Effect of Soil Amendments and Land Use Systems on Surface Cracks, Soil Properties and Crop Yield in a Vertisol

Soil cracks can enhance water recharge through preferential flow during the rainy season and enhanced evaporation loss during the post-rainy season. Despite their significance, a limited information is available on the management of surface cracks in Vertisols. The frequency, size, and rate of development of cracks greatly affect the movement of soil water and nutrient and exchange of gases in the soil profile and also influence plant growth processes in Vertisols. To find out the suitable soil amendments and land use for reducing the rate of crack formation in medium-deep black soils of the region, a 4-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different soil amendments and land uses on surface cracks, soil properties and crop yields on Vertisols under semiarid conditions. Field experiment consisted of three different land uses [i.e., agriculture [intercropping of sorghum (Sorghum biocolor L.) + pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) at 1:1 ratio], grassland (dhaman grass—Cenchrus ciliaris L.), fallow land (no cultivation fallow)] as main plots with four different soil amendments [i.e., S0—control, S1—fly ash @ 10 Mg ha−1, S2—crop residue (wheat straw) @ 5 Mg ha−1, S3—gypsum (100% of gypsum requirement), S4—FYM @ 5 Mg ha−1] as subplots. The data showed that application of soil amendments had a beneficial effect on soil properties such soil pH, available nutrients, labile C and total organic carbon and stocks. In the 0–15-cm layer, SOC stocks varied from 15.17 to 20.04; 16.13–20.67; 14.25–19.58 Mg ha−1 for agriculture, grassland and fallow land, respectively. The labile C and total organic carbon contents were in the order of grassland > agriculture > fallow land. Further, soil under grassland system recorded the higher mean weight diameter than that under crop and fallow land. Among different soil amendments applied, wheat straw and FYM had a significant effect (P agriculture (− 7 to − 18%) > fallow land (− 2 to − 23%). Wheat straw application registered the lowest crack volume followed by that under FYM, fly ash and gypsum, regardless of the land use systems. Crop and grass biomass yields were significantly (P < 0.05) affected by the application of soil amendments. Application soil amendments not only reduced crack volume but also favorably influenced soil properties and crop yields in Vertisols.