Minimal soil disturbance and increased residue retention increase soil carbon in rice-based cropping systems on the Eastern Gangetic Plain

The adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) in the intensive triple-cropping, rice-based systems of the Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) alters the dynamics of carbon (C) in the soil, but the nature of these changes is poorly understood. Our aim was to determine whether CA in these systems involving non-puddled transplanting of wetland rice and strip planting of dryland crops plus increased residue retention would increase the C storage in soils...