Mung beans enrich soil organic carbon in cereal-cereal cropping systems
05/22/2019 // Ralph Flores // Views

A study funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research revealed that mung beans (Vigna radiata) could be used to boost soil organic carbon levels in cereal-cereal cropping systems, ensuring their long-term sustainability. The study was published in the Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science.

  • The researchers posited that mung beans can be beneficial when used in soil amendments, in particular, in both lowland rice-wheat and upland maize-wheat systems.
  • They looked at the effect of mung bean inclusion in soil carbon pools, particulate organic carbon, and carbon stabilization.
  • When added to lowland and upland systems, mung beans improved very labile and labile carbon in surface soil (0–0.2 meters).
  • Mung beans, when added in cereal-cereal cropping systems, improved particulate organic carbon. This was noticeably higher in lowland systems (107.4 percent).
  • Lowland rice-based systems, on the other hand, had higher carbon pool levels (11.1 mg of carbon per hectare [mg C/ha]) than highland systems (6.6 mg C/ha). This meant that rice ecology is a factor in the stabilization of passive carbon pool, which has longer persistence in soil.
  • Organic nutrient treatments which included farmyard manure, full crop residues, and bio-fertilizers increased very labile carbon and carbon management index (CMI) more than inorganic treatments.
  • Surface soil revealed higher CMI values after mung bean inclusions in both upland and lowland conditions. In particular, it increased grain yield of cereal crops, with yield improvement occurring in the order of maize (23.7–31.3 percent) > rice (16.9–27.0 percent) > wheat (lowland 7.0–10.7 percent; upland 5.4–16.6 percent).

The researchers concluded that adding summer mung beans in cereal-cereal cropping systems can improve soil organic carbon levels.

Follow Harvest.news to learn more about natural soil amendments.

Journal Reference: 

Hazra KK, Ghosh PK, Venkatesh MS, Nath CP, Kumar N, Singh M, Singh J, Nadarajan N. IMPROVING SOIL ORGANIC CARBON POOLS THROUGH INCLUSION OF SUMMER MUNGBEAN IN CEREAL-CEREAL CROPPING SYSTEMS IN INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science. 2018;64(12):1690–1704. DOI: 10.1080/03650340.2018.1451638



Take Action:
Support Natural News by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NaturalNews.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.
App Store
Android App
eTrust Pro Certified

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2022 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
Natural News uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.