Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Sarita Choudhary, Pradeep Kumar, Santosh Yadav, Prakash Chand Gurjar, Ajit Kumar Meena, Seema Pooniyan, Jaipal Yadav, Suman Dhayal and Suman Dhaka

Abstract:
A field experiment was carried out during kharif 2019-20 under a long-term experiment of Soil Test Crop Response (STCR) started during rabi-2012 at experimental farm of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, (Bihar) on the “Effect of long term continuous application of STCR based fertilizer in calcareous soil on soil properties” to evaluate the effect of STCR based fertilizer on soil properties (pH, EC, OC, Dehydrogenase activity and soil microbial biomass carbon). Therefore, a long-term experiment design was randomized block design with three cropping system (rice-wheat, rice-mustard and rice-maize) and nine treatments [T₁- control, T₂-FP, T₃-GRD, T₄-YT 35q/ha, T₅-YT 40 q/ha, T₆-YT 45 q/ha, T₇-STCR (YT 35 q/ha) + IPNS, T₈-STCR (YT 40q/ha) + IPNS, T₉-STCR (YT 45 q/ha) +IPNS. Continuous addition of STCR based fertilizer along with 5 tons ha^-1 compost decline the soil pH, improved soil organic carbon and microbial properties whereas control unfertilized decreased the most, results unsustainable yields and soil fertility. Treatment T₉ for rice based cropping system was superior over all the other treatments in chemical and biological properties of soil. Among different treatment for three cropping system, treatment T₈ was at par with T₇ for soil microbial biomass carbon and dehydrogenase in soil. Most detrimental effect of omission of nutrient was observed in treatment T₁ control unfertilized. Thus, it can be resulted that continuous supply of STCR based fertilizer with IPNS improved the organic carbon content and microbial properties over FP and GRD in surface soil (0-15 cm).