Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EFFECT OF LONG TERM FERTILIZERS AND MANURE APPLICATION ON THE SOIL FERTILITY OF AN INCEPTISOL UNDER MAIZE-WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEM

S.N. Verma, S.K. Sharma, R.H. Meena, A. Verma and M.S. Rathore

Abstract

An experiment to study the effect of long term fertilizers and manure application on soil fertility under maize-wheat cropping system was conducted during Kharif 2012 in the Long Term Fertilizer Experiments initiated in Kharif, 1997 at the Instructional Farm of the Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur. The soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction, medium in available nitrogen and phosphorus, while high in potassium and zinc. Availability of N was recorded maximum when soil enriched with 100 % NPK + FYM 10 t ha-1, P and K maximum with application of 150% NPK, availability of Zn in 100% NPK+Zn+S treatment, Cu in FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% NPK (-NPK of FYM) and availability of Fe and Mn maximum in application of FYM 20 t ha-1 at 0-15 depth. Soil pH and EC were found to un altered under any integrated nutrient treatment. However, application of FYM 20 t ha-1 increased organic carbon in soil. The study revealed that soil enrichment with 150 % NPK resulted in highest positive balance of nitrogen and phosphorus in soil and negative potassium balance was observed under all treatments except application of FYM 20 t ha-1. The maximum negative potassium balance was computed when soil enriched with 100% NP.