Evaluation of synthetic fertilizer and organic manures on growth, productivity and nutrient uptake in wheat under Rice-Wheat cropping system

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the “Evaluation of synthetic fertilizer and organic manures on growth, productivity and nutrient uptake in wheat under Rice-Wheat cropping system in Western U.P” during Rabi season of 2021-22 at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.). The experiment consisted of ten treatment combinations with variable sources of nutrients and biofertilizers such as T1 (Control), T2 (75 % (RDF) NPK), T3 (100% (RDF-150:75:60 kg ha-1) NPK), T4 (75% (RDF) NPK+ZnSO4 (25 kg/ha.) T5 (75% (RDF) NPK +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha), T6 (75% (RDF) NPK + ZnSo4+Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha), T7 (75% (RDF) NPK+Azotobacter+PSB), T8 (75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha+Azotobacter+PSB), T9 (100% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4) and T10 (100% (RDF) NPK +Azotobacter+PSB). Wheat variety named as Karan Narendra (DBW-222) was grown in the field and growth, productivity, nutrient uptake and soil properties influenced by different treatments were assessed. In the present study, it was observed that application of 75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB (T8) caused significant increase in growth, growth indices and yield attributes (plant population/m2, plant height (cm), number of tillers, dry matter accumulation (g/m2), CGR (g/m2 /day), RGR (gg-1 day-1), NAR, LAI, number of effective tillers, spike length (cm), number of spikelets spike-1, number of grains spike-1, test weight (1000-grain weight), grain and straw yield (q ha-1), biological yield (q ha-1) and harvest index (%) in wheat crop in comparison to control. Analysis of various nutrients (protein content and N, P, K and Zn) in plant tissues, grain and straw were assessed and found higher with the application of T8 (75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB). The present study showed that T8 (75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB) had significant effect on organic carbon (%). The study also revealed that total availability of NPK (kgha-1) and zinc (mgkg-1) was found maximum in T8 (75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB) followed by T9, T10, T6 and so on. Nutrient Use Efficiency (NP&K) i.e. agronomic efficiency and partial factor productivity was found significant with application of 75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB (T8) whereas in case of physiological use efficiency (PE), the application of 75% (RDF) NPK (T2) recorded maximum PE i.e. 26.8, 174.0 and 34.0, respectively in all the treatments. The study showed that maximum net returns of Rs. 67,972 ha-1) and benefit cost ratio (B: C ratio) were obtained with T8 while minimum net returns of Rs. 35311 ha-1 and B: C ratio were obtained in control. Thus, it may be concluded that the application of 75% (RDF) NPK +ZnSo4 +Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1+ Azotobacter+PSB (T8) found economical in obtaining higher yields with higher net return and B: C ratio.