Effect of Long-Term Use of Tillage, Crop Residue and N Application on Phosphorus Fractions in Soil under Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) (L.)-castor System (Ricinus Communis) in Rainfed Alfisol Soils

• Published in: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 2020-01, Vol.51 (1), p.1-13
• Main Authors: Sharma, K.L., Indoria, A.K., Srinivas, K., Reddy, K. Sammi, Charry, G. Ravindra, Lal, Munna, Srinivasarao, Ch, Chandrika, D. Suma, Osman, M., Prasad, J.V.N.S., Balloli, S.S., Pratibha, G., Parmar, Brajendra, Veni, V.Girija, Pushpanjali, Pushpanjali, Vasavi, M., Haindavi, P., Gayatri, D. Lakshmi Aruna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural management; Agricultural production; Agricultural research; Alfisol; Alfisols; arid lands; Arid zones; available soil P; castor; Cereal crops; Coefficients; conventional tillage; Crop residues; Crop yield; crop yields; Crops; Dryland farming; farms; field experimentation; Gliricidia; grain yield; heating systems; Levels; minimum tillage; Nitrogen; P chemical fractions; P uptake; Phosphorus; plant analysis; reducing agents; research institutions; Ricinus communis; Soil; Soil management; Soil water; Soils; soluble phosphorus; Sorghum; Sorghum bicolor subsp. bicolor; Stover; Tillage; total phosphorus; Uptake; water solubility
• ISSN: 0010-3624; 1532-2416; 1532-2416; 1532-4133
• DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2019.1689252

A long-term field experiment was conducted at Hayathnagar Research Farm (HRF) of ICAR-Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture with the objectives to assess the effect of soil management practices viz tillage, residue application and N levels on soil phosphorus fractions, their interrelationships among themselves, impact on soil P availability pool, crop yields and P uptake. The results of the study clearly indicated that the long-term use of tillage, application of residues and N levels had a significant effect on all the P fractions in soils, except that water-soluble phosphorus (WSP) was not significantly influenced by the tillage practices. The Tillage x Residue x Nitrogen (T × R × N) significantly influenced the reductant soluble phosphorus (RSP) and total phosphorus (TP); however, the remaining P fractions were not influenced significantly. Among the combination of soil management treatments, conventional tillage (CT)+ Gliricidia loppings @ 2 tha −1 (GL) + N level @ 90 kg ha −1 (N90) (CTGLN90) gave the highest sorghum grain yield (1432 kg ha −1 ) and P uptake (14.20 kg P ha −1 ). Among the treatment combinations, the order of superiority of treatments in terms of castor yield and P uptake was: CT+ sorghum stover @ 2t ha −1 (SS) + N90 (CTSSN90) (1788 kg ha −1 , 11.94 kg P ha −1 ) > Minimum Tillage (MT) + sorghum stove @2 t ha −1 (SS) + N level @ 90 kg ha −1 (N90) (MTSSN90) (1761 kg ha −1 , 14.24 kg P ha −1 ), respectively. Significant coefficients of multiple determination obtained from regression equations developed between sorghum crop yield and P fractions (R 2 = 0.726, p = .05) and sorghum P uptake and P fractions (R 2 = 0.620, p = .05) highlighted the importance of these fractions in influencing the crop yield and P uptake. Similarly, castor yield (R 2 = 0.748, p = .05) and P uptake (R 2 = 0.783) were significantly influenced by the P fractions. The results of the present study will be useful in understanding the effect of soil management practices on the status of P fractions and their contribution toward P uptake and crop yields.