OPTIMIZING WHEAT YIELD AND SOIL NUTRIENT STATUS THROUGH INTEGRATED ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZATION STRATEGIES

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of integrated nutrient management on rice growth, yield and soil fertility. The treatments included a control, recommended inorganic fertilizers (RD), poultry manure (PM) at 5 t ha⁻¹ combined with 50% RD, PM at 2.5 t ha⁻¹ with 75% RD, vermicompost (VC) at 5 t ha⁻¹ with 50% RD, VC at 2.5 t ha⁻¹ with 75% RD and farmers' practice (FP). The highest grain yield of 6.16-6.27 t ha⁻¹ was achieved with VC and PM at 2.5 t ha⁻¹ plus 75% RD, surpassing the RD treatment yield of 3.49 t ha⁻¹. Nutrient uptake was maximized in the 75% RD + 5 t FYM ha⁻¹ + PSB + BGA + Zn treatment, with nitrogen uptake at 75.6 kg ha⁻¹ compared to 64.3 kg ha⁻¹ in the RD treatment. Post-harvest soil analysis revealed that the PM at 5 t ha⁻¹ with 50% RD treatment enhanced organic carbon stock to 18.70 t ha⁻¹, while the control had 14.50 t ha⁻¹. These findings underscore the benefits of combining organic and inorganic fertilizers to improve rice yield and soil fertility.