± 0.12A
Staggered contour trench 0.81 ± 0.03Aa 0.75 ± 0.08Aa 0.77 ± 0.07Aa 0.77 ± 0.02AB
Semi-elliptical trench 0.76 ± 0.03ABa 0.64 ± 0.06Aa 0.74 ± 0.03Aa 0.71 ± 0.04AB
Graded trench 0.65 ± 0.03BCa 0.55 ± 0.04Aa 0.55 ± 0.05Aa 0.58 ± 0.04B
Half-moon terrace 0.64 ± 0.05BCa 0.55 ± 0.09Aa 0.41 ± 0.07Aa 0.53 ± 0.05B
Control 0.58 ± 0.03Ca 0.52 ± 0.02Aa 0.39 ± 0.09Aa 0.50 ± 0.03B
#
In a column values followed by similar capital letter indicate non-significance (among treatments).
$
In a row values followed by similar lower case letter indicate non-significance (among depths).

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
10 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 3
Depth-wise soil organic carbon, carbon stock and carbon sequestration rate under different soil and water conservation measures after 13 years under cashew cultivation.

Treatments 0e0.3 m 0.3e0.6 m 0.6e0.9 m Mean

Soil organic carbon (%)

Continuous contour trench 2.37 ± 0.08Aaab 2.18 ± 0.11Aa 2.04 ± 0.12Aa 2.20 ± 0.07A
Staggered contour trench 1.85 ± 0.05Ba 1.82 ± 0.06Ba 1.67 ± 0.14ABa 1.78 ± 0.05B
Semi-elliptical trench 1.72 ± 0.01Ba 1.32 ± 0.07Cb 1.36 ± 0.03BCb 1.47 ± 0.07C
Graded trench 1.43 ± 0.07Ca 1.13 ± 0.02Cb 1.03 ± 0.04CDb 1.20 ± 0.06CD
Half-moon terrace 1.23 ± 0.02CDa 1.01 ± 0.02CDb 0.91 ± 0.02Dc 1.05 ± 0.05DE
Control 1.00 ± 0.05Da 0.73 ± 0.12Dab 0.62 ± 0.11Db 0.82 ± 0.09E
Initial 1.10 0.90 0.79 0.93
Soil organic carbon stock (Mg C/ha)
Continuous contour trench 65.9 ± 2.1Aa 61.8 ± 2.9Aa 58.6 ± 3.3Aa 186.3 ± 5.1A
Staggered contour trench 52.3 ± 1.0Ba 52.5 ± 1.5Aa 48.7 ± 3.9ABa 153.6 ± 4.2B
Semi-elliptical trench 50.4 ± 0.10Ba 38.6 ± 1.8Bb 40.0 ± 0.6BCb 129.0 ± 5.7C
Graded trench 42.4 ± 2.0Ca 33.8 ± 0.3Bb 30.8 ± 1.1CDb 106.8 ± 5.7CD
Half-moon terrace 37.3 ± 0.40CDa 30.6 ± 0.8BCb 27.9 ± 0.2CDc 95.7 ± 4.2DE
Control 34.5 ± 1.6Da 22.7 ± 3.4Cab 20.5 ± 3.3Db 77.7 ± 7.8E
Soil organic carbon sequestration rate (Mg/ha/y)
Continuous contour trench 0.24 ± 0.01Aabb 0.30 ± 0.01Aa 0.29 ± 0.01Aa 0.84 ± 0.03A
Staggered contour trench 0.13 ± 0.00Bb 0.23 ± 0.02Aa 0.22 ± 0.01Ba 0.51 ± 0.06B
Semi-elliptical trench 0.12 ± 0.01Ba 0.12 ± 0.02Ba 0.15 ± 0.02BCa 0.39± 0.03C
Graded trench 0.06 ± 0.00Ca 0.08 ± 0.02Ba 0.08 ± 0.02CDa 0.21 ± 0.03D
Half-moon terrace 0.02 ± 0.01CDa 0.06 ± 0.02BCa 0.06 ± 0.02DEa 0.15 ± 0.03D
Control e e e e
a
In a column values followed by similar capital letter indicate non-significance (among treatments).
b
In a row values followed by similar lower case letter indicate non-significance (among depths).

The process of water erosion affects the surface horizon the
most and preferentially removes SOC from the surface layer and
formation of a stable soil-humus complex from the soil organic
matter accumulated is obstructed (Adhikary et al., 2017). This could
be one of the reasons for the improvement in SOC content with the
adoption of the SWC measures. The gliricidia trench planting
reduced the loss of SOC by 42%e47% over the control
(Hombegowda et al., 2020) indicating that reducing runoff and soil
loss is one of the ways to improve the SOC content. Improvement of
the SOC content by 28%e33% with silvopastoral agroforestry sys-
tems compared to open pastures has been reported by Haile et al.
(2008) they attributed the improvement it to the conjunctive ef-
fects of the fine roots the grass and trees at the surface and sub-
surface depths. The process of erosion inhibits the soil or clay-
humus complexes that are required for maintaining the soil phys-
ical properties (Hombegowda et al., 2020).
The SWC measures impacted the SOC stock significantly at
different depths (Table 3). The SOC stock at different depths fol-
lowed a trend of 0e0.3 m > 0.3e0.6 m > 0.6e0.9 m. The lowest SOC
stock of 34.5, 22.7 and 20.5 Mg C/ha was found in the control plot at
0e0.3, 0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m depths, respectively. It was noticed
that the conservation measures like continuous contour trench
could increase the SOC stock by 1.91 times (65.9 Mg C/ha at
0e0.3 m), 2.72 times (61.8 Mg C/ha at 0.6e0.9 m) and 2.85 times
(58.6 Mg C/ha at 0.6e0.9 m) compared to the control. Although,
there was a decrease in the SOC stock with depth, the increase in
the SOC stock compared to the control was in the order of
0.6e0.9 m > 0.3e0.6 m > 0e0.3 m. Among all the conservation
treatments the SOC stock was highest for the continuous contour
trench with 183.6 Mg C/ha up to 0e0.9 m against 77.7 Mg C/ha in
the untreated control. The next best treatments were staggered
contour trench and semi-elliptical trench (statistically equivalent),
these then followed by graded trench and half-moon terrace and all
these treatments had significantly higher SOC stocks than the
control.
The decline in the SOC stock in the control treatment by
40e102 kg/ha/y from the initial levels indicated that the degrada-
tion of the SOC stock in the unprotected lands (Adhikary et al.,
2017). The trend of results obtained in the current study was
compared to and found consistent with those reported by Lenka
et al. (2013). The C storage in different soil layers depends pri-
marily on the quality and quantity of the plant litter (Nair et al.,
2009). The vegetative barrier improves the SOC stock in the up-
per layer in two ways: 1) addition of decomposable organic matter
by deposition of biomass above and below ground, and 2) by
reducing the erosion and runoff loss physically as a barrier.
The CSR in the current investigation was computed with respect
to the control plot (Table 3). It was highest for the continuous contour
trench at three different depths 0e0.3 m (0.24 Mg C/ha/y), 0.3e0.6 m
(0.30 Mg C/ha/y) and 0.6e0.9 m (0.29 Mg C/ha/y). The order of
different SWC measures followed a similar trend as that of SOC
content and SOC stock. However, the trend of CSR was different for
the depth, it followed an order of 0.3e0.6 ¥ 0.6e0.9 m > 0e0.3 m. It
was more noticeable that the CSR was significantly (p < 0.05) higher
at the subsurface layers than the surface layer. The higher CSR rate at
the subsurface layer could be attributed to the better root growth of
the tree component (cashew) and C added to lower depths is also not
easily amenable to oxidation. On the contrary, the surface layer C can
be easily oxidized due to the management practices. The best per-
formance of the continuous contour trench (0.84 Mg C/ha/y up to a
depth 0e0.9 m) could be due to the vegetative cover with Stylo-
santhes scabra and Vetiveria zizanioides and the deeper root system of
the tree component.
The barrier effect of the continuous contour trench was com-
plimentary to this. The result obtained on CSR in the current study
is in agreement with those of Lenka et al. (2012b) who reported a
build-up rate of 3.5e4.5 Mg SOC/ha/y was possible using the Sty-
losanthes and grass cover in degraded hillocks of eastern India. The
erosion control and the SOC status are complementary to each
other. The higher soil organic matter reduces erosion by better soil
aggregation, soil quality, and soil functions (Carter, 2002; Lenka
et al., 2012a). The higher CSR due to conservation measures in
the study was also due to the barrier effect and consequent
retention of the sediment, SOC and nutrients in the treated plots
(Walter et al., 2003).
A SWC measure of two contour gliricidia hedgerows with
miniature trenches sequestered 1.62 Mg C/ha, of which 38.8% and
61.2% is due to soil reclamation and barrier effect, respectively

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx
(Adhikary et al., 2017). The potential sequestration of 0.5 Mg C/ha/y
SOC due to erosion control in the tropical region as per the Lal
(2008) reveals scope for improving the sequestration of C in the
study region through different erosion control mechanisms. The
potential silvopasture agroforestry system of slash pine (Pinus
elliottii) þ bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) representing spodosols
and ultisols in Florida seems a suitable C sequestration strategy
(Haile et al., 2008).
3.4. Soil microbial and enzyme activities
In addition to the SOC related properties, the SWC measures
resulted in significantly higher soil microbial activities e BSR, MBC
and qCO2 at different depths compared to control (Table 4). At all
the depths studied, the SWC measures significantly affected the
BSR. Irrespective of the depths tested, the lowest BSR was observed
for the control and the highest was for the continuous contour
trench treatment. The general order of the SWC measures for the
BSR was continuous contour trench > staggered contour
trench > semi-elliptical trench > graded trench > half-moon
terrace > control. The BSR showed an increase of 2.63%, 5.26%,
7.23%, 7.87% and 11.18% for half-moon terrace, graded trench, semi-
elliptical trench, staggered contour trench and continuous contour
trench treatments, respectively compared to the control.
Soil respiration is the second largest terrestrial carbon flux in the
world and small variations can provoke large fluctuation in atmo-
spheric CO2 concentration (Davidson et al., 1998; Iqbal et al., 2009).
Soil moisture is a key factor to regulate the BSR (Xu & Qi, 2001).
SWC measures like half-moon terraces with the subsoil tillage are
effective to reduce the runoff and improve the infiltration, and,
thereby, soil moisture dynamics (Kagambe
ga et al., 2011; Zougmore
et al., 2004). Thus, higher BSR with SWC measures could be the
result of higher moisture content and higher accumulation of soil
organic matter (Schnitzer & Khan, 1975). Higher retention of
moisture provides favorable soil water conditions which stimulate
the BSR by providing better access to substrate availability, pro-
moting root activity (Yan et al., 2007), or through enhanced mi-
crobial activity.
The treatment to record the highest MBC (39.18 mg/kg up to
0e0.9 m depth) was continuous contour trench, whereas, the
lowest values (15.7 mg/kg) was observed in the control. The
effectiveness of the treatments to increase the MBC was found in
order as continuous contour trench > staggered contour
trench > semi-elliptical trench > graded trench > half-moon
terrace > control. Irrespective of treatments, the MBC was found to
decrease with an increase in the depth and the order was
0e0.3 m > 0.3e0.6 m > 0.6e0.9 m. Though the MBC constitutes
normally a small portion (1%e5%) of soil organic carbon (Jenkinson
& Ladd, 1981; Smith et al., 1990), it is more dynamic and fluctuating
than the SOC or organic matter over a short period of time. Thus,
the MBC acts as a better indicator to judge the effect of short term
management changes than SOC (Ghosh et al., 2012). In the current
study, the higher MBC in SWC plots indicated the ameliorative ef-
fect of the treatments on the soil.
The MBC pool also is important as it contributes to the C
sequestration by the microorganisms. The C assimilation efficiency
of the microorganisms is about 10% and it is difficult to increase, but
increasing the MBC through increased microbial activity could be
one option in this context. Besides C sequestration, MBC plays an
important role in nutrient mineralization and ultimately the crop
yield. Studies on the effect of the management practices on the field
crops on plain lands (Banerjee et al., 2006; Cheng et al., 2016;
Dinesh et al., 2012; Kaur et al., 2008; Moharana et al., 2012; Preethi
et al., 2013; Yan et al., 2007) are amply available, but in tree crops,
Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
11
especially on high slope lands and high rainfall areas, studies are
very limited.
Contrary, to all the parameters studied, the qCO2 was found to
be highest for the control (1.03 mg CO2eC/g/h). The qCO2 was
found in the order as: control > half-moon terrace > graded
trench > semi-elliptical trench > staggered contour
trench > continuous contour trench. The qCO2 which is respiration
per unit microbial biomass is a parameter reflecting bio-energetic
changes in the developing ecosystem (Odum, 1969). Higher qCO2
indicates the stress on the microbial population as they have to
consume more C to maintain than growth. Thus, the microbes in
the control treatment are under stress and relatively inefficient to
assimilate more C compared to the SWC treatments. This also
explains the ameliorative effect of the SWC treatments while
rehabilitating the erosion-prone lands. The effect of the SWC
measures was insignificant on the enzyme activities - dehydro-
genase, phosphatase, and urease at three different depths (0e0.3,
0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m) (Table 4).
3.5. Minimum dataset (MDS)
The first three PCs with eigen values greater than 1 that
explained 85.87% of the variance were selected for further analysis
(Table 5). The variance explained by PC1, PC2 and PC3 was 63.34%,
12.14% and 10.37%, respectively. To minimize the redundancy
arising due to more than one variable retained under a single PC, a
multivariate correlation coefficient was used to eliminate and
retain important variables in a PC. The variables with the highest
absolute loading values were selected if the variables were found to
be correlated with a correlation coefficient of more than 0.75
(Table 6). Depending upon the importance of variables under rare
circumstances flexibility in criteria was followed to eliminate
remaining variables from the dataset. Those highly weighted non-
correlated variables were also considered important and were
retained in the MDS (Sharma et al., 2008). In PC1, seven variables
namely, N, P, S, BD, SOC, BSR, and MBC were qualified with eigen-
values of 0.94, 0.91, 0.92, 0.90, 0.96, 0.96 and 0.96, respectively.
Further these properties were found to be well correlated to each
other (r > 0.7). The BSR with the highest eigen value and repre-
sentative of the microbial properties was retained. The BD also was
retained as it is an important physical indicator of SQ that is linked
to soil hydraulic properties, porosity, compaction, etc. Nitrogen (N)
is ubiquitous in the environment and central to the production of
all crop plants. Thus, it acts as an indicator of the soil's ability to
store and recycle the nutrient, and, hence, it was also considered for
the MDS. In PC2, pH and PHP were identified for the MDS as they
had poor correlation (r ¼ 0.18). The experimental site had a soil pH
of 5.5e5.6 and under such a situation there is a possibility of
phosphorus fixation and reduced availability to plants. Acid PHP
increases the availability of P, and, hence, is considered a useful
indicator. A similar interpretation was reported earlier by Singh
et al. (2017b) who found PHP and phosphate solubilizing mi-
crobes as important indicators for the MDS. In PC3, B was the only
variable satisfying the criteria, and, therefore, was retained for the
MDS. Thus, the soil indicators identified for the MDS were N, BD,
BSR, pH, PHP, and B.
From a geostatistical point of view, the use of a reduced number
of the soil properties using the MDS approach can increase the
density of samples to improve the SQ evaluation (Rahmanipour
et al., 2014). Using the MDS approach could be an effective strat-
egy to minimize the time-consuming and expensive sampling and
analysis work for the agroecologically similar or the same areas
(Zeraatpisheh et al., 2020). Through the use of the MDS, some of the
redundant information on soil indicators is omitted which reduces
expenditure (Nabiollahi et al., 2018a). The basic reason behind
12 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

identifying the MDS soil indicators was to reduce the number of
properties to be tested to those which explain the maximum vari-
ation in the given ecosystem influenced by certain land manage-
ment practices. The soil properties identified for the MDS could be
used for evaluating the SQ under the plantation crop-based land
use on sloping lands of areas falling under ‘Agroecological Region
19 - Western Ghats and Coastal Plain, hot, humid-perhumid ecor-
egion (Mandal et al., 2016)’ of the country. The soil indicators of the
MDS in the current study have been suggested by researchers as a
useful indicator of SQ due to their influence on the soil supply ca-
pacity of nutrients, soil reaction and associated processes, soil
structure and porosity, aggregate stability, nutrient mineralization
through microbial processes, etc. (Biswas et al., 2017; Cheng et al.,
2016; Nabiollahi et al., 2018b; Qi et al., 2009; S anchez-Navarro
et al., 2015; Yao et al., 2013).
3.6. Soil quality indexing
Four SQIs were developed using linear and non-linear scoring of
the indicators selected for the MDS. The data pertaining to the ef-
fect of SWC measures on the SQ at 0e0.3, 0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m
depths are listed in Table 8. Among the four SQIs developed, the
significant (p < 0.05) variations were obtained for all the soil depths
using SQILW (SQI developed using the linear weighted method) and
with SQILA (SQI developed using the linear additive method) at the
0.3e0.6 m depth (p < 0.05). Thus, the linear weighted method was
found to be the best for assessing SQ under plantation crops like
cashews with different SWC measures. All the SWC measures had
significantly higher SQILW than the treatment with no SWC mea-
sures (control plot). Among the five SWC measures studied, the
highest SQILW was found for the continuous contour trench and it

Table 4
Soil biological properties e basal soil respiration (BSR), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), MBC as a fraction of soil organic carbon and metabolic quotient (qCO2) and enzyme
activities under different soil and water conservation measures after 13 years under cashew.

Treatment 0e0.3 m 0.3e0.6 m 0.6e0.9 m Mean

BSR (mg/g)
Continuous contour trench 16.9 ± 0.08Aaab 17.0 ± 0.25Aa 16.9 ± 0.08Aa 16.9 ± 0.08A
Staggered contour trench 16.6 ± 0.08ABa 16.5 ± 0.00ABa 16.5 ± 0.00ABa 16.5 ± 0.03B
Semi-elliptical trench 16.3 ± 0.14BCa 16.3 ± 0.08BCa 16.3 ± 0.08Ba 16.3 ± 0.06B
Graded trench 16.0 ± 0.00Ca 15.8 ± 0.08CDa 16.1 ± 0.08BCa 16.0 ± 0.05C
Half-moon terrace 15.5 ± 0.00Da 15.6 ± 0.08DEa 15.7 ± 0.17Ca 15.6 ± 0.06D
Control 15.2 ± 0.08Da 15.3 ± 0.00Ea 15.2 ± 0.08Da 15.2 ± 0.04E
MBC (mg/kg)
Continuous contour trench 39.8 ± 0.74Aa 39.2 ± 0.97Aa 38.6 ± 0.84Aa 39.18 ± 0.46A
Staggered contour trench 34.4 ± 1.97ABa 32.9 ± 1.78Ba 30.6 ± 1.43Ba 32.6 ± 1.03B
Semi-elliptical trench 28.9 ± 0.50BCa 28.0 ± 0.11BCab 26.6 ± 0.51Cb 27.84 ± 0.40C
Graded trench 27.3 ± 0.11Ca 26.2 ± 0.61CDa 20.9 ± 0.99Db 24.8 ± 1.05CD
Half-moon terrace 26.8 ± 0.06Ca 21.6 ± 0.83DEb 19.1 ± 0.17Dc 22.5 ± 1.16D
Control 18.8 ± 2.11Da 16.8 ± 2.20Ea 11.5 ± 0.33Ea 15.7 ± 1.40E
MBC as a fraction of SOC (%)
Continuous contour trench 1.68 ± 0.03Ba 1.80 ± 0.06Ba 1.9 ± 0.07Aa 1.79 ± 0.04B
Staggered contour trench 1.86 ± 0.06ABa 1.81 ± 0.04Ba 1.85 ± 0.11Aa 1.84 ± 0.04AB
Semi-elliptical trench 1.68 ± 0.02Bb 2.14 ± 0.10ABa 1.95 ± 0.00Aa 1.92 ± 0.07AB
Graded trench 1.92 ± 0.10ABb 2.32 ± 0.02Aa 2.01 ± 0.05Ab 2.08 ± 0.07AB
Half-moon terrace 2.18 ± 0.03Aa 2.15 ± 0.06ABa 2.10 ± 0.03Aa 2.14 ± 0.02A
Control 1.67 ± 0.12Ba 2.31 ± 0.15Aa 0.31 ± 1.96Aa 1.98 ± 0.14AB
qCO2 (mg CO2eC/g/h)
Continuous contour trench 0.42 ± 0.01Ba 0.43 ± 0.01Ca 0.43 ± 0.01Da 0.43 ± 0.00D
Staggered contour trench 0.48 ± 0.03Ba 0.50 ± 0.03CBa 0.54 ± 0.02CDa 0.51 ± 0.02CD
Semi-elliptical trench 0.56 ± 0.01Bb 0.58 ± 0.00CBb 0.61 ± 0.01Ca 0.58 ± 0.01BCD
Graded trench 0.58 ± 0.00Bb 0.60 ± 0.01CBb 0.77 ± 0.03Ba 0.65 ± 0.03BC
Half-moon terrace 0.58 ± 0.00Bc 0.72 ± 0.02ABb 0.82 ± 0.00Ba 0.70 ± 0.04B
Control 0.83 ± 0.10Ab 0.94 ± 0.14Aab 1.31 ± 0.04Aa 1.03 ± 0.09A
Dehydrogenase (mg/g/day)
Continuous contour trench 10.7 ± 3.43Aa 7.92 ± 2.26Aa 12.7 ± 6.8Aa 10.4 ± 2.39A
Staggered contour trench 9.00 ± 3.03Aa 29.8 ± 19.5Aa 8.75 ± 1.28Aa 15.9 ± 6.68A
Semi-elliptical trench 16.8 ± 6.48Aa 9.00 ± 3.78Aa 32.4 ± 13.8Aa 19.4 ± 5.70A
Graded trench 15.5 ± 7.88Aa 18.3 ± 7.89Aa 25.3 ± 7.37Aa 19.7 ± 4.13A
Half-moon terrace 11.7 ± 2.38Aa 20.2 ± 7.58Aa 7.58 ± 0.22Aa 13.1 ± 2.95A
Control 18.5 ± 3.21Aa 13.7 ± 6.19Aa 24.0 ± 6.13Aa 18.7 ± 3.07A
Phosphatase (mg/g/day)
Continuous contour trench 381 ± 0.80Aa 380 ± 0.60Aab 377 ± 0.74Ab 379 ± 0.65A
Staggered contour trench 378 ± 0.50Aa 374 ± 2.35Aa 375 ± 1.05Aa 375 ± 0.95A
Semi-elliptical trench 379 ± 0.65Aa 379 ± 0.93Aa 375 ± 3.24Aa 377 ± 1.18A
Graded trench 339 ± 37.5Aa 307 ± 77.0Aa 305 ± 78.4Aa 316 ± 34.0B
Half-moon terrace 381 ± 0.17Aa 379 ± 0.37Aab 379 ± 0.41Ab 380 ± 0.32A
Control 385 ± 0.30Aa 384 ± 0.22Aa 387 ± 2.80Aa 385 ± 0.95A
Urease (mg/g/h)
Continuous contour trench 360 ± 12.1Aa 350 ± 9.29Aa 374 ± 8.11Aa 361 ± 6.04A
Staggered contour trench 358 ± 12.6Aa 370 ± 7.70Aa 366 ± 15.2Aa 365 ± 6.36A
Semi-elliptical trench 381 ± 6.91Aa 363 ± 11.1Aa 363 ± 18.7Aa 369 ± 7.25A
Graded trench 364 ± 1.29Aa 374 ± 13.2Aa 318 ± 59.4Aa 352 ± 19.5A
Half-moon terrace 354 ± 14.2Aa 362 ± 15.3Aa 356 ± 12Aa 358 ± 7.04A
Control 368 ± 2.03Aa 375 ± 13.6Aa 360 ± 9.62Aa 368 ± 5.26A
a
In a column values followed by similar capital letter indicate non-significance (among treatments).
b
In a row values followed by similar lower case letter indicate non-significance (among depths).

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 13

Table 5 land degradation scenarios. The results reported by Nabiollahi et al.

Results of the principal component analysis of the soil indicators under the influence (2018a) indicated that the weighted SQI better indicated the SQ
of the soil and water conservation measures.
than the additive SQI for different land uses and sloping lands
Principal components PC1 PC2 PC3 affected by due to land degradation. Better performance of the
Eigen value 6.33 1.21 1.03 weighted SQI has also been reported by Guo et al. (2017),
Variance (%) 63.3 12.1 10.3 Mukherjee and Lal (2014), and Vasu et al., (2016). Davari et al.
Cumulative variance (%) 63.3 75.4 85.8 (2020) used an SQI developed using a weighted approach with
Weighted factor 0.74 0.14 0.12
non-linear scoring of the minimum data set (MDS) to evaluate the
Factor loading/eigen value
pH 0.26 0.72 0.13 effect of land degradation on the SQ and found that land degra-
N 0.94 0.04 0.14 dation activities have a negative impact on the SQI. They reported
P 0.91 0.08 0.13 that the conversion of forest into dry farming cultivation can cause
K 0.63 0.15 0.23
a decline of SQ up to a drop of 44.5%. In the present study, the SQ
S 0.92 0.11 0.18
B 0.06 0.00 0.98
declined by 11.2% in the control when compared to the best per-
BD 0.90 0.12 0.12 forming SWC measure, i.e., continuous contour trench. Similarly,
SOC 0.96 0.11 0.01 Nabiollahi et al. (2018b) identified non-linear scoring of total
PHP 0.16 0.80 0.11 dataset as an effective SQI approach to assess the SQ of forest and
BSR 0.96 0.005 0.10
agricultural lands and found that the SQ reduced due to the
MBC 0.96 0.08 0.02
deforestation. A weighted additive SQI using a non-linear scoring
PC, principal components; pH, soil pH in 1:2.5 soil to water suspension; N, P, K, S and
method of the MDS was found to be effective to assess the effect of
B, soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and boron, respectively;
BD, bulk density; SOC, soil organic carbon; PHP, acid phosphatase activity; BSR, basal
the slope gradient and land-use changes on the SQ (Nabiollahi et al.,
soil respiration; MBC, microbial biomass carbon. 2018a). The values of these SQIs were lowest for a large slope
gradient, and where land use was converted to agriculture from
forest, and correlated significantly and negatively with the soil loss
was 13.97%, 10.11% and 13.95% higher than that for the control at rate (r ¼ 0.40 to 0.55). Sustainable practices to recover the SQ
0e0.3, 0.3e0.6 and 0.6e0.9 m depths, respectively. The second best are suggested by such a low values of SQI.
SWC measure was the staggered contour trench which had a higher In the current study, the result pertaining to better performance
SQILW by 9.19%, 6.74% and 9.30% at 0e0.3, 0.3e0.6, and 0.6e0.9 m of the linear scoring methods are contrary to those reported by
depths, respectively, compared to the control. The lowest SQILW Davari et al. (2020), Nabiollahi et al. (2017, 2018a, b), and Sharma
was found for the control at all the depths except at 0e0.3 m for et al. (2008). The reason for the better performance of the linear
which it was equivalent to that for the semi-elliptical trench. scoring method could be attributed to the fact that the observed
The studies of Davari et al. (2020), Nabiollahi et al. (2018a), values of most of the soil variables of the MDS were less than the
Nabiollahi et al. (2017) and Sharma et al. (2008) suggest SQIs as an optimum function. The non-linear scoring methods are compara-
effective tool to understand the SQ under different land use and tively more difficult to calculate than the linear scoring methods

Table 6
Correlation matrix for the soil variables used for principal component analysis.

pH N P K S B BD SOC PHP BSR MBC

pH 1.00
N 0.26 1.00
P 0.28 0.81 1.00
K 0.13 0.34 0.31
S 0.17 0.93 0.80 0.13 1.00
B 0.08 0.20 0.03 0.08 0.24 1.00
BD 0.32 0.83 0.74 0.17 0.80 0.17 1.00
SOC 0.30 0.88 0.91 0.32 0.82 0.08 0.88 1.00
PHP 0.18 0.17 0.08 0.41 0.21 0.06 0.07 0.06 1.00
BSR 0.25 0.93 0.82 0.21 0.95 0.15 0.88 0.89 0.14 1.00
MBC 0.30 0.88 0.87 0.23 0.83 0.10 0.90 0.96 0.11 0.90 1.0

pH, soil pH in 1:2.5 soil to water suspension; N, P, K, S and B, soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and boron, respectively; BD, bulk density; SOC, soil organic
carbon; PHP, acid phosphatase activity; BSR, basal soil respiration; MBC, microbial biomass carbon.

Table 7
Standard scoring functions of different soil properties used in the present study.

Indicator Standard scoring Lower Upper Optimum Lower Upper Reference

function threshold threshold value baseline baseline

pH Optimum 0 14 5.5e7 2.75 10.5 Glover et al. (2000); Shahid et al. (2013)
BD (Mg/ Optimum 0 3 1e1.5 0.5 2.25 Glover et al. (2000)
m3)
N (kg/ha) Optimum 0 600 400 800 200 Shahid et al. (2013); Masto et al. (2008)
P (kg/ha) Optimum 0 100 50 25 75 Rao (1995); Shahid et al. (2013); Masto et al.
(2008)
B (mg/kg) Optimum 0 50 10 5 30 Shahid et al. (2013)
BSR (mg/g) Positive 0 400 e 200 e Haynes (2005)
PHP (mg/ Positive 0 600 e 300 e Shahid et al. (2013)
g/h)

pH, soil pH in 1:2.5 soil to water suspension; BD, bulk density; N, P, and B, soil available nitrogen, phosphorus, and boron, respectively; BSR, basal soil respiration; PHP, acid
phosphatase activity.

Please cite this article as: Mahajan, G. R et al., Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under
cashews, International Journal of Sediment Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2020.07.009
14 G.R. Mahajan et al. / International Journal of Sediment Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 8 improving the SQ of the top layer (0e0.3 m) of soil compared to the
Different soil quality indices as influenced by the soil and water conservation semi-elliptical trench and half-moon terrace treatments. The better
measures.
SQ under these SWC measures could be attributed to the better
Treatment 0e0.3 m 0.3e0.6 m 0.6e0.9 m Mean SWC efficiency and higher improvements in the soil properties
SQILA using these measures.
Continuous contour trench 0.89Aaab 0.89Aa 0.89Aa 0.89A
Staggered contour trench 0.84Aa 0.85ABa 0.84Aa 0.84ABC 4. Conclusion
Semi-elliptical trench 0.87Aa 0.86ABa 0.85Aa 0.86ABC
Graded trench 0.82 Aa 0.84Ba 0.83Aa 0.82C
Half-moon terrace 0.87 Aa 0.86ABa 0.9Aa 0.88AB The outcomes of the current study showed that the SWC mea-
Control 0.82 Aa 0.84Ba 0.85Aa 0.84BC sures applied to sloping lands under cashew cultivation have a
SQILW significant potential to improve the soil organic carbon stock, mi-
Continuous contour trench 0.99Aa 0.98Aa 0.98Aa 0.98A
crobial activities and soil quality. All the SWC measures were
Staggered contour trench 0.95Ba 0.95Ba 0.94ABa 0.95B
Semi-elliptical trench 0.95BCa 0.94Ba 0.94ABa 0.94B effective over the control conditions (without SWC measures). The
Graded trench 0.90DEa 0.91Ca 0.92Ba 0.91C most efficient measure was continuous contour trenches with a
Half-moon terrace 0.91CDa 0.91Ca 0.93Ba 0.92C vegetative barrier with the potential to sequester more carbon up
Control 0.87Ea 0.89Da 0.86Ca 0.87D to a depth of 0.9 m by alleviating of microbial stress and
SQINLA
Continuous contour trench 0.81Aa 0.80Aa 0.80Aa 0.80AB
improvement in the soil quality. The soil properties e soil available
Staggered contour trench 0.76 Aa 0.76Aa 0.75Aa 0.76B nitrogen, bulk density, basal soil respiration, soil pH, acid phos-
Semi-elliptical trench 0.77 Aa 0.77Aa 0.76Aa 0.77AB phatase activity and soil available boron formed the minimum
Graded trench 0.69 Aa 0.75Aa 0.75Aa 0.73B dataset for the study. The most suitable soil quality indexing
Half-moon terrace 0.87 Aa 0.81Aa 0.86Aa 0.84A
approach to evaluate the soil quality under the soil and water
Control 0.75 Aa 0.77Aa 0.81Aa 0.78AB
SQINLW conservation measure for cashews was the linear weighted method
Continuous contour trench 0.93Aa 0.92Aa 0.92Aa 0.93A using the minimum dataset. The highest linear weighted soil
Staggered contour trench 0.91Aa 0.90Aa 0.90Aa 0.90AB quality index (0.98) was found for the continuous contour trenches
Semi-elliptical trench 0.91Aa 0.91Aa 0.90Aa 0.91AB with vegetative barrier treatment. Thus, long-term application of
Graded trench 0.86Aa 0.90Aa 0.90Aa 0.89B
the SWC measures on sloping lands acts as a potential carbon sink
Half-moon terrace 0.94Aa 0.92Aa 0.94Aa 0.93A
Control 0.88Aa 0.90Aa 0.91Aa 0.90AB and improves the soil quality.
SQILA, linear-additive soil quality index; SQILW, linear-weighted soil quality index;
SQINLA, non-linear-additive soil quality index; SQINLW, non-linear-weighted soil Declaration of competing interest
quality index.
a
In a column values followed by similar capital letter indicate non-significance The authors declare that they have no known competing
(among treatments). financial interests or personal relationships that could have
b
In a row values followed by similar lower case letter indicate non-significance
(among depths).
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgment

(Andrews et al., 2002a; Askari & Holden, 2014). The non-linear
method represents the system functions better than the linear
method but, the advantage of using the linear method for SQI could
be that these are easier to compute compared to the non-linear
scoring methods (Andrews et al., 2002b).
The results indicated that the MDS method could be suggested
as an appropriate method to classify the SQ using a very small
number of soil indicators (six in the current study) without losing
information for SQ assessment. The application of SWC measures is
required to recover, maintain, and improve the SQ when the
planting and cultivation of the plantation crops like cashews is to be
done on degraded lands with large slope gradients. Policies
encouraging such a form of cultivation also need to be formulated
and executed. The land managers and planners can use this
methodology to detect the impacts of unscientific agricultural and
land management practices and to select countermeasures to
mitigate degradation.
The important advantage of using MDS soil indicators and the
SQI approach identified is that it can reduce the expenditure and
time to be incurred on extensive sampling and analysis without
losing information on the characteristic features or behavior of an
ecosystem as affected by different land management practices.
Similar to what is mentioned for the MDS the approach for evalu-
ating the SQ identified in the current study for the plantation crop-
based land use on sloping land could be applicable to the areas
falling under the ‘Agroecological Region 19 - Western Ghats and
Coastal Plain, hot, humid-perhumid ecoregion (Mandal et al., 2016)
of the country. It is noteworthy that the continuous contour trench,
staggered contour trench, and graded trench were more effective in
The authors are thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR), New Delhi, India for providing financial support to
do this research.
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