2020-11-242020-11-242020https://hdl.handle.net/10883/21010PDFCIMMYT manages Intellectual Assets as International Public Goods. The user is free to download, print, store and share this work. In case you want to translate or create any other derivative work and share or distribute such translation/derivative work, please contact CIMMYT-Knowledge-Center@cgiar.org indicating the work you want to use and the kind of use you intend; CIMMYT will contact you with the suitable license for that purposeAGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGYArticleMineral NitrogenSoil organic carbon (SOC) is the center of all physical, chemical and biological properties of soils, its maintenance and buildup in soils is necessary to sustain the intensive cereal-based cropping system of Indo Gangetic plains. Intensive tillage, residue removal and indiscriminate use of fertilizers led to a continuous deterioration of soil health in Indo Gangetic parts of the country. Under this context, a field experiment on conservation agriculture (CA) was conducted at Taroari, Kamal, comprising four combinations of tillage and residue management [i.e. conventional tillage (CT) with complete residue removal (CT-RR), CT with 20% residue incorporation of wheat, 50% residue incorporation of maize and incorporation of green gram residue (CT+RI+GI), permanent beds (PB) with 20% residue retention of wheat and 50% residue retention of maize (PB+RR), and PB with 20% residue retention of wheat, 50% residue retention of maize and retention of green gram residue (PB+RR+GR)J and three nutrient management options [viz. farmers fertilization practice (FFP), recommended fertilizer dose (RDF) and site-specific nutrient management (SSNM)]. The results showed that, there was an increase in SOC mainly the active SOC pools, permanganate oxidizable-C (1.70 g/kg), hot water extractable-C (0.32 g/kg) and soil microbial biomass C (310 mg/kg) under CA-based treatment (PB+RR+GR) compared to CT (0.58, 0.23 g/kg, 183 mg/kg, respectively). Also, the mineral N was invariably greater under residue treatments. Therefore, crops residue retention as well as balanced fertilization (RDF and SSNM) under CA helped in improving SOC; mineral N and soil aggregation stability which can lead to increased sustainability under cereal-based intensive cropping systems.CONSERVATION AGRICULTURENITROGENNUTRIENT MANAGEMENTSOIL ORGANIC CARBONCROPPING SYSTEMSOpen Access