COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MICROBIAL BIOMASS CARBON STOCK IN THE SOIL OF BAMBOO PLANTATION AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM IN TARAI REGION OF UTTARAKHAND, INDIA

Assessment of carbon stocks in soil is a basic step in evaluating the carbon sequestration potential of an ecosystem. Soil microorganisms constitute a transformation matrix for all the organic materials in the soil and act as a labile reservoir for Carbon. Therefore Microbial Biomass Carbon (MBC) is considered of much importance in the labile pool of carbon in soils. Chloroform fumigation-incubation and chloroform
fumigation-extraction approaches have significantly contributed to assess soil microbial biomass. The present study was conducted to compare the total biomass carbon stock between Bamboo plantations
(Bambusa balcooa and Bambusa nutans) and agricultural systems (in agricultural fields C12 and D7 having crop rotations) in the Tarai belt of Uttarakhand, India for two years. The major parameters of the study
involved Soil microbial Biomass Carbon, Soil respiration and total MBC carbon stock. With this, the higher MBC stock (4.25 t ha-1) was observed in the soil of bamboo plantation (B. balcooa) as compared to the
agricultural soil (2.58 t ha-1) of D7. Thus the present study clearly demonstrates that besides being an economic strength bamboo plant have shown encouraging results in the field of MBC stock which is
beneficial for soil health and environment, though agricultural soils can also contribute to much extent in the labile MBC stock if proper management practices are involved