Effect of Long Term Nutrients Management on Physical Properties of Soil During Pearl Millet-Fallow Cropping System Under Dry Land Conditions

The present investigation was carried out on the on-going long term experiment started in 2014 to study the yield sustainability and maintenance of soil fertility at Research Farm of Department of Agronomy, CCS, HAU, Hisar. The experiment was planned in a randomized block design (RBD) with four replications and five treatments viz. T -control, T -RDF(Recommended Dose of Fertilizer i.e. N 40 Kg ha⁻¹ and P₂0_s 20 kg ha⁻¹), T₃ - FYM (Farm Yard Manure) @ 6.7 t ha⁻¹, T₄ -Vermi-compost @ 2.5 t ha⁻¹, T₅ -Integrated (50% N through FYM + 50% N through Urea) which were applied during kharif season in pearl millet crop. The physical properties of the soil such as bulk density, infiltration rate, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), mean weight diameter, water stable aggregate, soil moisture retention and penetration resistance of the soil improved with addition of organic matter either alone or in combination with fertilizer. The increase in infiltration rate was significant over control. Bulk density of the soil was negatively and linearly correlated with volumetric water content at field capacity and permanent wilting point while was found to be positively and linearly correlated with K_s.