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Anand Agricultural University, Anand
Anand Agricultural University (AAU) was established in 2004 at Anand with the support of the Government of Gujarat, Act No.(Guj 5 of 2004) dated April 29, 2004. Caved out of the erstwhile Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU), the dream institution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr. K. M. Munshi, the AAU was set up to provide support to the farming community in three facets namely education, research and extension activities in Agriculture, Horticulture Engineering, product Processing and Home Science. At present there seven Colleges, seventeen Research Centers and six Extension Education Institute working in nine districts of Gujarat namely Ahmedabad, Anand, Dahod, Kheda, Panchmahal, Vadodara, Mahisagar, Botad and Chhotaudepur
AAU's activities have expanded to span newer commodity sectors such as soil health card, bio-diesel, medicinal plants apart from the mandatory ones like rice, maize, tobacco, vegetable crops, fruit crops, forage crops, animal breeding, nutrition and dairy products etc. the core of AAU's operating philosophy however, continues to create the partnership between the rural people and committed academic as the basic for sustainable rural development. In pursuing its various programmes AAU's overall mission is to promote sustainable growth and economic independence in rural society. AAU aims to do this through education, research and extension education. Thus, AAU works towards the empowerment of the farmers.
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ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF ZINC ENRICHED ORGANICS ON YIELD AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE BY CROPS UNDER WHEATMAIZE (F) CROPPING SEQUENCE(AAU, Anand, 2003) RATHOD, DHARMSINH DIPSINH; Patel, K. P.The present investigation was undertaken to study the comparative efficiency of different Zn-enriched organics on crop yields and increase the fertilizer use efficiency in wheat-maize (F) cropping sequence. The enrichment of different organics was carried out with Zn by composting the locally available organics viz., farm yard manure (FYM), poultry manure (PM), sewage sludge (SS) and biogas slurry (BGS) for six to seven weeks as required to complete the enrichment process. Zinc was added at 2.5 and 5.0 kg ha-1 ttirough 500 kg of organics. The enriched organics were used for field experiment on the pre-identified Zn deficient site at Forage Research Project Farm, GAU, Anand. The treatments of Zn-enriched organics were evaluated as against straight Zn application @ 2.5 kg Zn ha-1 and 5.0 kg Zn ha-1 besides control on wheat var. Lok-1 (Triticum aestivum L.)- for direct effect and on fodder maize var. GM-3 (Zea mays L.) for residual effect. The application of Zn-enriched PM and BGS to wheat in rabi was found beneficial in increasing yields of both wheat as well as maize (fodder) in summer. The Zrvenriched PM and BGS improved average wheat grain yield by about 68 and 49 per cent respectively over control whereas same was higher by 33 and 18 per cent over straight Zn application respectively. It was noticed that the grain and straw yield improvement due to 2.5 kg and 5.0 kg Zn ha-1 enrichment rates with all the organics was comparable within each organic which indicated that the Zn application to wheat could be reduced to one half of the recommended dose of 5 kg Zn ha-1 if the Zn was to be supplemented through any of the organics after its enrichment with Zn. However, Zn enrichment at higher level i.e. 5.0 kg Zn ha-1 was found beneficial with FYM as it registered total dry matter yield of wheat significantly higher by about 13 per cent over 2.5 kg Zn ha-1 Although the straight Zn application increased wheat yield significantly over control, the increase in yield was found comparatively less to that of Zn-enriched organics at both the levels of Zn application. The maize dry matter yield increased significantly due to residual effect of Zn treatments over control. The overall maximum improvement in maize dry matter due to PM and BGS was higher by about 19 and 9 per cent over straight Zn application. The residual effect was found more beneficial under PM when enriched witii Zn at 5 kg ha-1 compared to residual effect due to straight Zn application at same level. Thus, it indicated that the application of Zn-enriched FYM and PM after enrichment at 5 kg Zn ha-1 to wheat was necessary to meet the total Zn requirement in a sequence of wheat-maize (fodder) in order to get significantly higher wheat yield as a direct effect of Zn application and on succeeding maize as residual effect, respectively. The Zn application at 2.5 kg ha-1 was found sufficient when applied after enrichment with BGS and SS for higher wheat and maize yields in the sequence. The Zn-enriched PM and BGS treatments more favorably altered the nutrient contents in grain and straw of wheat than other organics over straight Zn application. The increase in grain and straw yield ultimately caused more removal of major (NPK), secondary (S) and micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu) by wheat due to direct effect and by maize as residual effect due to Zn treatments. The uptake of nutrients was higher under PM and BGS than FYM and SS over straight Zn application. The results further revealed that Zn-enriched PM and BGS enhanced availability of most of the nutrients especially available N, H^O, S and DTPA-extractable micronutrients like Fe and Zn after wheat. Also, the Zn-enriched PM and BGS showed beneficial effect on availability of nutrients with regard to their increase/maintenance in soil after maize due to residual effect. The efficiency of the organics was observed as PM > BGS > SS > FYM for their use after Zn enrichment in wheat-maize (F) cropping sequence. Thus, the overall findings suggested the importance and practical utility of the Zn enrichment technique for organics in integrated nutrient management to maintain fertility and crop productivity of the Zn-deficient soil.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF ZINC AND IRON ENRICHED FYM ON YIELD AND REMOVAL OF NUTRIENTS UNDER MUSTARD-SORGHUM (F) CROP SEQUENCE(AAU, Anand, 2003) MEENA, MAHESH CHAND; Patel, K. P.The present investigation was undertaken to study the comparative efficiency of Zn and Fe enriched FYM on crop yields and nutrients removal under mustard (var. GM-2) - sorghum(var. S-1049) crop sequence. The enrichment was carried out with two levels of Zn (2.5 and 5.0 kg) and Fe (5 and 10 kg) by composting the locally available farm yard manure (FYM) at 500 kg ha-1 for seven weeks as required to complete the enrichment process. The enriched FYM was used for field experiment on the pre-identified Zn and Fe deficient site at Forage Research Project Farm, GAU, Anand. The treatments of Zn and Fe enriched FYM were evaluated as against straight Zn and Fe application at corresponding rates through inorganic fertilizers in conjunction with FYM at 0, 5 and 10t ha-1 In order to evaluate the effect of S, an additional treatment was also kept to supply S at 20 kg ha-1. The average increase in the seed, straw and total yield due to FYM application was higher by 184, 356 and 539 kg ha-1 respectively over no FYM. The Zn and Fe enriched FYM improved average mustard seed yield by 20 per cent over control whereas it was higher by 11 per cent over straight Zn and Fe application. It was noticed that there was no significant difference in mustard yield due to level of Zn and Fe enrichment and FYM levels. The average yield increase in dry matter of sorghum by 11 per cent was observed due to residual effect of FYM over control The overall maximum improvement in sorghum dry matter due to Zn and Fe enriched FYM was higher by about 9 per cent over straight Zn and Fe application. The residual effect of FYM at10 t ha-1 and Zn and Fe enrichment at 2.5 and 5.0 kg ha-1 was found more beneficial to increase sorghum fodder yield. Further, the nutrients removal was found higher under Zn and Fe enriched FYM treatments. Further, mustard seed quality parameters viz. oil, protein and potential oil yield were found improved under treatments of Zn and Fe enrichment compared to straight application of Zn and Fe. In general, the effects under both the levels of enrichments on different parameters in mustard were more or less similar which indicated to lower down the Zn and Fe supplementation dose by one half of the recommended quantity of 5 and 10 kg ha-1 respectively. The application of S alone was also found beneficial; however, the response by the crops was increased when Zn and Fe application was made after their enrichment along with FYM at 10 t ha-1 The Zn and Fe enriched FYM application either maintained or improved the soil fertility status. The Zn and Fe enriched FYM enhanced availability of most of the nutrients especially available N, S and DTPA-extractable micronutrients like Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu after mustard. Thus, the overall findings suggested the importance and practical utility of the Zn and Fe enrichment technique for organics in integrated nutrient management to maintain fertility and crop productivity of the Zn and Fe deficient soil, besides reduction in use of inorganic fertilizers of the micronutrients.ThesisItem Open Access BEHAVIOUR OF CADMIUM IN SOIL AND ITS ABSORPTION BY PLANTS(AAU, Anand, 2001) Jha, Amrit Kumar; Dalwadi, Mahendra R.Cadmium is emerging as an important pollutant in the field of agriculture particularly in industrial state like Gujarat. The present research was undertaken to study (i) some important factors influencing the Cd availability in soil through an incubation study and (ii) uptake of Cd in a pot culture study. An incubation study consisted of five levels of Cd (0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 ppm) in presence of three levels each of P (0, 50 and 100 kg ha-1), FYM (0, 10 and 201 ha-1) and CaCOa (0, 5 and 10%) in three separate series for three incubation periods (30, 60 and 90 days). The pot culture experiment was conducted during Kharif, 1999 by growing chickpea upto flowering and wheat upto maturity stage in a clay and a loamy sand soils of Karvan and Anand with five levels of Cd (0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 ppm). The results of incubation study indicated that the availability of Cd increased with increasing levels of its application and the per cent fixation of applied Cd ranged between 25.2 and 14.3 with Cdo and Cd4 Ievels(20 ppm). The availability of Cd was found to decrease with application of increasing rates of P, FYM and CaCOa. Amongst these three, FYM @ 20 t ha-1 most effectively reduced Cd availability. The pot culture study indicated that a significant reduction in the dry weight of whole-plant and plant components of both the crops right from the lower level of Cd application (2.5 ppm). Wheat plant did not show any visual toxic symptoms, whereas chickpea plants showed visual symptoms for Cd toxicity at elevated Cd level. The content and uptake of Cd by plant components were significantly increased with Cd application. Amongst the different plant parts, the order followed for Cd content was: roots > stem > leaves > grain and for Cd uptake it was: stem> leaves > roots > grain. A restricted translocation of Cd from roots to above ground plant parts was noted. The N, Ca, Mg and S content did not differ significantly due to Cd addition but the antagonistic effect of Cd on P, K, Zn and Fe content in plant components was observed. Even after the crop harvest, about 22 to 27 per cent of the total applied Cd remained in available form, indicating possible residual effect also. Particularly, at Cd4 level, it crossed the critical level of 3.0 mg kg-1 suggested for Cd.ThesisItem Open Access FATE OF CHLORPYRIPHOS AND ENDOSULFAN IN SOIL(AAU, Anand, 2003) Dodiya, Vijaykumar C.; Shah, P. G.Chlorpyriphos and endosulfan were applied @ 5.0 μg g-1 soil in a laboratory experiment to study their persistence in sandy and sandy loam soil with and without glucose treatment. Adsorption of these insecticides in the soils and their downward movement in the PVC columns filled with sandy and sandy loam soils were also carried out in the laboratory as well as microplot conditions to work out the risk of ground water pollution. Chlorpyriphos and endosulfan showed first-order dissipation in both sandy and sandy loam soils with and without glucose treatment. The halflife values for chlorpyriphos irrespective of glucose treatment in sandy and sandy loam soils ranged from 10.0 to 10.6 and 14.3 to 14.7 days, respectively. The half-life values for total-endosulfan, α - endosulfan and β - endosulfan in sandy soil without glucose treatment were 35.4, 13.9 and 28.9 days, respectively, the correspondmg values in glucose treated sandy soil were 31.7, 17.4 and 27.4 days. The half-life values for total-endosulfan, α - endosulfan and β - endosulfan in sandy loam soil without glucose treatment were 59.0, 20.6 and 41.8 days, respectively, the corresponding values in glucose treated sandy loam soil were 41.8, 19.4 and 35.4 days. Chlorpyriphos showed biphasic mode of dissipation in sandy soil with and without glucose treatment and in glucose treated sandy loam soil, whereas it was monophasic in case of sandy loam soil without glucose treatment. Total-endosulfan showed monophasic mode of dissipation, α - Endosulfan and β - endosulfan showed biphasic mode of dissipation in glucose treated sandy and sandy loam soils, whereas it was monophasic in case of sandy and sandy loam soils without glucose treatment. Endosulfan on degradation was converted to endosulfan sulphate, which is a persistent metabolite. Degradation of chlorpyriphos and endosulfan enhanced initially with glucose application and it was marginally higher in glucose treated soils as compared to soils without glucose treatment. Adsorption of chlorpyriphos, α - endosulfan and β - endosulfan was studied on sandy and sandy loam soils. Chlorpyriphos showed maximum adsorption on both the soils followed by β - endosulfan and α - endosulfan. Organic matter content of the soil was predominantly responsible for adsorption of the insecticides, which was evident by low KOC values of the insecticides for sandy loam soil. Soil column study carried out for one month period revealed little movement of chlorpyriphos beyond 6 cm depth in sandy loam soil in the laboratory experiment and no movement beyond 6 cm depth in sandy soil in laboratory as well as microplot conditions and in sandy loam soil in microplot condition, however quite low amount of endosulfan reached upto 30 cm soil depth in the laboratory and microplot study in sandy loam soil, while, there was little movement of endosulfan beyond 12 cm depth in sandy soil in laboratory as well as microplot conditions. None of the insecticides were detected in the leachates.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on use of zinc-enriched organic manures in integrated nutrient management(AAU, Anand, 2003) Siyolkar, Rajnikant D.; Bhatt, V. R.A pot experiment was conducted to study the efficiency of zinc enriched organic manures with other manurial treatments the yield and chemical compositidn of maize at the Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science department, Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand Campus, Anand taking fodder maize (Zea mays L.) cv. Gujarat Maize-3 as a test crop during summer season of 2000 on loamy sand soil (Typic Ustochrept). Nineteen different treatments were given, using recommended dose of fertilizer and organic manures viz. Farmyard manure, castor cake, poultry manure and biogas slurry enriched with 25 and 12.5 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 The experiment was laid out using complete randomised design with three replication. The green and dry matter yields were recorded and fodder was analysed for chemical constituents. The soil samples were collected at 30 DAS and after harvest of crop and were analysed for the fertility status. The present study revealed that the application of 50 % N through fertilizer + 50 % N through poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnSO4 ha-1 produced the highest green matter yield but it was at par with biogas slurry, castor cake and poultry manure applied with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 Significantly the highest dry fodder yield was recorded under poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1. The highest dry root weight values were recorded with same treatment. Application of poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 proved to be the best in case of N, K and Zn content and uptake. The highest S content was recorded with RDF + SO4 equivalent to treatment N0.-2. However, differences among the treatments were non- significant in P and Cu content of fodder maize. The maximum removal of N, P, K, S, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn were observed when poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 In root study the variation in N, P and K content and root CEC values were found to be non-significant, while the uptake of N and K were significantly influenced by poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 The highest Zn content and uptake values were obtained with the same treatment. While studying the fertility status of the soil after harvest, it was noted that the soil pH, EC, WHC, bulk density, porosity, CEC, available P, K, Cu, Mn content of soil were found to be non-significant, while the organic carbon content, total and available N, available S and available Zn contents were the highest values with the poultry manure enriched with 25 KgZnSO4ha-1 Therefore, it was observed that the application of poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnSO4 ha-1 improved the crop quality and soil fertility as well as sustained the productivity of soil. From the above results and discussion it could be concluded that the application of poultry manure enriched with 25 Kg ZnS04 ha-1 prove to be the best treatment for the best yield and quality of fodder maize on loamy sand soil. It also maintains the fertility of the soil.ThesisItem Open Access Influence of farmyard manure on persistence of dinitroaniline herbicides in soil under mustard crop(AAU, Anand, 2003) Rathod, Pareshkumar Himmatlal; Patel, R. B.Pendimethalin, trifluralin and fluchloralin each were applied @ 0.5 and 1.0 kg ha-1 as a pre-plant incorporation in a field experiment carried out at College Agronomy Farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand under mustard crop during rabi season of the year 2001-02 to study their persistence in a sandy loam soil with and without farmyard manure and to see their residues in mustard plant. Influence of dinitroaniline herbicides, farmyard manure and their interactive effect on the some selected soil properties viz., pH, EC, organic carbon, NO3-N, available P2O5 and available K2O was also studied. Dissipation of pendimethalin, trifluralin and fluchloralin followed first order kinetic reaction with half-life values ranging from 41.81 to 53.76, 39.09 to 43.00 and 39.61 to 47.78 days, respectively. Pendimethalin, trifluralin and fluchloralin showed monophasic mode of dissipation. Farmyard manure incorporation @ 10 t ha' decreased the herbicide residues in a sandy loam soil at all the sampling intervals. Relatively lower half-lives of 44.93 and 41.81 days for pendimethalin; 41.23 and 39.09 days for trifluralin; 39.61 and 43.00 days for fluchloralin each @ 0.5 and 1.0 kg ha-1 respectively were recorded with FYM incorporation. Residues of any of three dinitroaniline herbicides were not detected in mustard seed and straw at harvest. Dinitroaniline herbicides and FYM, singly or in combination did not exert any significant influence on pH, EC, organic carbon status, NO3-N, available P2O5 and available K2O content of soil at all the sampling intervals, except organic carbon status of soil which was significantly increased at 5th, 10th and 30th day of sampling due to incorporation of FYM @ 10 t ha-1 over no FYM. Overall results suggest that application of dinitroaniline group of herbicides tested under present study do not pose any problem of environmental contamination.ThesisItem Open Access INFLUENCE OF PHOSPHORUS SOLUBILIZING MICROORGANISMS ON SOIL NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY AND GROWTH OF FODDER SORGHUM [Sorghum bicolor(L.) Moench](AAU, Anand, 2004) HARI, T. K.; PATEL, J. C.An incubation study and pot house experiment were conducted during the year 2003, to evaluate the effect of two phosphorus solubilizing microorganisms (PSM) viz., Bacillus coagulans and Aspergilus sp. in presence/absence of FYM and different levels of P (0%, 50%, 75% and 100% RDP) on nutrients availability, soil pH and performance of fodder sorghum in loamy sand soil medium in available P. A culture study was also done to examine the secretion of plant growth regulators viz., IAA and gibberellins by PSM. The incubation study revealed that soil pH was significantly reduced due to inoculation of PSM and FYM application. The available N status in soil was not significantly influenced by cultures but FYM application significantly increased the value throughout the incubation period. Available P and K in soil were significantly increased due to PSM inoculation. FYM application significantly increased available P and K content in soil through out incubation period, maximum being at 30 days after incubation (DAI) for P and 15 DAI for K. The content of DTPA-extractable Fe was significantly decreased but that of Cu increased due to inoculation with PSM. The availability of Zn, Mn and Cu was significantly increased due to FYM application but reverse was true for Fe. Application of P significantly decreased the availability of Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu. The culture study clearly showed that gibberellins was secreted by both the cultures but lAA by Bacillus coagulans only. The dry and green matter yields of fodder sorghum were significantly increased due to inoculation with phosphobacteria, whereas the effect of fungus was on par with control. P application upto 75 per cent RDP proved to be significant in increasing the yield of fodder sorghum. FYM was not beneficial with respect to yield as it decreased the Fe availability in soil. Nutrients content and uptake (N, P, K) were considerably improved due to inoculation with PSM. Cultures significantly improved the major nutrients status of soil after the harvest of crop except N, whereas micronutrients status was not significantly influenced by them. FYM application significantly improved the contents of N, P, K, Zn and Mn but decreased Fe content in soil after the harvest of crop. The results of the present investigation indicated that inoculation of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and P application upto 75 per cent RDP (P2) helped in getting higher yield of fodder sorghum and nutrients uptake, besides saving of 25 per cent P fertilizer.ThesisItem Open Access NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN THE SARDAR SAROVAR PUNARVASVATAREA(AAU, Anand, 2002) SINGH, NAOREM JANAKI; PATEL, K. P.Ihe present investigation was undertaken to suggest a better nutrient management practice to the farmers of SSPA rehabilitated in Sankhcda taluka of Vadodara district. The soils of the area are clayey loam (Typic Chromustert) in texture, slightly alkaline having low level of soluble salts and medium in available nutrients. The treatments of organics viz., FYM (10 t ha-1) and pressmud (5 t ha-1) of sulphitation process were integrated with inorganic fcrliiizcrs application (75% and 100% of recommended dose of N and P) along with supplementation of nutrients viz., S and Zn (as soil application; with gypsum @ 150 kg ha-1 and ZnS04 @ 25 kg ha-1, respectively) and Fe (as foliar application @ 0.25% neutralized FeS04) based on soil test values; besides, a treatment of foliar spray for multimicronutricnt (Grade-I) was also kept. The treatments were imposed on soils of pre-identified field of SSPA site (Golagamadi) under pot house study in a maize var. GM-4 (Zea mays L.)- wheat var. GW-496 (Triticum aestivum L.) sequence. The organics (FYM and pressmud) were applied to kharif maize only and their residual effect was studied on rabi wheat. The treatments effect was also tested under incubation study to confirm their efficacy without crop growing condition to substantiate the results of pot house study. The findings of the present investigation are as under. The application of either FYM or pressmud to maize in kharif only was found beneficial in increasing yields of both maize as well as wheat in rabi. The maximum improvement in maize yield could be obtained by 63 per cent with application of pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 irrespective of the treatments of fertilizers application. The findings further suggested that the application of nutrients like S and Zn (as soil application; gypsum @ 150 kg ha-1 and ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1, respectively) and Fe (as foliar application @ 0.25% neutralized FeS04) along with 75% of recommended fertilizer application of NP on soils having marginal to deficient status of these nutrients could produce comparable maize yield with 100%NP; and the increase in the yield was higher by 33 per cent over control. However, the increases in maize dry matter yield due to all fertility treatments (except treatment with foliar application of multimicronutrients) irrespective of organics were of similar magnitude over no fertilizer application. The multimicronutrients spray to maize was not found advantageous. With the inclusion of sulphur and micronutrient supplementation along with FYM and fertilizer application at recommended level of NP (@ 100%) was found more beneficial in increasing maize yield. However, the overall effect of pressmud application on maize yield was found better than with FYM application. The benefits of residual effect of FYM and pressmud was noticed on succeeding wheat; and the overall improvement in wheat giain yield due to residual effect of FYM wns higher by 43 per cent over prcssmud. The recommended fertilizer application alongwith multimicronutrients spray produced more than double of wheat grain yield over control. The yield improvement due to 100% NP application under the residual effect of S and Zn could also produce 79% higher wheat grain yield over control which indicated beneficial effect of Zn and S supplementation to maize. Thus, the overall findings suggested the importance of integrated nutrient management and balanced fertilization for better maintenance of fertility and crop productivity of the soil. The increase in maize growth and thereby higher DMY ultimately caused more removal of major (NP), secondary (S) and micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu) by maize as well as wheat due to treatments of FYM and pressmud in association with 100% NP and supplementation of S and micronutrients. In general, pressmud enhanced availability of most of the nutrients except P205 after maize, whereas the residual effect of FYM was superior over pressmud in this respect after wheat. The FYM application caused slightly more depression on availability of Fe, Zn and Cu contents in the soil compared to pressmud application as a direct effect after maize. Similarly, the fertilizers application enhanced soil status of available nitrogen, sulphur, zinc and copper while available phosphorus, potassium and manganese remained unaltered. The results of incubation study, in general, confirmed behaviour of the treatments.ThesisItem Open Access NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN CONTINUOUSLY CROPPED SOIL WITH VARYING FERTILITY LEVELS(AAU, Anand, 2000) PANDYA, CHETANKUMAR B.; Bhatt, V. R.A pot experiment was conducted to study nutrient management in continuously cropped soil with varying fertility levels at the Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science Department, Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand Campus, Anand taking fodder cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L. Walp] cv. EC-4216 as a test crop during kharif season of 1999 on loamy sand soil (Typic Ustochrept) collected from permanent plots where continuous cropping experiment is in progress since 1979. Different eight (8) treatments were selected from the permanent plots and new 18 treatments were superimposed on them using recommended and higher doses of N, NP and NPK either alone or in combination with FYM as well as S and Zn. The experiment was laid out using complete randomized design with three repetitions. The green and dry matter yields were recorded and fodder was analysed for chemical constituents. The soil samples after harvest of the crop were analysed for fertility status. The present study revealed that the application of 150%NPK+FYM produced the highest green and dry matter yield but it was at par with 100%NPK+ FYM Application of FYM improved the yield potential of crop. Application of S and Zn was not found to be beneficial eventhough status of both these nutrients was marginal. Higher dose of NPK fertilizers in conjunction with FYM proved to be the best in case of N, K and crude protein content as well as crude protein yield of the crop. The highest phosphorus content was recorded when 150%PK was applied whereas application of 100%NPK+S and 100%NPK+Zn increased S and Zn content of fodder cowpea, respectively. However, differences among the treatments were non-significant in Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu and Mn content of fodder cowpea. The maximum removal of N, P, K, S, Cu and Mn was observed when 150%NPK+FYM was applied, whereas the highest Zn and Fe uptake was observed under 150%NPK+Zn and 100%NPK+FYM, respectively. The differences were non-significant incase of Ca and Mg removal by fodder cowpea under different treatments. The NDF percentage in fodder cowpea was significantly decreased by using different fertilizer combinations over control. It varied from 31.83 to 46.77 per cent. While studying the fertility status of soil after harvest it was noted that the soil organic carbon content, available potassium and K released from non-exchangeable pool were reported to be the highest under 100%NPK+FYM whereas the highest available phosphorus was noted under 150%NPK+FYM treatment. The maximum soil available sulphur and zinc were recorded when 100%NPK+Zn+S+FYM and 100%NPK+Zn were applied, respectively. Therefore, it was observed that the application of recommended dose of NPK fertilizers in combination with FYM as and when applied it improved crop quality and soil fertility as well as sustain^productivity of that soil. From the above results it is concluded that application of recommended dose of NPK fertilizers along with FYM is required to achieve the desired productivity and quality of crop as well as soil fertility to sustain soil productivity in long run.