Nine Years of Integrated Nutrient Management Practices on Soil Microbial Activities in a Cereal-based Cropping System
Sanjib Kumar Sahoo *
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Kshitendra Narayan Mishra
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Narayan Panda
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Kshitipati Padhan
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Shraddha Mohanty
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Ketan Kumar
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
Debadatta Sethi
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present work is a follow-up study to identify the effects of nine years long-term integrated nutrient management practices on soil microbial activities in a cereal-based cropping system which was initiated in 2010. The microbial activities like microbial population and enzyme activities were estimated at three different soil depths; 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-45 cm, in response to different treatment regimes of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures, biofertilizers, and lime. The results identified a decreasing trend in the microbial population and enzyme activity with increased soil depth. Of all the treatment regimes, the maximum enhancements of dehydrogenase and urease activities were observed when there was a combined application of lime with inorganics and organic manure. Additionally, this treatment also increased the bacterial population while decreasing the fungal and actinomycetes population in the soil. The increased soil microbial activities in this treatment can be attributed to the role of organic manures.
Keywords: Acidic Inceptisols, cereal based cropping system, integrated nutrient management, microbial population, enzyme activity