Zinc in the soil–plant continuum: A long‐term perspective from selected Inceptisols in India

Abstract Long‐term experiments are valuable resources for studying the nutrient dynamics and overall assessment of the impacts of fertilization and provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the influence of different management practices and agro‐climatic conditions over a number of years. The present study was carried out in seven different long‐term experiments to investigate the impact of integrated nutrient management on yield, Zn uptake by crops under various cropping systems and Zn distribution in the soil. The Zn balance in the soil after several years of cultivation was also estimated. Irrespective of experimental sites, 4 common treatments viz., Control (T 1 ), 100% NPK (T 2 ), 50% NPK + 50%N through FYM (T 3 ) and an uncultivated fallow (T 4 ) were selected for the comparative study. N, P and K were supplied through inorganic fertilizers and farmyard manure was integrated with fertilizers for T 3 . The treatment with conjunctive application of chemical fertilizers and organic matter (FYM) was observed to maintain a positive Zn balance (25.05 to 183.65 g ha −1 across sites) in soil after years of cultivation and evidently promoted Zn uptake which was 39.41% higher than the 100% NPK treatment across sites and crops. These findings elucidate the need to optimize different nutrient management practices under different climatic scenarios in the soil–plant system for higher yield and uptake of crucial nutrients like Zn, which is a need for sustainable agriculture and human health.