Effect of integrated nutrient management on physical and chemical properties of soil under South Gujarat condition

An investigation entitled, Effect of integrated nutrient management in rice crop under South Gujarat condition was conducted during kharif season of 2012 and 2013 at the Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari (Gujarat). The soil of the experimental field was clayey in texture, low in organic carbon (0.45%) and available nitrogen (220.80 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (40.60 kg/ha) and high in available potash (321.12 kg/ha). The soil was slightly alkaline in reaction (pH 8.0).The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with five treatments replicated four times viz., General RDF (RDF + FYM @ 10 t/ha), 75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through biocompost, 75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through vermicompost, 75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through FYM and control.Significantly higher organic carbon, available nutrient status (NPK) and least bulk density of soil after harvest of the crop were observed through application of general RDF (RDF + FYM @ 10 t/ha) during both the years of experimentation and in pooled results over the years and over control. On the basis of experimental results, it can be concluded that for maintaining good soil health, kharif rice crop should be nourished with general RDF (RDF: 100-30-00 kg N-P-K/ha + FYM @ 10 t/ha).