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Soil erosion is one of the major environmental concerns, causing a reduction in soil carbon stock and soil fertility. It is generally difficult to estimate soil erosion in hilly terrains. To overcome this, different types of erodibility indices are developed and used to describe the intensity of soil erosion. The present study was conducted in Nagaland state of northeast India, where clay ratio (CR), modified clay ratio (MCR), critical level of organic matter (CLOM) and erodibility factor (K) were used to assess the severity of soil erosion under different land uses. To study these, soil samples from forest, jhum, fallow jhum and tea gardens were collected from 0 to 30 cm soil depth. The results showed that sand and clay content were significantly different under different land uses, while soil organic carbon (SOC) and stocks followed the same trend, with maximum and minimum values under tea (60.55 t C ha–1 ) and jhum lands (40.74 t C ha–1 ) respectively. Among the different erodibility indices, only CR and MCR values were found to be significantly different from each other. Higher values of CR and MCR under jhum and fallow jhum lands indicate that these land uses are more prone to erosion. The present study provides a picture of severity of soil erosion under different land uses in Nagaland and recommends that CR and MCR can be used to evaluate soil erosion in hilly terrain areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited information is available on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates in the peri-urban agricultural systems. This information is necessary for the changing paradigm of climate-smart agriculture with less carbon footprint. The decreasing trends in water availability, agricultural area and productivity, and negative changes in agricultural land use patterns make agriculture, especially fruit and vegetable cultivation in peri-urban areas of Hyderabad city, in India, highly vulnerable to climatic variations. Hence a study was contemplated to develop a methodological framework to study the changes in land, water and energy use and their impact on GHG emissions and, thereby, on agricultural production and productivity. Variations in GHG emissions and carbon credit in the identified peri-urban sites were calculated using the accounting framework with respect to changes in land use and energy usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]