Table 3 Effect of different ICM modules on soil dehydrogenase activity (S_DH), alkaline phosphatase (S_AP) and urease (U_RE) at the flowering of 5^th season wheat under M_WR. Means followed by a similar lowercase letters within a column are not significantly different at p < 0.05 according to Tukey’s HSD test.

Treatment	S_DH (µg TPF g⁻¹ fresh soil d⁻¹)			S_AP (µg p-NP g⁻¹ soil h⁻¹)			U_RE (µg NH₄-N g⁻¹ soil h⁻¹)
Treatment	0.0–0.05 m	0.05–0.15 m	0.15–0.30 m	0.0–0.05 m	0.05–0.15 m	0.15–0.30 m	0.0–0.05 m	0.05–0.15 m	0.15–0.30 m
ICM₁	58.3^c	26.1^cd	13.2^ab	54.3^d	44.6^bc	27.1^a	14.2^c	11.8^c	7.6^a
ICM₂	53.2^d	22.0^d	13.4^ab	49.8^d	38.9^c	30.2^a	15.6^bc	12.6^bc	6.5^a
ICM₃	57.4^cd	26.5^cd	15.7^a	61.8^c	44.9^bc	32.8^a	14.7^c	12.3^bc	6.1^a
ICM₄	62.0^bc	28.7^bc	13.4^ab	52.9^d	43.5^c	28.9^a	16.3^abc	11.7^c	8.4^a
ICM₅	60.9^bc	26.5^cd	16.4^a	66.0^bc	51.9^a	30.6^a	18.5^ab	13.5^abc	8.6^a
ICM₆	67.3^a	29.5^abc	15.5^a	70.4^ab	56.3^a	28.9^a	19.4^a	14.7^ab	7.7^a
ICM₇	63.3^ab	31.9^ab	13.8^ab	72.0^a	51.1^ab	31.6^a	18.5^ab	13.7^abc	7.8^a
ICM₈	65.2^ab	34.7^a	11.7^b	73.6^a	42.6^c	31.4^a	19.5^a	16.1^a	7.7^a

^#ICM_1&2 = conventional flatbed maize & wheat (CT_FB); ICM_3&4 = conventional raised bed maize & wheat (CT_RB); ICM_5&6 = zero-till (ZT) flatbed maize with wheat residue at ~ 3 Mg ha⁻¹ (ZT_M + W_R) & ZT wheat with maize residue at ~ 5 Mg ha⁻¹ (ZT_W + M_R), and ICM_7&8 = ZT raised bed maize with wheat residue (ZT_RB + W_R) & ZT wheat with maize residue (ZT_RB + M_R). ^#R_DF = recommended fertilizers for maize / wheat 150:26.2:50 / 120:26:33 NPK kg ha⁻¹; L_BFs = NPK liquid bio-fertilizer; A_MF = arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

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