Navigating the trade-offs in crop production and soil quality through alternative cropping

Context: Although alternative cropping systems are crucial for enhancing food security and soil quality, continuous maize monoculture remains leading to high environmental consequences and lower sustainability. Objective: This study aims to assess crop production, economic benefits, and soil quality under 6 years of alternative cropping in comparison to continuous maize. Methods: A randomized complete block design with three replicates was employed to evaluate the effects of alternative cropping on net income, nutrient equivalent yield, and soil quality. Nutrient equivalent yield was calculated by quantifying the nutritional content of harvested crops. Soil quality was assessed through a combination of physical, chemical, and biological indicators. Results: Our findings indicate that sorghum-maize-peanut and mung bean-maize-sunflower rotations significantly increased net income by 165.06 % and 37.86 % than continuous maize, respectively. However, these systems did not significantly alter soil quality. Reduced cropping intensity (fallow, maize-fallow, and soybean-maize-fallow) effectively improved soil quality by 14.1–37.8 %. This improvement was attributed to the enhancement of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, as well as the alleviation of microbial metabolic constraints related to carbon and nitrogen. Despite these benefits, reduced cropping intensity also resulted in a decrease in nutrient-equivalent yields and net income. Conclusion: The sorghum-maize-peanut rotation achieves a balance between maintaining comparable nutrient-equivalent yields and soil quality, while demonstrating a higher net income compared to continuous maize. Implications: This study highlights the economic and environmental benefits of diversified cropping and the importance of reduced cropping intensity for soil quality enhancement. These findings are significant for guiding agricultural practices that balance food production with soil conservation.