Effect of Tillage and cover crop management on soil bacterial and fungal diversity

Soil microbial communities are driving forces that play indispensable roles in maintaining soil health by improving soil organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling, altering biochemical soil environment and ultimately crop productivity. The soil microbial community is greatly influenced by the conservation agriculture system. Limited studies have compared the impacts of conservation agriculture practices between bacterial and fungal communities. This study was conducted to inspect how soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition differ across the tillage and cover system management practices. Based on this we hypothesized that 1. soil bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity differ across the different soil management systems. 2. No-till and cover systems treatments will have higher bacterial and fungal diversity and abundance, than conventional and cover system treatments due to increased nutrient levels. 3. Different management systems influence changes in soil physical and chemical characteristics, will favors microbial diversity. This study would help to understand the effects of soil management practices influencing the microbial communities which ultimately promote greater crop yields.