Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity

Abstract Conservation agriculture experiment was undertaken to investigate synergistic effects of tillage and weed management on soil microbiome, and fungal diversity at vegetative (30 DAS) and tasselling (60 DAS) of maize and monitor yield. Main-treatments included T 1 : Conventional tillage (CT) w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Knight Nthebere, Ram Prakash Tata, Padmaja Bhimireddy, Latha P. Chandran, Jayasree Gudapati, Manikyala Bhargava Narasimha Yadav, Nishant Kumar Sinha, Meena Admala
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09616-5
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849235110599065600
author Knight Nthebere
Ram Prakash Tata
Padmaja Bhimireddy
Latha P. Chandran
Jayasree Gudapati
Manikyala Bhargava Narasimha Yadav
Nishant Kumar Sinha
Meena Admala
author_facet Knight Nthebere
Ram Prakash Tata
Padmaja Bhimireddy
Latha P. Chandran
Jayasree Gudapati
Manikyala Bhargava Narasimha Yadav
Nishant Kumar Sinha
Meena Admala
author_sort Knight Nthebere
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Conservation agriculture experiment was undertaken to investigate synergistic effects of tillage and weed management on soil microbiome, and fungal diversity at vegetative (30 DAS) and tasselling (60 DAS) of maize and monitor yield. Main-treatments included T 1 : Conventional tillage (CT) with Cotton- CT with maize- fallow, T 2 : CT with Cotton- Zero tillage (ZT) with Maize- ZT with Sesbania rostrata (Sr) and T 3 : ZT with Cotton + Sr residues- ZT with Maize + Cotton residues- ZT with Sr + Maize stubbles. Weed management (Sub-plots) were W 1 : Chemical weed control, W 2 : Herbicide rotation, W 3 : Integrated weed management (IWM) and W 4 : Single hand-weeded. Rhizo-sphere and plane samples were collected at 30 and 60 DAS for enzymatic, microbial analysis. The results demonstrated 25.90-44.72% and 20.31–50.72% decline on microbial and enzyme activities in T1 + W1, and in T2 + W2, respectively compared to T3 and W4 combinations at 30 DAS, due to herbicidal impact, which increased by 24.67–68.41% and 20.71–62.90% at tasseling. Metabolic quotient (qCO2) decreased with T3 and W4 combinations. Kernel and system yield were 39.42% and 51.60% higher under T3 + W1 and T3 + IWM combinations, respectively. Talaromyces flavus was identified under T3 + IWM. The qCO2 was exhibited with significant negative correlation with all biological attributes, while yield did not correlate. This suggest qCO2 as potential indicator to assess agro-ecosystem. The PCA selected variables (enzymes, organic carbon, and microbial parameters) are highly supported by zero-till + residues, and can indicate improved soil health and sustained productivity.
format Article
id doaj-art-ad7ff037a22c4b52a74f4a1ec0f7448f
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-ad7ff037a22c4b52a74f4a1ec0f7448f2025-08-20T04:02:55ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115112110.1038/s41598-025-09616-5Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivityKnight Nthebere0Ram Prakash Tata1Padmaja Bhimireddy2Latha P. Chandran3Jayasree Gudapati4Manikyala Bhargava Narasimha Yadav5Nishant Kumar Sinha6Meena Admala7Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural UniversityJayashankar Telangana State Agricultural UniversityJayashankar Telangana State Agricultural UniversityICAR-IIRR-Indian Institute of Rice ResearchJayashankar Telangana State Agricultural UniversityUniversity of Agricultural SciencesICAR-IISS; Indian Institute of Soil ScienceJayashankar Telangana State Agricultural UniversityAbstract Conservation agriculture experiment was undertaken to investigate synergistic effects of tillage and weed management on soil microbiome, and fungal diversity at vegetative (30 DAS) and tasselling (60 DAS) of maize and monitor yield. Main-treatments included T 1 : Conventional tillage (CT) with Cotton- CT with maize- fallow, T 2 : CT with Cotton- Zero tillage (ZT) with Maize- ZT with Sesbania rostrata (Sr) and T 3 : ZT with Cotton + Sr residues- ZT with Maize + Cotton residues- ZT with Sr + Maize stubbles. Weed management (Sub-plots) were W 1 : Chemical weed control, W 2 : Herbicide rotation, W 3 : Integrated weed management (IWM) and W 4 : Single hand-weeded. Rhizo-sphere and plane samples were collected at 30 and 60 DAS for enzymatic, microbial analysis. The results demonstrated 25.90-44.72% and 20.31–50.72% decline on microbial and enzyme activities in T1 + W1, and in T2 + W2, respectively compared to T3 and W4 combinations at 30 DAS, due to herbicidal impact, which increased by 24.67–68.41% and 20.71–62.90% at tasseling. Metabolic quotient (qCO2) decreased with T3 and W4 combinations. Kernel and system yield were 39.42% and 51.60% higher under T3 + W1 and T3 + IWM combinations, respectively. Talaromyces flavus was identified under T3 + IWM. The qCO2 was exhibited with significant negative correlation with all biological attributes, while yield did not correlate. This suggest qCO2 as potential indicator to assess agro-ecosystem. The PCA selected variables (enzymes, organic carbon, and microbial parameters) are highly supported by zero-till + residues, and can indicate improved soil health and sustained productivity.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09616-5Biological assessmentSoil healthFungal diversityConservation agricultureSustainability
spellingShingle Knight Nthebere
Ram Prakash Tata
Padmaja Bhimireddy
Latha P. Chandran
Jayasree Gudapati
Manikyala Bhargava Narasimha Yadav
Nishant Kumar Sinha
Meena Admala
Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
Scientific Reports
Biological assessment
Soil health
Fungal diversity
Conservation agriculture
Sustainability
title Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
title_full Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
title_fullStr Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
title_full_unstemmed Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
title_short Cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome, fungal diversity and crop productivity
title_sort cumulative impact of herbicides and tillage in conservation agriculture on soil microbiome fungal diversity and crop productivity
topic Biological assessment
Soil health
Fungal diversity
Conservation agriculture
Sustainability
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09616-5
work_keys_str_mv AT knightnthebere cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT ramprakashtata cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT padmajabhimireddy cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT lathapchandran cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT jayasreegudapati cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT manikyalabhargavanarasimhayadav cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT nishantkumarsinha cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity
AT meenaadmala cumulativeimpactofherbicidesandtillageinconservationagricultureonsoilmicrobiomefungaldiversityandcropproductivity