AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH

Conversion of forests into agricultural land is one of the environmental problems currently being faced, leading to various environmental challenges including the decline in soil health. One effort to improve land management and slow down land degradation is to plant various types of trees and inter...

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Main Authors: Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani, Nurfadilah, Rika Ratna Sari, Danny Dwi Saputra, Kurniatun Hairiah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitas Brawijaya 2025-07-01
Series:JTSL (Jurnal Tanah dan Sumberdaya Lahan)
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Online Access:https://jtsl.ub.ac.id/index.php/jtsl/article/view/1178
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author Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani
Nurfadilah
Rika Ratna Sari
Danny Dwi Saputra
Kurniatun Hairiah
author_facet Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani
Nurfadilah
Rika Ratna Sari
Danny Dwi Saputra
Kurniatun Hairiah
author_sort Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani
collection DOAJ
description Conversion of forests into agricultural land is one of the environmental problems currently being faced, leading to various environmental challenges including the decline in soil health. One effort to improve land management and slow down land degradation is to plant various types of trees and intercrops through an agroforestry system. Agroforestry is considered a viable strategy to gradually create a conducive microclimate for soil biota that can improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. The biomass of microorganisms as quantified – Microbial Biomass Nitrogen (MBN) and Microbial Biomass Carbon (MBC) – has been proposed as sensitive indicator of soil change. This research aimed to understand how MBN responds to agroforestation of Imperata grasslands in Solok Regency, West Sumatra (Indonesia). Fields of eight land use types (in three replications each) were sampled in the Juli-August 2024 period. Plot characteristics such as canopy cover were measured, to compare with MBN and MBC for soil at a depth of 0-10 cm. The results showed statistically significant differences in MBN and MBC in various land uses,  that match differences in canopy cover and age of agroforestry systems. A 1% increase in canopy cover could increase soil MBN levels with 0.94 mg kg-1 (R2 = 0.90). The C:N ratio for microbial biomass varied in the 2-6 range, with the lowest values for intensively cropped land, and the highest for existing or recently converted Imperata grasslands.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Universitas Brawijaya
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spelling doaj-art-d6f01d03de8646bfa23a595a97d03c8b2025-08-20T03:16:03ZengUniversitas BrawijayaJTSL (Jurnal Tanah dan Sumberdaya Lahan)2549-97932025-07-0112235536010.21776/ub.jtsl.2025.012.2.13995AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTHAvi Qurvanda Putri Pradani0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8253-4504Nurfadilah1Rika Ratna Sari2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3803-9352Danny Dwi Saputra3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1450-0746Kurniatun Hairiah4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8037-8393Soil and Water Management Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas BrawijayaSoil Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya UniversitySoil Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya UniversitySoil Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya UniversitySoil Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya UniversityConversion of forests into agricultural land is one of the environmental problems currently being faced, leading to various environmental challenges including the decline in soil health. One effort to improve land management and slow down land degradation is to plant various types of trees and intercrops through an agroforestry system. Agroforestry is considered a viable strategy to gradually create a conducive microclimate for soil biota that can improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. The biomass of microorganisms as quantified – Microbial Biomass Nitrogen (MBN) and Microbial Biomass Carbon (MBC) – has been proposed as sensitive indicator of soil change. This research aimed to understand how MBN responds to agroforestation of Imperata grasslands in Solok Regency, West Sumatra (Indonesia). Fields of eight land use types (in three replications each) were sampled in the Juli-August 2024 period. Plot characteristics such as canopy cover were measured, to compare with MBN and MBC for soil at a depth of 0-10 cm. The results showed statistically significant differences in MBN and MBC in various land uses,  that match differences in canopy cover and age of agroforestry systems. A 1% increase in canopy cover could increase soil MBN levels with 0.94 mg kg-1 (R2 = 0.90). The C:N ratio for microbial biomass varied in the 2-6 range, with the lowest values for intensively cropped land, and the highest for existing or recently converted Imperata grasslands.https://jtsl.ub.ac.id/index.php/jtsl/article/view/1178agroforestrycanopy cover c:n ratiombcmbn
spellingShingle Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani
Nurfadilah
Rika Ratna Sari
Danny Dwi Saputra
Kurniatun Hairiah
AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
JTSL (Jurnal Tanah dan Sumberdaya Lahan)
agroforestry
canopy cover
c:n ratio
mbc
mbn
title AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
title_full AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
title_fullStr AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
title_full_unstemmed AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
title_short AGROFORESTRY TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH
title_sort agroforestry to improve soil health
topic agroforestry
canopy cover
c:n ratio
mbc
mbn
url https://jtsl.ub.ac.id/index.php/jtsl/article/view/1178
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AT nurfadilah agroforestrytoimprovesoilhealth
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AT dannydwisaputra agroforestrytoimprovesoilhealth
AT kurniatunhairiah agroforestrytoimprovesoilhealth