Effect of Inorganics and Organics on Soil Characteristics and Crop Yield under Rainfed Maize Gobi Sarson Sequence

A field experiment on effect of inorganics and organics on soil characteristic and crop yield under rainfed Maize- Gobhi sarson sequence was conducted during 2006–07 and 2007 -08 at research farm of Dryland Research Sub Station, Rakh Diansar to develop suitable integrated nutrient supply system for Maize-Gobi sarson sequence. Results indicated that integrated application of inorganics and organics influenced the grain and straw yield of Maize and Gobi sarson crops significantly over chemical fertilizer alone. The highest grain yield (35.6 q ha⁻¹) and straw yield (106 q ha⁻¹) of maize were recorded under the treatments which received 50% N,P,K through inorganics and 50% through organics (vermicompost) along with 25kg sulphur + 5kg zinc and 1kg boron per ha as compared to the yield of control plots (18.7 and 54.6 q ha⁻¹). These values were at par with the application of farm yard manure. The residual effect of organics and S, Zn and B was also registered on succeeding gobhi sarson crop which produced 12.97 and 37.33 q ha⁻¹ seed yield and straw yield respectively. The incorporation of organic sources of nutrients considerably improved the soil characteristics. The bulk density decreased with increase in organic carbon and available N, P, K status of soil, where as no remarkable change in soil pH and EC was recorded. The values of nutrient uptake by maize - gobi sarson crops also showed significant increase under integrated application of organics inorganics