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Soil potassium (K) content in the swell-shrink soils of Central India has been decreasing in recent decades due to higher inputs of N and P fertilizers concomitant with lower or no inputs of K fertilizers. Therefore, nutrient management to mitigate the negative K budget is urgently required. Therefore, we aimed to exploit the abundance of K in gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) to substitute the fertilizer K requirement to improve soil quality and sustain cotton productivity. Results indicated a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in soil physical properties and organic carbon under treatment 100% NP + 10 kg K (inorganic) + 20 kg K (gliricidia) (T4). The same treatment had 18.2 and 11.4, 36.22 and 4.7, and 17.8 and 9% higher content of available N, P, and K compared to the control and 100% RDF, respectively. Available micronutrients and biological properties were significantly higher under treatment T4 and 100% NP + 15 kg K (inorganic) + 15 kg K (gliricidia) (T3). Hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, and microbial biomass carbon were identified as key SQ indicators for the experimental soil. The treatments T3 and T4 had about 105 and 122% more seed cotton yield compared to the control and 17 and 27% more than 100% RDF treatment (T2). We conclude that gliricidia can be efficiently utilized in the nutrient management packages to partially substitute the fertilizer K requirement of rainfed cotton. This will further address the K depletion and nutrient imbalances and help to restore the soil K in shrink-swell soils of Central India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of in-situ soil and water conservation techniques are the need of the day all over the country. Taking into consideration this logic, the experiment on practical implementation of the conservation measures along with impact assessment was undertaken at AICRP for Dryland Agriculture Dr. PDKV, Akola. In which impact assessment of continuous contour trenches (CCTs) on hydrological, agronomic, soil nutrient status has been made. In this paper the results related to soil nutrient losses are presented. The small catchment was divided into two parts one is treated with CCTs and other is without CCTs. From the recorded data and nutrient status analysis, it was observed that in CCT treated (T1) micro-catchment Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium was more by 25 %, 15.31% and 9.96% respectively over untreated (T2) microcatchment. The micro-nutrients viz. Zinc, Ferrous, Magnesium and Copper in CCT treated micro-catchment was observed more by 15.56 %, 7.70%, 23.07% and 37.54% respectively over untreated (T2) micro-catchment. The pH and EC was also observed to be more in CCT treated (T1) micro-catchment as compared to untreated (T2) micro-catchment. These results conclude that in CCT treated micro-catchment the losses of nutrients had been reduced which ultimately useful for plant growth. Thus continuous contour trenches are useful for conservation of soil nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiment was conducted during 2006-2007 to study the effect of phosphorus management in greengram-safflower sequence in a Vertisol. The twelve treatments and three replications designed in RBD consisted of 100% RDF (20:40:20 NPK kg/ ha to greengram and 25:25:25 NPK kg/ ha to safflower), 50% recommended P, No P, 50% recommended P + PSB (25 g/ kg seed), 5 t FYM/ ha, 5 t FYM/ ha + PSB applied in various combinations to greengram in kharif and safflower in rabi season. The results indicated that application of 100 % recommended P along with recommended N and K significantly enhanced the yield of greengram and safflower. However, these results were comparable with application of 50 % P (20 kg/ ha to greengram and 12.5 kg/ ha to safflower) + PSB along with recommended dose of N (20 kg/ ha to greengram and 25 kg/ ha to safflower) and K (20 kg/ ha to greengram and 25 kg/ ha to safflower) to greengram and safflower in crop productivity with higher nutrient uptake and apparent nutrient balance. The higher P use efficiency was observed with the application of 50 % recommended P to both the crops alongwith PSB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on yield of kharif sorghum genotypes and soil fertility during 2007-08. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with two genotypes, eight treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of two genotypes viz., SPH-840 and SPV-669, full (80:40:40 NPK kg ha-1) and half recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers alone and in combination with FYM and Azotobacter used as seed treatment. The results indicated that maximum grain yield was recorded in the genotype SPH-840, while, genotype SPV-669 recorded higher fodder yield. Significantly higher grain yield and fodder yield were recorded with the application of 100% RDF. However, application of 7.5 t FYM ha-1 + 50 per cent RDF (T6) was also found beneficial followed by 100% RDF in respect of grain and fodder yield and available N, P and K status of soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term fertilizer experiments were conducted on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) for 21 years with eight fertilizer treatments in a fixed site during 1987–2007 to identify an efficient treatment to ensure maximum yield, greater sustainability, monetary returns, rainwater-use efficiency, and soil fertility over years. The results indicated that the yield was significantly influenced by fertilizer treatments in all years except 1987 1988, and 1994. The mean cotton yield ranged from 492 kg ha−1under the control to 805 kg ha−1under 25 kg nitrogen (N) [farmyard manure (FYM)] + 25 kg N (urea) + 25 kg phosphorus (P) ha−1. Among the nutrients, soil N buildup was observed with all treatments, whereas application of 25 kg N + 12.5 kg P ha−1exhibited increase in P status. Interestingly, depletion of potassium (K) was recorded under all the fertilizer treatments as there was no K application in any of the treatments. An increase in soil N and P increased the plant N and P uptake respectively. Using relationships of different variables, principal component (PC) analysis technique was used for assessing the efficiency of treatments. In all the treatments, five PCs were found significant that explained the variability in the data of variables. The PC model of 25 kg N (FYM) + 25 kg N (urea) + 25 kg P ha−1explained maximum variability of 79.6% compared to other treatments. The treatment-wise PC scores were determined and used in developing yield prediction models and measurement of sustainability yield index (SYI). The SYI ranged from 44.4% in control to 72.7% in 25 kg N (FYM) + 25 kg N (urea) + 25 kg P ha−1, which attained a mean cotton yield of 805 kg ha−1over years. Application of 25 kg N (FYM) + 25 kg N (urea) + 25 kg P ha−1was significantly superior in recording maximum rainwater-use efficiency (1.13 kg ha−1mm−1) and SYI (30.5%). This treatment also gave maximum gross returns of Rs. 30272 ha−1with benefit–cost ratio of 1.60 and maintained maximum organic carbon and available N, P, and K in soil over years. These findings are extendable to cotton grown under similar soil and agroclimatic conditions in any part of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present investigation was conducted during 2010-11 to study the effect of tillage and integrated plant nutrient supply strategies on productivity of rainfed cotton and soil quality indicators in Vertisols at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design and replicated thrice with two factors viz., tillage (conventional and conservation) and integrated nutrient management which included incorporation of FYM, crop residues, in situ green manuring of sunhemp, glyricidia leaf manuring in combination with 50 per cent inorganic fertilizers and 100% RDF (80:40:40 kg N, P2O5 and K2O ha-1). The results indicated that numerically higher seed cotton yield with slight improvement in physical and chemical properties were observed under conservation tillage, whereas a significant improvement in soil biological properties were observed in conservation tillage compared to conventional tillage. The application of 100% RDF recorded highest seed cotton yield followed by 50% N either through FYM or in situ green manuring + 50% RDF which were at par with each other. The integrated use of 50% RDF + 50% N through FYM recorded highest availability of NPK, improvement in physical as well as biological properties of soil. Hence, the conjunctive use of FYM, crop residue, in situ green manuring and glyricidia leaf manuring along with 50% RDF under conservation tillage was found beneficial in improving physical, chemical and biological indicators and productivity of cotton grown in Vertisols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to assess the long term effects of fertilizers and FYM on physical properties and crop productivity after 19th cycle of sorghum-wheat cropping sequence in a Vertisol. The combined use of inorganic fertilizers (100 % NPK) along with FYM @ 10 t ha-1 significantly improved the bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, available water capacity, water stable aggregates and coefficient of linear extensibility of soil and yield of crops. Total productivity (sorghum + wheat) was found to be positively correlated with these properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfed semi-arid tropical Vertisols of the Indian subcontinent encounter many problems on account of the physical, chemical, and biological soil qualities and consequently have poor crop yields. To ensure sustainable crop production, there is a need to improve and periodically assess the quality of these soils by adopting suitable soil and nutrient-management practices on a long-term basis. Hence, soil quality assessment studies were conducted at the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, by adopting an ongoing long-term experiment from Akola Centre (Maharashtra) of All-India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) for the rainfed Vertisol. This long-term experiment was initiated in 1987 with six soil and nutrient management treatments: T1, control; T2, 50 kg nitrogen (N) + 25 kg phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) ha-1; T3, 25 kg N ha-1 through leuceana; T4, 25 kg N ha-1 through farmyard manure (FYM); T5, 25 kg N + 25 kg P2O5 + 25 kg N ha-1 through FYM; and T6, 25 kg P2O5 ha-1 + 50 kg N ha-1 through leuceana under cotton + greengram intercropping (1:1). Out of the 19 soil quality parameters studied, significant influence of the soil and nutrient-management treatments was observed on almost all the parameters except exchangeable calcium (Ca), available iron (Fe), labile carbon (LC), and bulk density (BD). A standard methodology using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear scoring technique (LST) was adopted to identify the key indicators and for computation of soil quality indices. The various key soil quality indicators identified for these Vertisols under cotton + green gram system were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), available K, exchangeable magnesium (Mg), dehydrogenase assay (DHA), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). The soil quality indices as influenced by different long-term soil and nutrient-management treatments varied from 1.46 to 2.10. Among the treatments, the conjunctive use of 25 kg P2O5 ha-1 + 50 kg N ha-1 through leuceana green biomass (T6) maintained significantly higher soil quality index with a value of 2.10 followed by use of 25 kg N + 25 kg P2O5 + 25 kg N ha-1 through FYM (T5) (2.01). The order of percent contribution of these identified indicators to soil quality indices was OC (28%) > MBC (25%) > available K (24%) > EC (7%) > pH (6%) = DHA (6%) > exchangeable Mg (4%). Thus, the findings of the present study could be of immense use to the researchers, land managers, farmers, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders for making periodical assessment of key indicators of soil quality, identifying the best soil and nutrient-management treatments and practices, and planning for improving soil quality to achieve higher productivity goals on a sustainable basis in rainfed semi-arid tropical Vertisol regions. The methodology of the study could also be useful for other rainfed semi-arid tropical Vertisol regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]