Vol. 6, Issue 3 (2018)
Impact of organic and conventional tea cultivation practices on soil health
Author(s): Bhuyan S, Kandali GG, Deka K, Karmakar RM, Choudhury M and Borah K
Abstract: Attempts have been made in the present study to compare two management systems viz., organic (Hatikhuli Tea Estate) and conventional (Difflo Tea Estate) to see the effect of management practices on Soil health. For this study four composite soil samples were collected from five age groups (<15 years, 15-30 tears, 30-45 years, 45-60 years and >60 years ) of plantations and three depths (0-20 cm), (20-40 cm) and (40-60) cm. Altogether 120 numbers of soil samples were collected sixty from two management systems. Samples were analyzed for important soil physico-chemical properties and different forms of acidity components using standard procedures. Conventional system was found to be more acidic than organic system but favorable pH was maintained in organic management. The Organic system was found to maintain higher levels of organic carbon than conventional system. The pH of the soil increased with depth and organic carbon decreased with depth in both the management systems. As acidity is the primary criteria of selection of healthy tea soil, therefore the study showed significant variation of acidity components in conventional tea soil as compared to organic. The study provided relative understanding of both the systems of cultivations to formulate or select beneficial tea cultivation practice to increase production, maintain productivity for long term sustainability without deteriorating soil health and soil fertility.
Pages: 502-508 | 609 Views 56 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
Bhuyan S, Kandali GG, Deka K, Karmakar RM, Choudhury M, Borah K. Impact of organic and conventional tea cultivation practices on soil health. Int J Chem Stud 2018;6(3):502-508.
