Vol. 7, Issue 12, Part A (2025)

Long-term crop rotation has emerged as a pivotal strategy to sustain and enhance soil health by modulating microbial communities and soil fertility parameters. Empirical evidence demonstrates that diversified rotations, particularly those incorporating legumes or cover crops, tend to increase microbial biomass, shift community composition, and enhance Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), nutrient availability and enzyme activity. However, the magnitude and consistency of effects vary with rotation diversity, crop type, management (e.g., fertilizer, tillage), soil type and climate. In India, long-term experiments such as the AICRP‑LTFE (All India Coordinated Research Project on Long Term Fertilizer Experiments) provide valuable insights into cropping system impacts on soil fertility but comparatively fewer studies address microbial diversity specifically. This review synthesizes global and Indian evidence from long-term field trials and meta-analyses, examines mechanistic links between rotation, microbial dynamics and fertility, discusses interactions with other management factors, and identifies research gaps. It concludes that while crop rotation is effective at improving soil microbial and fertility indicators in the long term, more harmonized, multi-site, molecular-level studies are required to underpin soil health monitoring and policy translation.