Influence of conservation agriculture-based production systems on bacterial diversity and soil quality in rice-wheat-greengram cropping system in eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India.

Earthworm population (3.6 times), soil organic carbon (11.94%), macro (NPK) (14.50-23.57%) and micronutrients (Mn, and Cu) (13.25 and 29.57%) contents were appreciably higher under CA-based TCE methods than tillage-intensive farming practices. Significantly higher number of OTUs (1,192 ± 50) and Chao1 (1415.65 ± 14.34) values were observed in partial CA-based production system (). Forty-two (42) bacterial phyla were identified across the scenarios, and , , and were the most dominant in all the scenarios. The CA-based scenarios harbor a high abundance of (2-13%), whereas the conventional tillage-based scenarios were dominated by the bacterial phyla and and found statistically differed among the scenarios ( ≤ 0.05). Composition of the major phyla, i.e., , and were associated differently with either CA or farmers-based tillage management practices. Overall, the present study indicates the importance of CA-based tillage--crop establishment methods in shaping the bacterial diversity, earthworms population, soil organic carbon, and plant nutrient availability, which are crucial for sustainable agricultural production and resilience in agro-ecosystem.