Comparative Assessment of Inorganic Fertilizer and Farm Yard Manure Application on Yield, Sustainable Yield Index and Soil Physico-Chemical Properties in Cauliflower-Capsicum Cropping Sequence in Northern- Western Himalayas

ABSTRACT

Continuous addition of inorganic fertilizer and farm yard manure (FYM) alone or in combination is necessary to assess the changes in yield and soil properties. Therefore, a study was conducted for consecutive two years on nutrient management with nine treatments viz. T₁- control, T₂-100% FYM (N equivalent basis), T₃-100% N, T₄-NP, T₅-NK, T₆-PK, T₇-NPK, T₈-100% NPK+ FYM (recommended Practice) and T₉- 150% NPK+ FYM to assess the influence of different treatments on yield, sustainable yield index, soil physic-chemical properties and soil carbon stock and sequestration rate in cauliflower and capsicum cropping sequence. Results showed that the addition of farm yard manure alone or in a combination with chemical fertilizers contributed to higher soil organic stock and soil carbon sequestration rate. Application of 150% NPK + FYM improved the SYI of system by 49.4% over a control. This treatment increases soil carbon stock by 12.5% from 25.9 Mg ha⁻¹ to 29.6 Mg ha⁻¹ and recorded with maximum soil carbon sequestration rate, i.e. 2.21 Mg C m⁻³ year⁻¹ over the 2 years. Thus, balanced fertilization of NPK and FYM is beneficial for the maintenance of soil physical health, improving CEC and macro and micronutrient levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Carbon sequestration rate
• nutrient availability
• soil carbon stock
• soil physical properties
• sustainability yield index

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).