NP Navnage, AL Pharande, AD Kadlag, SP Bainade, SA Ranpise, SB Nangude, MR Patil and BD Bhakare

Abstract

The study was conducted in a 25-year-old mango orchard at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, on three soil series: Pargaon (shallow), Sawargaon (medium), and Nimone (deep). Using an Incomplete Factorial Completely Randomized Design, the experiment evaluated soil quality under three land uses: mango orchard, conventionally cultivated land, and fallow land, across four depths (0-15, 15-30, 30-60, >60 cm). Mango orchards in the Sawargaon series showed the highest tree biomass (37.48 t ha⁻¹) and plant carbon accumulation (18.74 t ha⁻¹), outperforming other land uses. Active and passive carbon pools, soil organic carbon stock, and functional groups were significantly higher in mango plantations. The results demonstrate that mango-based land use systems in medium to deep black soils improve soil quality, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration compared to conventional cultivation or fallow land. This highlights their potential for sustainable agriculture and mitigating environmental carbon dioxide.