تلخیص
Soil health is important for the sustainable development of terrestrial ecosystem. The soil health and fertility of eroded lands can be restored and improved through integration of farm yard manure (FYM) with mineral fertilizers as well as incorporating legumes in the cropping system. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of integrated use of fertilizers and inclusion of a legume in crop rotation on soil microbial attributes on eroded land within a three years long field experiments at three locations in north western Pakistan. Three locations were Thana, Kabal and Matta; two croppings were wheat-mungbean and wheat-maize; and three fertilizer treatments were farmer’s practice (N at 60 and P2O5 at 45 kg ha-1 ), recommended mineral fertilizers (N at 120, P2O5 at 90, K2O at 60 and Zn at 5 kg ha-1 ), and recommended mineral fertilizers + FYM (N at 120, P2O5 at 90, K2O at 60, Zn at 5 kg ha-1 + 20 t FYM ha-1 ). Soil microbiological properties were measured after 5 cycles of cropping (3 winter and 2 summer) in 2013. The effect of fertilizer treatments on soil microbiological properties was significant at all the three sites, while the effect of cropping system was variable. The interactive effects were also variable. Soil receiving organic fertilizer (FYM) along with mineral NPK showed over 120% improvement in microbial biomass C and over 50% improvement in N fertility of eroded lands. Similarly, inclusion of legume in crop rotation improved soil microbial biomass C and N fertility by 31%. Regression analysis revealed that soil microbiological properties were determining factor for increased yield of wheat crop. Thus integration of FYM with mineral fertilizers and incorporation of a legume in crop rotation helps improve soil health and N fertility of eroded lands.
Zahir Shah, Shamsher Ali, Tasneem Shah, Amanullah. (2016) Recovering soil health of eroded lands through fertilizers and crop rotation, The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 35, Issue 2.
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