Cropping practices, soil properties, pedotransfer functions and organic carbon storage at Kuanria canal command area in India

Effects of cropping practices on soil properties viz. particle size distribution, pH, bulk density (BD), field capacity (FC, -33 kPa), permanent wilting point (PWP, -1500 kPa), available water capacity (AWC) and soil organic carbon (SOC) were assessed. The pedotransfer functions (PTFs) were developed for saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), water retention at FC and PWP of soils for different sites under major cropping system in a canal irrigated area. The results revealed that the soils are mainly composed of sand and clay with the clay contents ranging from 29.6 to 48.8%, BD of 1.44-1.72 Mg m(-3), and 0.34 to 0.95% SOC. The Ks decreased, and water retention at FC, PWP and AWC increased significantly with soil depth due to greater clay contents in lower soil depths. The PTFs were best represented as the power functions for prediction of Ks with clay content as predictor variable; whereas the PTFs for water retention at FC and PWP were better represented as the exponential functions. SOC content was higher under rice-sugarcane crop rotation compared to other systems. SOC storage in the surface layer was higher in rice-sugarcane rotation (18.90-20.53 Mg ha(-1)) than other sites. The developed PTFs would be very useful in soil and water management strategies for the study area or elsewhere having similar soil and cropping practices. The information on SOC storage in the Kuanria region would help for better soil and crop planning in future.