Effect of integrated nutrient management on fertility status of soil in acid inceptisols

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2016 taking maize as a test crop to study the effect of integrated nutrient management practices on the physical and chemical properties of the soil, at College of Agriculture, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar. The integrated nutrient management practices include i) soil test dose( STD) @ 130-36-70-20 kg N-P2O5-K20-SO4 ha-1 as pure inorganic source ii)Combination of inorganic with organic in the form of either FYM @5 t ha-1 or vermicompost @2.5 t ha-1,iii) inclusion of microbial inoculant / biofertiliser ( Azotobacter, Azospirillum and PSB( 1:1:1) and soil amendment in the form lime @ 0.2 lime requirement( LR) compared with iv) Absolute control i.e. without any fertilisation. Maintenance of soil acidity at lower level (higher pH), higher available nutrients and higher organic carbon status with improved CEC and base saturation status in post harvest soil was influenced by INM practices. The application of organics with STD, BFs and lime improved the water holding capacity (35%), bulk density (1.41 Mg/m3), organic carbon (5.5 g/kg), cation exchange capacity (7.3 cmolp+/kg), available nitrogen (325 kg/ha), available potassium (180 kg/ha), available sulphur (22.5 kg/ha) and micronutrient status of the soil as compared to other treatments.