155 Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 91 (4): 647–50, April 2021/Short Communication Effect of land use systems on soil health in eastern region of Uttar Pradesh SANDEEP KUMAR DIWAKAR 1 , S F A ZAIDI 1 , SURESH KUMAR 1 , AMIT KUMAR 2 *, R K AVASTHE 2 , RAGHAVENDRA SINGH 2 , SUBHASH BABU 3 , B A GUDADE 4 , GAURAV VERMA 5 and NAVANEET KUMAR 1 Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh 224 229, India Received: 14 January 2020; Accepted: 16 December 2020 Keywords: Land use systems, Soil health, Sustainability Present address: 1 ANDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh; 2 ICAR RC for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim; 3 ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; 4 ICRI, Regional Research Station, Spices Board, Tadong, Sikkim; 5 CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana. *Corresponding author e-mail: amitkumaricar13@ gmail.com Diversity of microorganisms in soil mainly depends on rainfall, temperature, amount and type of nutrients available, available soil moisture, degree of aeration and soil reaction (Babu et al. 2020). Soil bacteria and fungi play roles in various biochemical cycles and are responsible for the recycling of organic compounds. Soil microorganisms also infuence above ground ecosystems by contributing to plant nutrition, plant health, soil structure and soil fertility (Singh et al. 2020). Agricultural practices such as fertilization and tillage infuence soil chemical properties and nutrient dynamics throughout the soil profle (Das et al. 2020). The soil microbial biomass is fundamental to maintaining soil functions because it represents the main source of soil enzymes that regulate transformation processes of elements in soils, and it has been suggested as possible indicator of soil environment quality (Sahoo et al. 2019). Different experimental farms of the university have different land use system. The farm is in developing stage and the basic information regarding the land use patterns is needed for the future research and development programmes. Therefore, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of different land use on soil properties of different experimental farm of the university. The study was carried out during 2017-2018 at Research Experiment Farm of ANDUAT, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The farms is worst affected by salt infestation and has an area of 126 ha. Farms have different land use system like crop land, plantation and forest. The soils are confned to the alluvial belt whose geology is dominated by alluvium deposits from the Gomati and Ghaghara rivers. The total three land use systems were selected and total 36 samples were taken with GPS location, 12 from crop land, 12 from plantation land and 12 from forest land, respectively at 0-15 cm depth with the help of soil auger and khurpi. The samples collected from different spots in polythene bags, it was dried in shade condition after that it was mixed and crushed gently with the help of mortar and pestle, and then it was sieved with 2 mm sieves. The soil samples were analyzed for different soil properties by following the standerd procedures, viz. bulk density (Mg/ m 3 ) (Black 1955); pH (Jackson 1967); available nitrogen (kg/ha) (Subbiah and Asija 1956); available phosphorus (kg/ha) (Olsen et al. 1954); available potassium (kg/ha) (Jackson 1967); soil organic carbon (%) (Walkley and Black 1934) (Table 1). Isolation and identifcation of viable bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi count was employed serial dilution and plating techniques suggested by Rao (1999). The data collected of different parameters of soil and a linear model of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute 2003) was used for statistical analysis of data in this study. The least signifcant difference (P=0.05) was used to compare means among land use systems. The results revealed that lowest soil pH 8.32 was recorded under LBCS and highest soil pH 8.57 was found under RWCS. Lowest soil pH was noticed under mango orchard and highest soil pH was registered under aonla orchard. Sisal forest recorded lowest soil pH 8.26 but eucalyptus forest registerd highest soil pH 8.67. The cropping systems and plantation crops infuenced the soil pH because decomposition of organic matters in soil which release several organic acids that result neutralize the soil pH (Babu et al. 2020). The LBCS was observed lowest BD 1.28 g/cc RWCS registered highest value of BD 1.37 g/cc. Mango orchard recorded lowest BD 1.28, whereas highest BD 1.32 g/cc was recorded under aonla orchard. The lowest BD was observed under sisal forest while highest BD 1.34 g/cc was recorded under eucalyptus forest. Because in different crop land use systems ploughing of land should be done by heavy machinery that results compaction of soil which ultimately increased bulk density but in other land https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v91i4.112743