An evaluation of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in the watershed

Abstract

This research was conducted at the “Central MPKV Campus Watershed” located in the Rahuri tahsil of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. The total geographical area of the study area is 1260 ha. The study area had already been treated with various scientifically planned Soil and water conservation measures, including both drainage line and land area treatments. The watershed was categorized into seven primary land use land cover classes: Natural Vegetation, Horticulture, Agriculture, Current Fallow, Barren, Settlement, and Waterbody. The study analysed the impact of SWC measures on soil organic carbon and soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) under different land use land cover. The study estimates the soil organic carbon stocks (SOCS) in treated and untreated areas across various land use and land cover (LULC) types at two soil depths: 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm. We found that treated areas have higher average SOCS, with 12.05 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 11.17 t/ha at 15-30 cm, compared to untreated areas which have 9.55 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 8.99 t/ha at 15-30 cm. Among all LULC types, it was found that the highest SOCS observed in natural vegetation, under untreated areas it found 11.36 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 10.95 t/ha at 15-30 cm, while under treated areas it was found 14.19 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 13.16 t/ha at 15-30 cm. Barren land found lowest SOCS, with untreated area of 7.07 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 6.86 t/ha at 15-30 cm, and treated area of 9.99 t/ha at 0-15 cm and 8.60 t/ha at 15-30 cm.