Effect of different fertility levels and organic manures on biological properties of soil in Pearl millet

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy farm, S.K.N. College of Agriculture Jobner (Rajasthan) during kharif season 2018 on loamy sand soil. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The experiment comprised of four treatments of fertility levels (Control, 50 per cent RDF, 75 per cent RDF and 100 per cent RDF) and five treatments of organic manures (Control, vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1, vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1, FYM @ 5 t ha-1 and FYM @ 10 t ha-1) were applied to the pearl millet var. RHB-173. Results showed that dehydrogenase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity and soil microbial biomass C, N and P in soil after harvest were observed significantly higher with application of 100 per cent RDF. The application of vermicompost @ 5 t ha -1 significantly increased dehydrogenase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity and soil microbial biomass C, N and P.