Soil Fertility and Quality Assessment under Tree-, Crop-, and Pasture-Based Land-Use Systems in a Rainfed Environment K. L. Sharma, 1 K. Ramachandra Raju, 2 S. K. Das, 3 B. R. C. Prasad Rao, 2 B. S. Kulkarni, 2 K. Srinivas, 1 J. Kusuma Grace, 1 M. Madhavi, 1 and Pravin N. Gajbhiye 1 1 Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santhoshnagar, Hyderabad, India 2 Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India 3 National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning Campus, Kolkatta, India Abstract: A study was conducted to assess the long-term impact of land-use systems on soil physicochemical properties and chemical properties (exchangeable and total nutrients) and overall chemical soil quality in a rainfed Alfisol (Typic Haplustalf) representing the semi-arid tropical region at Hayathnagar Research Farm of the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, situated at 17u 189 N latitude, 78u 369 E longitude with an elevation of 515 m above mean sea level. Four, 10-year-old land-use systems were adopted for this study. Soil samples were collected from 12 soil profiles (4 systems 6 3 replications) from depths of 0–0.05, 0.05–0.15, 0.15–0.30, and 0.30–0.60 m. Study revealed that physicochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and organic carbon (OC) were significantly influenced by the land-use systems. Among the land-use systems, agroforestry system resulted in the highest pH (7.5), CEC (13.6 cmol kg 21 ), and organic carbon (C) content (9.6 g kg 21 ). Exchangeable nutrient cations [calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na)] and total nutrients [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), Ca, Mg, copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe)] were also significantly influenced by land-use systems. The greatest Ca content Received 16 August 2007, Accepted 24 March 2008 Address correspondence to K. L. Sharma, National Fellow, Division of Resource Management, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, P. O. Saidabad, Santhoshnagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500059, India. E-mail: klsharma@crida.ernet.in Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 40: 1436–1461, 2009 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN 0010-3624 print/1532-2416 online DOI: 10.1080/00103620902818096 1436