write up on critical analysis of the use of pulses in crop rotation and its impact on sustainability
Answers
Pulse crops play a significant role for sustainability in many different ways.Growing pulse crops in rotation with other crops enriches the soil. This enables the soil to support larger, more diverse population of soil organisms that help in maintaining and increasing soil fertility.
Pulses use bacteria to extract nitrogen from the air. This kind of natural process avoids the need to add nitrogen fertilizers to soil thus leading to pulses using half the energy inputs of other crops. As greenhouse gas emissions are mostly due to use of nitrogen fertilizers, natural nitrogen-fixing pulse crops have a lower carbon footprint when compared to other crops.
Pulse crops generate a number of different compounds that feed soil microbes and benefit soil health. After the harvesting of pulse crops, nitrogen-rich crop residues are left behind that act as extra nutrients for the next crop that is grown there.
Pulse crops use only half to one-tenth of the water used for other sources of protein. So many pulses are grown in arid and semi-arid regions as they are adapted to dry environs. This makes them well-suited to areas that are prone to draught. Pulses like peas and lentils extract water from shallower depth, thus leaving more water deep in the soil for the next year’s crop. This further enhances the water use efficiency of the entire crop rotation.