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Unremitting decline in crop productivity and nutrient recovery are resulted due to dearth of need based fertilizer recommendation over blanket application apart from nitrogen pollution in several means. An advance nutrient management tactic, GreenSeeker (GS) has developed and used in many field crops following the principle of four "R" (right source, right amount at right time, and place) nutrients stewardship technologies. But no studies have been conducted for evaluation of GS in mustard for improving productivity, profitability and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) while minimizing environmental risks. With this objective, a study was planned to conduct an experiment in rabi season of 2021–22 and 2022–23 to assess optical sensor based nitrogen management in mustard over blanket recommendation. The experiment was comprised of ten N treatments including control in randomized block design in triplicates. Research findings indicated that application of GreenSeeker based N significantly improved all growth traits and yield parameters in Brassica juncea L. Per cent enhancement in seed yield, net monetary returns and benefit-cost ratio was higher as 19.3 and 64.5%, 125.1 & 36.2% and 58.8 & 24.4%, respectively under GS based multi split N application over RDF and control. Further, real time N management with GS acquired higher crop production efficiency (CPE) (19.9 kg/day) with lesser cost/kg production (Rs 15.7/kg). Split application of N using GS increased oil yield by 79.9 and 26% over control and recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) with maximum oil content (42.3%), and increases soil organic carbon (SOC) content by 16.1% from its initial value. Moreover, GS crop sensor could be the probable solution to minimize the crop nitrogen requirement by 15–20% with a yield enhancement of about 18.7% over RDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arid and semi-arid regions are having huge potential for agricultural production but also have limitations of salinity and alkalinity. By mediating rhizospheric environment with the application of organic and inorganic nutrient sources, Indian mustard yield could be enhanced in these areas. For this, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic (FarmYard Manure and vermicompost) and inorganic (urea) amendments with irrigation water of different sodium absorption ratios (SAR; 6, 10, 20 and 30). The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design (SPD) with 24 treatment combinations keeping different SAR in main plots and organic and inorganic nitrogen sources in sub plots. Experiment results revealed that increasing SAR levels reduced the availability of major plant nutrients, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The soil organic carbon mineralization rate and Indian mustard seed yield were also deceased with increasing levels of SAR. Application of nitrogen through farm yard manure (FYM) and vermicompost decreased the electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and enhanced the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil solution. Application of 50% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) through urea and 75% through vermicompost produced maximum seed and stover yield of Indian mustard. Thus, supply of recommended dose of nitrogen as inorganic (50%) and organic (75%) sources improved the soil health and Indian mustard yield of arid lands with sodic irrigation water. The use of organic sources in place of sole application of N fertilizer may be a potential management option in sodic groundwater irrigated areas for enhancing mustard crop yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]