Vol. 9, Issue 2, Part J (2025)

The present investigation entitled ‘Effect of different land use systems and coarse fragments on soil carbon dynamics on the shallow gravelly land’ was carried out at ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management (NIASM), Baramati during 2023-24 to assess the effect of different land use systems i.e. horticultural crops (mango, sapota, grapes), field crops (sugarcane, wheat) and perennial grass (napier) on soil carbon pools. Three soil depths viz., D₁ (0-15 cm), D₂ (15-30 cm) and D₃ (30-45 cm) were selected from each land use system with four replications and data analyzed by factorial randomized block design. The significantly highest soil microbial biomass carbon (305.3 mg kg^-1), water soluble carbon (266.1 mg kg^-1), total organic carbon (3.64 g kg^-1), very labile carbon (0.23 g kg^-1), labile carbon (0.57 g kg^-1) and less labile carbon (1.26 g kg^-1) was recorded in mango while non labile carbon (1.64 g kg^-1) was recorded significantly highest in grapes. The significantly lowest soil microbial biomass carbon (235.3 mg kg^-1), water soluble carbon (199.3 mg kg^-1), total organic carbon (2.90 g kg^-1), very labile carbon (0.14 g kg^-1), labile carbon (0.34 g kg^-1), less labile carbon (1.06 g kg^-1) and non-labile carbon (1.34 g kg^-1) were recorded in wheat. Among all land use systems carbon pools decreased with increase in soil depth.