Effect of Different Nutrient Management Options on Soil Health and Performance of Late Sown Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment to study the Effect of different nutrient management options on soil health and performance of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop was conducted during rabi season 2020-21 at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.) The area is situated at a latitude of 29o 04′ North and longitude of 77o 42′ East with an elevation of 237 m above mean sea level. The soil of the experimental field was well drained, sandy clay loam in texture, alkaline in reaction (pH 7.80), low in available nitrogen, medium in available phosphorus and potassium with an electrical conductivity 0.25 dS m-1. Eight treatments comprising Control, 100 % RDF, 75% RDF + FYM @ 4 t ha-1, Rice straw @ 4 t ha-1 + N @ 20 Kg ha-1 + Jeevamrit (First and third irrigation), FYM @16 t ha-1, FYM @ 8 t ha-1 + Jeevamrit (First and third irrigation), FYM @ 16 t ha-1 + Jeevamrit (First and third irrigation) and Jeevamrit at every irrigation, were tested in RBD design with three replications. Wheat variety DBW 90 was sown on 25 December 2020 and grown with the recommended package and practices. The data on growth at different interval, yield and its contributing traits nutrient content and uptake microbial population at harvest along with available N, P, K at different interval in soil were estimated as per the standard procedure. The experimental results reveal that growth attributes (plant height, number of tillers, dry matter), yield attributing traits viz., Number of spikelet spike-1, spike length, number of grains spike-1, test weight and biological yield, grain yield, straw yield and uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in wheat differ significantly among different treatments. Among the different treatments application of 100 % RDF being at par to 75 % NPK + FYM @ 4 t ha-1 performed better. Growth, nutrient availability in soil and yield also improved significantly due to application of Jeevamrit over control but could not perform at par to 100 % NPK. Microbial population also increased with the application of Jeevamrit. From the study it seems that to get the response of jeevamrit its application should be repeated in same piece of land every year.