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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Dynamics of soil organic carbon stocks and fractions in diverse fruit growing ecosystems under subtropics North-Western Himalayas

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.15006
Submitted
14 April 2026
Published
23-09-2026

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC) serves as a reliable indicator of soil quality and efficiency. It exists in labile and non-labile forms, which play a critical role in maintaining soil health under different fruit orchard systems. A study was carried out in the Shiwalik foothills of Northwest India to evaluate changes in total soil organic carbon (Ctot), oxidisable organic carbon (Coc), very labile carbon (Cfrac1), labile carbon (Cfrac2), less labile carbon (Cfrac3), non-labile carbon (Cfrac4), microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and SOC sequestration in various fruit orchards. The orchards following intercropping-horticulture (aonla + phalsa), agri-horticulture (aonla + maize) and monocultures of mango, guava, aonla, kinnow mandarin and phalsa showed increases in Ctot by 32.5 , 28.0 , 24.7 , 19.0 , 14.7 , 10.3 and 7.5 % respectively, compared to land without trees. The intercropping-horticulture system showed the most significant increases in Cfrac1 (39.2 %), Cfrac2 (28.3 %), Cfrac3 (34.7 %) and Cfrac4 (26.4 %) over no-tree land. Carbon fractions showed greateraccumulation in the 0–30 cm soil layer. Total active carbon pool was highest (58.95 Mg C ha-¹) in the intercropping-horticulture system, which was 1.3 times greater that in the no-tree system. The passive carbon ( c ) pool, accounting for approximately 58.9 % of Ctot, also peaked in the intercropping-horticulture system. Microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) reached its maximum of 357 mg C kg-¹ in the same system, representing 2.6 % of Ctot. Carbon management index (CMI) was highest in intercropping-horticulture orchard (1.35), followed by agri-horticulture (1.30), mango (1.27), guava (1.22), aonla (1.16), kinnow mandarin (1.12) and phalsa (1.09), all showing improvement compared to no-tree land. The intercropping-horticulture system also recorded the maximum annual carbon accumulation rate (2.77 Mg C ha-¹ year-¹), which was 31.1 % greater than the no-tree baseline. Among the carbon (c) fractions, Cfrac1 was strongly correlated (r = 0.960**) with Cmic.

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