EF F ECT OF NITROGENOU S F ERTIL IZERS ON ORG ANIC MATTER F RACTION S AND SOIL QUALITY UN DER APPL E cv. Van ce De lic iou s
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Date
2019-11
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UHF,NAUNI
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Effect of nitrogenous fertilizers on organic matter fractions and soil
quality under apple cv. Vance Delicious” was conducted at Regional Horticultural Research and Training Station,
Bajaura, Seobag (HP) during 2018-2019. There were 14 treatments comprising of different fertilizers and their
combinations, replicated thrice in a Randomised Block Design under field conditions. Treatment details were as
follows: T1 (control), T2 (urea), T3 (calcium nitrate), T4 (calcium cyanamide), T5 (urea + liming in October)), T6 (urea
+ liming in March), T7 (12:32:16 + urea), T8 (12:32:16 + calcium nitrate), T9 (12:32:16 + calcium cyanamide), T10
(15:15:15 + urea), T11 (15:15:15 + calcium nitrate), T12 (15:15:15 + calcium cyanamide), T13 (50% urea through soil
application + 50% through foliar application and T14 calcium nitrate + urea + liming. Different nitrogenous fertilizers
were applied on N equivalence basis as perthe standard recommendations. Soil sampling after two years of continuous
application was done at two depths viz., 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm. The lowest value for bulk density for 0-15 cm depth
was recorded in T14 (1.01 g cm-3), while that for the 15-30 depth cm was found under thesame treatment i.e. T14 (1.09
g cm-3). The maximum particle density for 0-15 cm depth (2.64 g cm-3) and porosity (61.25%) were also recorded
with T14 comprising of the application of calcium nitrate + urea + liming. The soil pH for 0-15 cm depth was recorded
minimum with the application of T8, whereas, for 15-30 cm depth it was recorded minimum with T10. The highest
organic carbon for the upper depth was recorded under treatment T7 (15.93 g kg-1), while for the 15-30 cm depth the
highest organic carbon content was recorded under treatment T8 (14.40 g kg-1). The maximum labile carbon content
for the 0-15 cm soil depth was found under the application of treatment T13 with a value of 0.44 g kg-1, whereas, for
the 15-30 cm soil depth the maximum labile carbon content was observed under the application of treatment T3 (0.32
g kg-1). Maximum N (386.77 kg ha-1) and P (88.11 kg ha-1) were observed under T6, while K was maximum (538.35
kg ha-1) was under T14. The highest total microbial count for 0-15 cm soil depth and 15-30 cm soil depth was recorded
with the application of same treatment i.e. T14with the values of 139.75 × 105 cfu g-1 soil and 128.41 × 105 cfu g-1 soil,
respectively. The highest value of microbial biomass carbon for the 0-15 cm and for 15-30 cm were also observed
maximum under the same treatment i.e. T6 with values of 801.85 µg g-1 soil and 674.99 µg g-1 soil, respectively. The
highest value of dehydrogenase enzyme activity for the 0-15 cm soil depth was observed under the T6 (58.40 µg TPF
g-1 soil 24 hr-1), whereas, for the 15-30 cm soil depth the highest value of dehydrogenase enzyme activity was
observed under T12 (47.67 µg TPF g-1 soil 24 hr-1). The light fraction organic matter (399.35 g C kg-1) and particulate
organic matter (49.03 g kg-1) were recorded maximum under treatment T6 for the 0-15 cm soil depth. The fruit yield
was found to be maximum (75.32 kg tree-1) was obtained with the treatment T14. The soil quality index was also
recorded highest with the application of treatment T6 having a value of 4.260.
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