Effect of long-term application of fertilizers and amendments on soil physical quality and crop productivity in an acid Alfisol
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Date
2022-12-05
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Palampur
Abstract
The present investigation was carried out in an on-going long-term fertilizer
experiment, initiated during 1972 at experimental farm of Department of Soil Science, CSK
HPKV Palampur, to study the effect of long-term application of fertilizers and
amendments on soil physical quality and crop productivity in an acid Alfisol under
maize-wheat cropping system. The experiment consisted of eleven treatments. The soil of the
experimental site was silt loam and classified taxonomically as “Typic Hapludalf”
(Subgroup). Soil samples, collected from two depths viz., 0-0.15 and 0.15-0.30 m after the
harvest of maize (kharif 2021), were analyzed for determination of different physical
parameters (bulk density, particle density, porosity, water holding capacity, water stable
aggregates, mean weight diameter, saturated hydraulic conductivity, atterberg’s limits and
infiltration rate), chemical parameters (CEC and SOC). Application of inorganic fertilizers
along with FYM decreased the bulk density and increased the porosity, WHC, WSA, MWD,
SHC, atterberg’s limit and infiltration rate over control. Thus, these properties showed
improvement in FYM amended plots than unfertilized control plots. Grain and stover
samples were also collected and analyzed to calculate nutrient uptake. Continuous
application of fertilizers and amendments for forty-nine years significantly influenced the
nutrient uptake and yield of maize. The treatment comprising 100 per cent NPK + FYM
recorded the highest grain (64.02 q ha-1
) and stover yield (103.21 q ha-1
) and nutrient
uptake and was at par with 100 per cent NPK + lime. Omission of S and K decreased the
grain yield by 63.4 and 61.4 per cent, respectively over 100 per cent NPK, whereas,
continuous application of N alone resulted in zero yield. Addition of manure or lime
along with recommended dose of fertilizers improved the soil health in terms of physical
and chemical properties of soil. Different soil physical properties were significantly and
positively correlated with nutrient uptake and grain and stover yield of maize except bulk
density which was negatively correlated.