Evaluation of land management practices for nutrient budgeting and dynamics in soybean-based cropping systems in vertic inceptisolsK PNagavallemmaauthorVertic lnceptisols wver over 60 million ha of landscape in central-peninsular India. These soils are highly prone to land degradation due to their mineralogical-texhrral composition, position on toposequences. and the prevalence of the practice of summer (rainy cropping season) fallowing Of late, however, soybean cultivation has been adopted on a wide-scale on these soils, but the yield of the crop are low. Productivity of the soybeanbased land use systems on these soils need to be improved and sustained at higher levels by a better management of natural resources in particular soil, nutrients and water. Soil erosion also needs to be reduced by the introduction of improved land management practica. Experiments were. therefore. conducted during the rainy and post-rainy seasons in 1997 and 1998, on an operational watershed scale. on a Vertic lnceptisol watershed [ Black soil watershed BW7] at the ICRISAT center. Patancheru, near Hyderabad. India to study: (1) The effect of two landform treatments, namely flat and broadbed and h m w (BBF) systems and two soil depths namely shallow ( 6 0 cm) and medium-deep (>50 cm) on nutrient (N, P and K) budgets of soybean-based cropping systems (soybeadpigeonpea and soybean+chickpea); (2) Soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics. systems productivity and Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization in crops roots; (3) and Laboratoty experiments were conducted [in a Vertic Inceptisol] to study the patterns of C and N release from pigeonpea [Cqjmns cqjm (L.)] and Glyricid/awpit~mre sidues.Soil Science2000Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University;Department of Soil Science and Agricultural ChemistryThesis