Abstract
An attempt was made to study the productivity and fertility of cropped marginal lands as influenced by residual effect of some tree species. A field experiment was carried out in split-plot design with 15 treatment combinations comprising four tree species viz., Leucaena leucocephala, Sesbania grandiflora, Wendlandia exserta, Eucalyptus tereticornis and control (open) in main plot and three crops viz., Wheat, Mustard and Maize in sub-plots with three replications. The tree species were felled after 8 years of their plantation and then three crops were grown for judging the residual effect of tree species. Considerable variation in biomass of components for different tree species was noticed. A positive residual effect of all the tree species on crop yield was recorded and the increase in yield was in between 10-31% more as compared to control. Electrical conductivity and pH were lower under L. leucocephala and decreased from 0.81 to 0.43 dSm-1 and 8.6 to 7.8, respectively. Available N, P2O5, K2O and organic carbon were also noted relatively high with L. leucocephala followed by S. grandiflora. This study infers that tree species are effective in bringing about improvement in fertility and productivity of the soil.
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