Abstract

On farm testing and frontline demonstrations were conducted during the years 2010 and 2011 under mandatory work of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh. The status of soil nutrients, their depletion and build-up and crop productivity after two years under various combinations of fertilizer dose and manures on sandy clay was studied. The differences in the values of organic carbon available N, P and K in soil at 20 cm depth and crop productivity were found to be very marked. The data on yield show that the application of balanced fertilizer dose of N P and K as per STCR treatment with or without farm yard manure @ 2.5t/ha helped in sustaining the yield of rice at higher level over the years. The inclusion of FYM in the treatment schedule maintaining the organic carbon status and available N, P and K in soil thereby, sustaining the soil health. The under dosing of plant nutrients (Farmers practice) has caused a depletion in the available nutrients status of soil. The status of available K in soil was found to decrease in all the treatments but the decrease was of lower magnitude indicating the need to raise the level of K fertilizer application to meet the demand of the crops.

Keywords: Sandy clay, Fertilization, Crop productivity, Targeted yield, rice