Productivity of Rainfed Cotton and Soil Health as Influenced by Tillage and Integrated Nutrient Management in Vertisol under Semi-Arid Agro- Ecosystem of Maharashtra

摘要

The experiment was carried out at Research Farm of Department of Soil Science and Agril. Chemistry, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola during 2005-06 to 2007-08 to study the effect of tillage and integrated nutrient management on soil health and production of cotton in Vertisol. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with twelve treatment combinations with three replications. The treatments consisted of tillage (conventional and minimum), nutrient management viz., 100% RDF, 50% RDF with graded doses of farmyard manure and green manuring with Dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata). The minimum tillage resulted in slight enhancement in seed cotton yield with improvement in physical, chemical and microbial properties of soil compared with conventional tillage. The conjunctive use of FYM @ 15 t ha~(-1) along with 50 % RDF recorded significantly highest seed cotton yield with maximum improvement in physical, chemical and microbial properties of soil. However, the integratedapplication of FYM @ 101 ha~(-1) along with 50 % RDF also found beneficial in sustaining the seed cotton yield with improvement in physical, chemical and microbial properties of Vertisols.