Soil organic carbon sequestration as

affected by tillage, crop residue, and

nitrogen application in rice–wheat rotation
system

Rajan Ghimire, Keshav Raj Adhikari,

Zueng-Sang Chen, Shree Chandra Shah
& Khem Raj Dahal

Paddy and Water Environment

ISSN 1611-2490
Volume 10
Number 2

Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95-102

DOI 10.1007/s10333-011-0268-0

1 23
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 Author's personal copy
Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102
DOI 10.1007/s10333-011-0268-0
ARTICLE
Soil organic carbon sequestration as affected by tillage,
crop residue, and nitrogen application in rice–wheat
rotation system
Rajan Ghimire • Keshav Raj Adhikari •
Zueng-Sang Chen • Shree Chandra Shah •
Khem Raj Dahal
Received: 30 November 2010 / Revised: 16 March 2011 / Accepted: 20 March 2011 / Published online: 7 April 2011
Ó Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract Despite being a major domain of global food
supply, rice–wheat cropping system is questioned for its
contribution to carbon flux. Enhancing the organic carbon
pool in this system is therefore necessary to reduce envi-
ronmental degradation and maintain agricultural produc-
tivity. A field experiment (November 2002–March 2006)
evaluated the effects of soil management practices such as
tillage, crop residue, and timing of nitrogen (N) application
on soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in the lowland
of Chitwan Valley of Nepal. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were grown in rotation add-
ing 12 Mg ha-1 y-1 of field-dried residue. Mung-bean
(Vigna radiata L.) was grown as a cover crop between the
wheat and the rice. Timing of N application based on leaf
color chart method was compared with recommended
method of N application. At the end of the experiment SOC
sequestration was quantified for five depths within 50 cm
of soil profile. The difference in SOC sequestration
between methods of N application was not apparent.
However, soils sequestered significantly higher amount of
SOC in the whole profile (0–50 cm soil depth) with more
pronounced effect seen at 0–15 cm soil depth under
no-tillage as compared with the SOC under conventional
tillage. Crop residues added to no-tillage soils outper-
formed other treatment interactions. It is concluded that a
rice–wheat system would serve as a greater sink of organic
R. Ghimire  S. C. Shah  K. R. Dahal
Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS),
Tribhuvan University, Rampur Campus, Chitwan, Nepal
K. R. Adhikari (&)  Z.-S. Chen
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan
University, 1, Section 4th, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan
e-mail: keshav.adhikari2008@gmail.com
carbon with residue application under no-tillage system
than with or without residue application when compared to
the conventional tillage system in this condition.
Keywords Conventional tillage  Crop residue 
No-tillage  Organic carbon  Rice–wheat crop rotation 
Soil depth
Introduction
Maintenance of SOC in rice–wheat cropping system is
important not only for improving agricultural productivity
but also for reducing carbon emission. Soil management
practices such as tillage operations are conventionally used
for loosening soils to grow these crops. But long-term soil
disturbance by tillage is believed to be one of the major
factors reducing SOC in agriculture (Baker et al. 2007).
Conventional tillage facilitates microbial oxidation of
macro-aggregate protected carbon (Janzen et al. 1998) and
frequent tillage inverting soil promotes losses of SOC
through physical breakdown of the residues (Six et al.
2000). The mineralization of SOC compounds increases
under oxidative conditions leading to higher CO2 flux to
the atmosphere (Reicosky et al. 1995).
One of the major problems of South Asian agriculture,
including that of Nepal Terai is the removal and/or burning
of crop residues to facilitate good seedbed preparation and
to avoid possible yield reduction through diseases and
insect pest (Aulakh et al. 2001a). Such practices along with
repeated tilling of land cause soil health and environmental
problems leading to low productivity of the cropping sys-
tems. It is likely that losses of carbon through such prac-
tices would also have been huge in rice–wheat cropping
system under conventional tillage practices. This cropping
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96
system is practiced in a large tract of Indo-Gangetic Plains
of South Asia (13.5 million ha including 0.5 million in
Nepal) (Wassmann et al. 2004).
Rice is grown in Nepal mainly during monsoon season
(June/July–October/November). Wheat follows monsoon
rice and is harvested in March/April. Farmers strive to
increase productivity of these crops through the use of
improved technologies but in the last decade or so, per unit
productivity growth of rice–wheat cropping system is
declining in Nepal (Duxbury 2002), often resulting in food
deficits in the country. This decline in productivity is
attributed to the loss of soil organic matter, mineral nutri-
ents, soil aggregates, and structural stability (Hobbs and
Morris 1996), which results in low soil fertility and pro-
ductivity of the system.
Several field researches in this region (Gami et al. 2001;
Regmi et al. 2002; Shrestha et al. 2006) urged the need of
alternative ways for rebuilding soil organic matter on Indo-
Gangetic Plains. No-tillage and crop residue management
are suggested as suitable practices to decrease soil bulk
density and increase infiltration capacity (Regmi et al.
2002; Shaver et al. 2002) as well as to promote aggregate
stability and soil organic carbon (Six et al. 2002). Several
other benefits of no-tillage and crop residue application on
SOC sequestration are documented elsewhere (Duiker and
Lal 1999; West and Post 2002; Lal 2004a), which are
mostly limited to the temperate ecosystem thus are less
documented for tropical and sub-tropical regions and val-
ley agriculture of Nepal. Furthermore, much of the tillage
experiment results suggest that SOC is influenced by typ-
ical research conditions in each locality. For example, no-
tillage did not increase SOC at lower soil depths (Luo et al.
2010), whereas conventional tillage maintained it (Baker
et al. 2007). SOC is regulated mostly by the types and
frequencies of crops and cover crops grown and less
affected by weather and tillage functions (Luo et al. 2010).
These diverse research findings in different agro-ecosys-
tems motivated us to contribute to tillage and residue lit-
erature pertaining to SOC sequestration in a relatively less
explored rice-growing pocket area of Nepal. The existing
literature related to the rational N management for opti-
mum yield with the benefit of no-tillage and crop residue
application is also not clear. Regmi et al. (2002) reported
the supportive role of rational N management on SOC
enrichment in the soil.
Results from this field-scale study are the first estimates
providing a site-specific SOC stock data for the dominant
rice–wheat cropping system useful for national level car-
bon database development program, which has not yet
begun in Nepal. On this background, the objectives of this
study were to evaluate the effects of tillage, crop residue,
and N management on SOC sequestration under rice–wheat
crop rotation system in Chitwan Valley of Nepal.
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Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102
Materials and methods
Experimental area and soil characteristics
The experimental area is located at 27°380 4900 N, 84°200 4500
E and 228 m above mean sea level (Fig. 1). It has sub-
tropical climate, i.e., cool dry winter, hot, and humid
summer, average annual rainfall of 2000 mm. Soil is
slightly acid (pH 5.4–6.0, 1:1 soil to water ratio), low
cation exchange capacity (\10 cmol(?) kg-1), medium
organic carbon (13.4–15.5 g kg-1), moderate to rapid
permeability and sandy clay loam soil texture by
hydrometer method (Day 1965). The soil texture below
30 cm changes to sandy loam (Table 1). The soil is clas-
sified as coarse loamy, hyperthermic, micaceous, Typic
Haplustoll in USDA Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff
2006). The study area was being used for similar cropping
system research even before this experiment (Table 2). The
data presented herein (November 2002–March 2006) is,
therefore, part of a longer-term field research at the Insti-
tute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS), Tribhu-
van University in Chitwan Valley (inner Terai) of Nepal.
Treatments details and cultural operations
The experiment consisted of eight treatment combinations,
i.e., two levels of tillage, two levels of crop residue, and
two timings of N application. With net plot size of
3 m 9 5 m, three replications of eight treatment combi-
nations were arranged in a factorial Randomized Complete
Block Design (RCBD). The field layout is shown in Fig. 2.
Two tillage levels were no-tillage and conventional
tillage. The no-tillage included surface seeding of all crops
in rotation, whereas the conventional practices included
farmers’ practices of tilling soil to the depth of 15–20 cm
from the surface. Farmers in Nepal Terai cultivate soil by
mold board plow or disc harrow as primary tillage opera-
tion, followed by cultivation again during seed sowing or
Fig. 1 Location of the experimental site, Rampur, Chitwan, in the
map of Nepal
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Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102 97

Table 1 Distribution of pH and

Soil depth (cm) pH Sand (%) Silt (%) Clay (%) Soil texture
textural properties of soil by
depth in the study area 0–5 5.4 57 19 24 22.5 m sandy clay loam
5–10 5.5 56 21 23 Sandy clay loam
10–15 5.5 56 21 23 Sandy clay loam
15–30 6.0 58 19 23 Sandy clay loam
30–50 5.9 65 15 20 Sandy loam

Table 2 Cropping history of

the study area, Rampur,
Chitwan Valley, Nepal
Period Cropping history
Before 1999 Monsoon rice—fallow annual rotation
November 1999–October N application treatments imposed with and without crop residue application
2001 at 4 Mg ha-1 and four different times of N application imposed in no-
tillage cultivation under rice–wheat annual rotation system
November 2001–March No-tillage plot were split into conventional tillage and no-tillage plots for
2002 growing wheat
November 2002–March Two tillage systems, two levels of crop residue and two timings of nitrogen
2006 application evaluated

Fig. 2 Layout and 5m 50 cm

randomization of treatments in
experimental field of Rampur. 1 2 3 4
3m

T0 no-tillage, T1 conventional T0M0N2 T1M1N1 T1M0N1 T0M0N1

tillage, M0 no crop residue, M1
crop residue at 4 ton ha-1 for
each crop in rotation, N1 8 7 6 5
recommended practice of N
application management in rice T1M1N2 T0M1N2 T0M1N1 T1M0N2
and wheat, N2 leaf-color-chart-
50 cm
based N management in rice and
recommended practice in wheat. 9 10 11 12
Serial numbers shown in the
boxes (1–24) indicate total T0M1N1 T1M1N2 T1M0N2 T0M0N1
number of experimental plots 22.5 m
under study 16 15 14 13
T0M1N2 T1M0N1 T0M0N2 T1M1N1

17 18 19 20
T0M0N2 T0M1N2 T1M1N1 T1M0N2

24 23 22 21
T1M0N1 T1M1N2 T0M0N2 T0M1N1

22.5 m

planting. The conventional secondary tillage operation in
rice crop includes the puddling of rice soils to break soil
aggregates and churning soils to maintain water stagnation
during the growing period.
Two crop residue levels were (1) no-residue application
except the root biomass left in the field after crop harvest
and (2) crop residue application at 4 Mg ha-1 of rice straw
(C:N ratio 82:1) to wheat, 4 Mg ha-1 of rice straw to
mung-bean and 4 Mg ha-1 of wheat straw (C:N ratio 91:1)
to rice crop, making a total of 12 Mg ha-1 y-1 crop residue
application under field dried conditions. The purpose of
growing mung-bean cover crop after wheat harvest until
rice planting was to conserve moisture, fix atmospheric N,
and also to reduce N2O emission from the soil.

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98
Wheat received 100 kg N application ha-1 in two splits,
i.e., the first-half at the Crown Root Initiation (CRI) stage
and the second-half 40 days after planting. Collectively,
these applications were called the first level of N applica-
tion in wheat and abbreviated as N1. In the second level of
N application (N2) in wheat, the first-half of 100 kg N was
applied at sprouting stage and the second-half at CRI stage.
Similarly, the N1 level of N application (100 kg N ha-1) in
rice was split into 50 kg N ha-1 as basal, 25 kg ha-1 at
maximum tillering stage, and 25 kg ha-1 at booting stage.
The N2 level in rice indicated N application at 25 kg ha-1
as basal and the rest applied at 20 kg N ha-1 based on leaf
color chart (LCC) reading. The procedure followed in
using LCC method is reported elsewhere (Singh et al.
2002). The basal dose of N was applied at the time of
puddling in conventional tillage, whereas it was applied on
the 12th day after sowing of rice in no-tillage plots. For
both treatments N was applied in the form of Urea
(NH2CONH2).
In this study, data were used from three cycles of rice
(variety Sabitri) grown from June to October and four
cycles of wheat (variety BL 1473) grown from November
to March during the study years. In no-tillage plots, rice
and wheat seeds were dipped in moist cow-dung before
sowing to avoid birds picking. Seed rates of wheat and
mong-bean were 120 and 20 kg ha-1, respectively. Rice
was planted at 20 cm row to row and 15 cm plant to plant
distances with five seedlings per hill. Overnight soaked and
shortly dried in shade wheat seeds were planted at a row
spacing of 20 cm apart in a continuous furrow. Mung-bean
was broadcast and no fertilizer was applied to it. Amounts
of NPK fertilizers applied to rice (100:60:40 kg ha-1) and
wheat (100:40:40 kg ha-1) were based on recommenda-
tions of National Rice and Wheat Research Stations in the
country. Fertilizers in rice and wheat were side-dressed at
basal, whereas applications that followed basal were
broadcast. Availability of irrigation during wheat and
mung-bean seasons was not dependable but it was also not
deficit for normal crop growth; however, unusual heavy
rain during 2004 rice season probably muddled the treat-
ment effects to a certain extent (Fig. 3).
Soil sampling and data analysis
After wheat harvest in March 2006, soil samples were
collected with a tube auger (2.5 cm diameter). Five random
locations were chosen in each of 24 observational plots and
samples taken from each location for five soil depths (0–5,
5–10, 10–15, 15–30, and 30–50 cm) separately. Depth
interval of 0–50 cm was also used to enable a comparison
with the SOC stock results of other studies. The first 50 cm
soil depth is critically important because 58–81% of the
total organic carbon is held in this layer (Batjes 1996).
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Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102
Samples were then air-dried in the shed and prepared
composite samples to represent a plot for each depth. The
collected samples were ground and sieved through a 10
mesh screen and analyzed for SOC using the Graham
Colorimetric method (Graham 1948). Bulk density was
determined by Core Ring method (Black and Hartge 1986)
and the value used to convert organic carbon percentage by
weight to content by volume. The bulk density and SOC
values obtained from laboratory analysis were subject to
analysis of variance (ANOVA) for 3-factor factorial RCBD
using MSTAT-C. ANOVA was performed for each soil
depth and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) used to
compare treatment means at 0.05 probability level. While
soil bulk density was not significantly different among
treatments and depths, a single mean bulk density value
averaged over all treatments and soil depths was used in
this study (1.07 Mg m-3 with standard deviation of
±0.11 Mg m-3). Soil organic carbon stock was calculated
according to Shofiyati et al. (2010), which is given below:
Cstock ¼ BD  Corg  D  A ð1Þ
where Cstock is the carbon stock (Mg ha-1), BD is soil bulk
density (Mg m-3), Corg is organic carbon (wt%), D is the
thickness of soil sampling layer (m), and A is the area (ha).
Multiply C (%) by 10 = soil organic carbon (g kg-1).
The annual sequestration rates of added SOC through
tillage, crop residue, and N treatments were calculated
using the following formula:


Rate of carbon sequestration Mg C m3 y1
¼ SOCtreatment  SOCcontrol =timeðyearsÞ ð2Þ
where SOCcontrol = soil organic carbon in the reference
(untreated) plot, SOCtreatment = soil organic carbon in the
treatment, and time = 3.5 years.
Results and discussion
Effect of tillage
The soils under no-tillage sequestered consistently higher
amounts of organic carbon than under conventional tillage
in the upper 15 cm soil depths (Table 3). The rate of car-
bon sequestration was highest at 0–5 cm soil depth
(0.59 Mg C ha-1 y-1), which corresponded to 28% higher
organic carbon under no-tillage compared to conventional
tillage treatment. The sequestration reduced with depth but
it was still 13 and 12% higher at 5–10 and 10–15 cm soil
depths under no-tillage when compared to conventional
tillage treatment, respectively. The SOC sequestration was
not significantly different between tillage types below
15 cm soil depth probably due to the lowland environment
where carbon leaching processes are constrained primarily
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Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102 99

Fig. 3 Monthly rainfall, temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH) during the experiment, November 2002–March 2006 recorded from a
nearby weather station located within 1 km radius (Meteorological Station of National Maize Research Project, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal)

Table 3 Effects of tillage, crop residue, and nitrogen management on concentration (preferably 0–5 cm in case of rice and
soil organic carbon sequestration by soil depth, Rampur, Chitwan, wheat) under no-tillage soils (Blanco-Canqui and Lal
Nepal, November 2002–March 2006
2007). The relatively near-surface higher water content and
Soil depth (cm) Soil organic carbon stock (Mg C ha-1) SEM the favorable temperature of no-tillage soils during the
T0 T1 M0 M1 N1 N2 growing season might have provided a favorable environ-
ment for SOC accumulation in the surface soil. Contrarily,
0–5 11.8a 9.20b 10.2a 10.8a 10.3a 10.7a 0.29 mechanisms of particulate loss of carbon through eluvia-
a
5–10 11.2 9.94b 10.4a 10.8a 10.4a 10.8a 0.28 tion and accumulation below plow layer are suggested for
a
10–15 11.8 10.5b 11.1a 11.2a 11.1a 11.2a 0.29 higher subsoil SOC under conventional tillage (Blanco-
a a
15–30 21.6 23.7 22.2a 23.1a 21.8a 23.5a 0.80 Canqui and Lal 2008). But under the condition of soil
a a
30–50 23.6 23.2 22.9a 23.8a 22.6a 24.2a 1.21 puddling for rice planting creating surface sealing, shallow
a b
0–50 82.2 74.8 77.1a 79.9a 76.5a 80.5a 2.03 surface plowing of the field for wheat planting and
Means followed by the same letter for a soil depth are not signifi- appearance of low SOC throughout the profile suggested
cantly different at 5% level of significance by DMRT that the loss of carbon by oxidation would have been the
T0 no-tillage, T1 conventional tillage, M0 no crop residue, M1 crop dominant process in this soil under conventional tillage.
residue at 4 Mg ha-1 for each crop in rotation, N1 recommended For this experimental condition, we agree to the reports
practice of N management in rice and wheat, N2 leaf color chart based
that losses of SOC under conventional tillage might be due
N management in rice and recommended practice in wheat
to disruption of macro-aggregates making SOC more sus-
ceptible to mineralization (Camberdella and Elliott 1993)
by subsoil plow-sole induced by previous shallow tillage
and decomposition (Six et al. 2002; Wright and Hons 2005)
operations (although not measured). Deep tillage such as
in plow layer. Buried crop residues during tillage operation
the chiseling is seldom practiced here which would other-
that are accumulated immediately below plow layer,
wise break the plow-sole or compaction due to repeated
which decompose at slower rate than surface residues
wheels passing. Although the trend of higher SOC in the
could contribute to SOC under conventional tillage
surface layer and low SOC below agrees with Luo et al.
(VandenBygaart et al. 2003).
(2010), our results contradict in terms of overall soil profile
SOC (1.64 Mg C ha-1 y-1) which was significantly higher
in no-tillage (9.85%) than in conventional tillage down to Effect of crop residue
50 cm. These results also differ from Baker et al. (2007)
stating that long-term continuous gas-exchange measure- Crop residue applied soils had consistently higher amount of
ments have also been unable to detect C gain due to SOC at all soil depths than soils without crop residue;
reduced tillage. however, the effect was not significant (Table 3). Results are
Higher organic carbon in the upper soil layer could be in line with Reicosky et al. (2002) who indicated no mea-
attributed to a greater contribution of root biomass surable difference in SOC between returning aboveground

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100 Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102

corn biomass and removing silage over 30 years of study Table 4 Interaction effects of tillage and crop residue management
period. Dexter et al. (2000) reported that incorporation or practices on soil organic carbon sequestration by Rampur soils,
November 2002–March 2006
removal of wheat straw had no effect on soil microbial
respiration from soil aggregates in rotation of wheat crop Soil depths Soil organic carbon stock (Mg C ha-1) SEM
with other small grains. Other researchers (Johnson and T1M0 T1M1 T0M0 T0M1
Chamber 1996; Nicholson et al. 1997) also reported little or
no significant effect of cereal crop residue application on 0–5 9.50c 9.90c 10.9b 12.7a 0.41
b b ab
SOC sequestration. The SOC in residue applied soil in this 5–10 10.0 9.87 10.8 11.6a 0.40
study did not exceed 6% in any soil depths than in soils 10–15 10.1b 10.8b 11.3ab 12.2a 0.42
a a a a
without crop residue application. This corresponded to 15–30 21.3 21.9 23.0 24.3 1.13
0.14 Mg C ha-1 y-1 of SOC sequestration rate being the 30–50 23.9a 22.3a 21.9a 25.3a 1.71
highest at the 0–5 cm soil depth. From a similar study, 0–50 76.1b 73.4b 77.9ab 86.4a 2.87
Aulakh et al. (2001b) attributed greater loss of carbon from Means followed by the same letter for a soil depth are not signifi-
residue applied soils to increased soil microbial respiration cantly different at 5% level of significance as determined by DMRT
and carbon mineralization. They documented higher CO2 T1 conventional tillage, T0 no-tillage, M0 no crop residue, M1 crop
production during initial flooding after irrigation in rice and residue at 4 Mg ha-1 for each crop in rotation, SEM standard error of
wide C:N ratio in wheat supplied carbon for prolonged mean
period of time. Heavy rainfall (June–September 2004)
causing water stagnation and partial removal of wheat res-
idues (Fig. 3) also appears to have reduced the overall No-tillage with crop residue application sequestered 34, 16,
effectiveness of residue application on SOC in this study. and 21% higher SOC than under conventional tillage without
crop residue application at 0–5, 5–10, and 10–15 cm soil
depths, respectively. These corresponded to 0.73, 0.37, and
Effect of N management 0.48 Mg C ha-1 y-1 of SOC sequestration rates at 0–5, 5–10,
and 10–15 cm soil depths, respectively. The SOC seques-
There was no statistical difference between the two N tered under no-tillage with crop residue application at
management practices to sequester organic carbon in soils 0–5 cm depth was 29% higher than under conventional
(Table 3). Although not significant, a trend was apparent tillage with crop residue, and 17% higher than under
suggesting that N management under LCC method could no-tillage without crop residue. These results suggest that
result in higher SOC sequestration than under recom- no-tillage with crop residue application would result in dis-
mended practice of N management for this cropping sys- tinctly higher carbon sequestration at upper soil depths than
tem. The SOC content at 0–5, 5–10, 10–15, 15–30, and under other tillage and residue combinations considered in
30–50 cm soil depths were 3, 4, 1, 7, and 6%, respectively, this study. These SOC sequestration rates are in the range
higher under LCC method than under recommended (0.53 Mg C ha-1 y-1) reported by Franzluebbers (2005) for
method of N application in rice and wheat. The usefulness no-tillage and cover cropping.
of LCC method over recommended method of N applica- The results also partially corroborate with several pre-
tion is obvious from the fact that in the latter case N is vious studies (Six et al. 2002; West and Post 2002; Wright
applied without considering the real need of the crop which and Hons 2005) that higher SOC sequestration might be
can reduce N use efficiency and increase losses from NH3 due to the role of crop residues, among others, in con-
volatilization and/or microbial oxidation (Tiwari et al. serving soil moisture and protecting carbon from oxidation
2000). This causes carbon mineralization resulting in low and mineralization (Halvorson et al. 2002). The surface
organic carbon in the soil. Nitrogen application using LCC applied resides provide opportunities for the buried root
method, on the other hand, might increase root and shoot residue to react with clay particles, organo-mineral com-
residue amounts added to soil and quality by supplying N plexes and favor higher SOC sequestration (Blanco-Canqui
as per plant need, maintain higher equilibrium N and and Lal 2008). In a meta-analysis involving 69 paired-
thereby enhancing the total microbial biomass carbon in experiments where sampling extended up to 60 cm, Luo
the soil system (Duraisami et al. 2001). et al. (2010) noted 11% higher SOC by increasing cropping
frequencies and concluded that role of no-tillage is greatly
regulated by cropping system. In this study, single effect of
Tillage and crop residue interaction effects residue application was not significant but its significance
became apparent after its interaction with tillage system. It
Interaction effect between tillage and crop residue was sig- means the effect of residue application was greatly modi-
nificant at 0–5, 5–10, and 10–15 cm soil depths (Table 4). fied by tillage system.

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Paddy Water Environ (2012) 10:95–102
Results of SOC stock and carbon sequestration
rates in regional context
Rice–wheat cropping system has higher potential for car-
bon sequestration relative to other tropical ecosystems due
to slower decomposition during anaerobic rice-phase and
the higher input of biomass carbon by rice and wheat crops
in comparison with legumes and other row crops (Sahrawat
2004; Kukal et al. 2009). For 0–50 cm soil depth, the
maximum SOC stock values observed in this study
(\82 Mg ha-1) is approximately equal to one-half of the
SOC stock values as reported in the tropical forest soils of
Taiwan (Tsai et al. 2010). However, our SOC results are
similar to those observed by Tan et al. (2004) in Mollisol
Soil Order in Ohio, USA (169 Mg ha-1 for 0–100 cm soil
depth) and also similar to SOC stock values in rice fields in
Japan (93 Mg ha-1 for 0–50 cm soil depth) (Takata 2010).
In comparison with average carbon sequestration rate in
eight South Asian countries (\200 kg ha-1 y-1) reported
by Lal (2004b), carbon sequestration rate from residue
application alone in this study was low (140 kg ha-1 y-1)
but the sequestration rates resulting from tillage and resi-
due interactions ([480 kg ha-1 y-1) were high. As men-
tioned previously, the lower rate of sequestration from
application of residue alone would have occurred largely
due to increased microbial respiration and carbon miner-
alization. It would have been the consequence of residues
exposed to high temperatures for prolonged time on the soil
surface after crop harvest, particularly during summer
months. This part of crop rotation which has not yet been
thoroughly examined in the literature might also be an
important source of carbon emission and hence warrants
further research.
Conclusions
The results from this study and the literature review sug-
gest that the rice–wheat cropping system in Chitwan Valley
of Nepal presents greater benefits of carbon sequestration
from residue application in no-tillage system relative to
that in conventional tillage system. Low SOC in conven-
tional tillage system is likely due to greater carbon losses
through mineralization (although not measured) of applied
residues under the prevailing hot and humid weather con-
dition. However, it is promising that the rate of SOC
sequestration is much higher in 0–50 cm soil depth than the
reported average value for the South Asian region.
The single effect of crop residue and the statistical dif-
ferences between methods N application on SOC seem to
be insignificant but not suppressed. However, the interac-
tion effect highlights that SOC sequestration from residue
application is greatly regulated by types of tillage
101
treatments. More information is needed on the effects of
tillage, crop rotation, residue application, and soil vari-
ability on carbon input and output to further our under-
standing of the potential C sequestration in this rice–wheat
cropping system of Nepal.
Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to professor Dr. John
M. Duxbury and senior research associate Dr. Julie G. Lauren of the
Soil Management and Collaborative Research Support Program (SM-
CRSP) of Cornell University, USA for providing financial support
and the necessary technical guidance for this study.
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