Impact of In-situ Paddy Straw Burning on Soil Enzyme Activity, Soil Microbial Population and Green House Gas Emissions in Sandy Loam Soil

The rice - maize cropping system is one of the predominant cropping systems in Telangana state, which also produces large quantities of residues, whose disposal is a major problem. A large quantity of paddy straw is burnt on the farm to clear the field for succeeding crop. On the farm, a significant amount of paddy straw is burned to prepare the land for a subsequent crop. Burning crop residue damages the air and results in the loss of a significant amount of biomass plant nutrients and the entire amount of carbon. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of paddy straw burning on soil biological properties (enzyme activities, microbial population) and to know the amount of green house gas (GHG) emissions released due to burning of residue, under two tillage systems viz., no tillage and conventional tillage. Results indicated that there was a significant decrease in soil microbial population, dehydrogenase activity (41.52% in NT and 40.07% in CT), acid and alkaline phosphatase activity and urease activity in soil due to residue burning. It also indicated that there was a rise in CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions 48 hours after residue burning. It can be concluded that crop residue burning leads to decrease in the enzyme activities and soil microbial population. It also leads to rise in green house gas emissions. The impact of rice straw burning on different microbial genera has to be further studied by researchers.