ABSTRACT
Anthropogenic activities are leading to a serious decline in soil productivity and fertility. Conservation agriculture (CA), involving the absence of soil inversion, retaining >30% of crop residues on the soil surface, and adopting crop rotations helps to maintain soil moisture, increases soil organic matter content, reduces soil erosion, and promotes soil fertility and biological activity. The impact of CA on soil biological health has been assessed by microbe-mediated processes that are directly or indirectly linked with macro- and micro-nutrient transformation and turnover. A positive impact of CA management is observed on soil health as well as environmental indices associated with climate change. This chapter reviews the effect of CA on soil microbial properties including soil enzymes, nutrient transformations, and GHG emissions.
Keywords: Conventional tillage, Indo-Gangetic plains, Microbes, Microbial biomass carbon, Soil enzymes, Soil quality, Zero tillage
