The effects of Zn, FYM and their combine application on soil physical and biological parameters under long-term rice based cropping systems in calcareous soil
Tara Man Rai, Santosh Kumar Singh, Megha Bhadani, Bobby Pradhan, Tshering Palden Bhutia, Samir Tamang and Sudip Sarkar
The present investigation entitled, the effects of Zn, FYM and their combine application on soil physical and biological parameters under long-term rice based cropping systems in calcareous soil, was studied in an ongoing long-term experiment in the calcareous soil of Northern Bihar, at RPCAU Experimental Farm, Pusa Bihar, initiated in Kharif 1985, under AICRP micro, secondary and pollutant elements. The experiment comprises four different fertility levels viz.; control, NPK 50%, 100% and 150% of RDF (NPK), and six replications in a randomized block design (RBD), two cropping systems were followed viz., Rice-Wheat-Sorghum (R-W-S) and Rice-Mustard-Moong (R-M-M). The recommended doses of NPK for rice and wheat crops were 120:60:40, for the mustard and sorghum were 60:50:30 and for moong 20:50:30. After ten cropping cycles, zinc deficiency became serious in treatments receiving 150% of the RDF. Hence, Zn and FYM amendments were superimposed in four replications leaving the other two replications as such with no superimposition. The four superimposed treatments were 10 kg Zn/ha, 10kg Zn/ha + 5 t FYM/ha, 10 t FYM/ha and 10kg Zn/ha + 10 t FYM/ha. The superimposed treatments were applied in alternate years. In the current year (2020) the superimposed treatments were applied. Because of superimposition in four replications no replication was left for statistical analysis in RDF. Hence a paired t-test was used to compare the superimposed treatments. The present investigation was made in the 36th crop cycle after the harvest of the 106th rice crop in the year, 2020. The studies were made on some of the soil physical and biological parameters for both the crop rotations R-W-S and R-M-M.
Among the superimposed treatments the combined application of 10 kg Zn/ha with 10 t FYM/ha proved best both with regards to soil quality parameters and rice crop yield. The conjoint application of 10 kg Zn/ha with 10 t FYM/ha significantly improved the soil quality parameters, namely, available water capacity, mean weight diameters, active carbon, autoclave citrate extractable protein and soil respiration to the magnitude of 39.7%%, 16.9%, 16.9%, 10.5%, and 17.5%, respectively with respect to control in R-W-S cropping system while the same in R-M-M rotation stood at 56.1%, 17.7%, 18.2%, 11.9% and 22.9%. The paired t-test statistics revealed that the application of 10 t FYM/ha was significantly superior in improving soil physical (Mean weight diameter and Available water content) and biological (Active carbon, Autoclave citrate extractable protein and Soil respiration) properties than the application of 10 kg Zn/ha. The conjoint application of 10 kg Zn/ha with either 5 t FYM/ha or 10 t FYM/ha proved better with regard to soil properties and crop performance. Inclusion of Zn based fertilizer in calcareous soil is beneficial in the long-term conventional agriculture to maintain Zn balance in the soil. One of the notable findings from investigation was the application of NPK based fertilizer with FYM in long-term rice based cropping system positively influences soil physical and biological parameters in the calcareous soil environment.
Tara Man Rai, Santosh Kumar Singh, Megha Bhadani, Bobby Pradhan, Tshering Palden Bhutia, Samir Tamang, Sudip Sarkar. The effects of Zn, FYM and their combine application on soil physical and biological parameters under long-term rice based cropping systems in calcareous soil. Int J Res Agron 2024;7(7):475-483. DOI: 10.33545/2618060X.2024.v7.i7f.1068
