Soils hold the key to crop productivity and resilience to climate vagaries in dryland agriculture in India.Poor soil quality with multiple nutrient deficiencies,low nutrients'use efficiency,and declining partial factor productivity are among major concerns in dryland agriculture.Stabilizing or enhancing soil organic matter(SOM)is critical to minimizing the risks of soil degradation and for ensuring sustainability of agriculture in these areas.Data from experiments involving long-term cropping,fertilization and manuring show that mineral fertilizer application alone can neither sustain the crop productivity nor soil health.Over the years,several location-specific technologies viz.integrated nutrient management(INM)practices involving locally available organic sources,balanced nutrition including use of micronutrients,site-specific nutrient management practices,and foliar spray of potassium for drought mitigation,have been developed.
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