Rainfed soils of Arjia region, Gujarat, India, which are under maize based production system, are damaged due to several soil related productivity constraints such as loss of topsoil causing severe soil erosion. The yield levels of majority of the crops grown in these soils are low. Soil quality deterioration has been the major bottleneck in realizing the higher levels of crop yields in this rainfed region. Hence, there was a need to identify and adopt appropriate soil and plant management practices that reduce soil degradation or maintain and improve soil quality at a desirable level. In view of the above, a long-term experiment was adopted for assessing soil quality as influenced by different soil-nutrient and other management practices followed at All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture centre of Arjia. Soil samples were analysed for 19 physical, chemical and biological soil quality parameters and soil quality indices were worked out using deviation method. From the viewpoint of soil quality improvement or soil aggradation, combination of conventional tillage + 2 weedicides + hoeing + 100% organic N ranked as superior among most treatment with the relative soil quality index value as high as 0.95 under maize-blackgram system. Further, cropping systems adjoining to the experimental station were also evaluated for soil quality. In the farmers' fields, the order of the systems in aggrading soil quality was as: maize-blackgram (1.00) > groundnut-sesame (0.75), > groundnut-taramira (0.72). The full paper deals in length about the extent and magnitude of changes in soil quality parameters and relative soil quality indices.
