This study pointed out that growing an intercrop and retaining its residues as in situ mulch between the cotton rows can improve soil condition by increasing soil microstructure, water stable aggregation and infiltration rate, and reducing run-off and soil loss. | Environmental Advances 4 2021 100068 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Advances journal homepage locate envadv Intercropping and mulching in rain-dependent cotton can improve soil structure and reduce erosion Desouza Blaise a A. Manikandan a b . Desouza c B. Bhargavi a J. Somasundaram d a ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research Nagpur 441108 Maharashtra India b ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute Pusa New Delhi 110012 India c Department of Physics Visvesvarayya National Institute of Technology Nagpur 440010 Maharashtra India d ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science Nabi Bagh Berasia Road Bhopal 462038 Madhya Pradesh India a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Keywords Transgenic Bt Bacillus thuringiensis cotton Gossypium spp. hybrids are grown at wide-row spacing in India. Clay soils Farmers practice traditional methods of cultivation that involve excessive inter-row cultivations. These practices Electron microscopy exacerbate soil erosion and run-off ultimately leading to land degradation. Growing a cover crop between the Infiltration rate cotton rows and retaining its residues in situ can reduce erosion and runoff and improve soil productivity. We Plastic mulch compared the effects of growing an intercrop sorghum Sorghum bicolor sunnhemp Crotolaria juncea or sesame Sunnhemp Transgenic cotton Sesamum indicum in between the cotton rows and retaining its residues as in situ mulch vis-à-vis plastic Vertisols newspaper mulch and the traditional farmers practice FP on the soil physical properties soil microstructure porosity water stable aggregates infiltration rate soil erosion and soil loss of a Vertisol near Nagpur in central India. Digital image analysis of the micrographs obtained by a scanning electron microscope indicated porosities were highest with intercropping 53 58 and the least with the FP and plastic mulching 35 36 . Infiltration rate was in the order of intercropping mm h 1 gt newspaper mulch
