Impact of integrated use of fertilizer and enriched compost on yield, nitrogen uptake by wheat and fractions of soil nitrogen in semi arid condition

A field experiment was conducted with integrated nutrient management on wheat at IARI research farm New Delhi. Grain yield of wheat with 50% NPK fertilizer + NPK enriched compost was significantly higher than that of 100% NPK fertilizer, it was at par with 50% NPK fertilizer + NP enriched compost. The treatment 50% NPK fertilizer along with NPK enriched compost recorded maximum N uptake (105.0 kg ha⁻¹). Application of fertilizer alone or in combination with compost led to a significant increase in total N, hydrolysable N (amino sugar-N, amino acid-N and hydrolysable NH₃-N) and nonhydrolysable-N in soil as compared to initial status. The correlation studies revealed that amino sugar-N, amino acid-N and hydrolysable NH3-N fractions in soil were better indices of soil-N mineralization. A better correlation was observed between amino sugar-N with grain yield/N uptake by wheat.