Enhancing Soil Properties through Integrated Use of Chemical Fertilizers, Organic Manure, and Bio-fertilizers on Rice Crop: A Comprehensive Study

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the prime food crop for more than 65 percent of the people and provides livelihood security to 70 percent of the Indian population (Kulkarni et al., 2015). With the advent of ever-increasing demand, future projections for rice production are 180 million tons with an average productivity of 4030 kg ha-1 by the year 2020 (Mishra et al., 2006). The major objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of the integrated use of chemical fertilizers, organic manure, and bio-fertilizers on soil properties through a field experiment. The experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2016-2017 at the research plot of the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Udai Pratap (Autonomous) College, Varanasi. Varanasi is in eastern U.P., India, under a sub-tropical climate. The experiment was designed as a randomized block design (RBD) with six treatment combinations. Treatments were replicated thrice, making a total of 18 plots. The six treatments consisted of various levels of P and PSB. Details of treatments are T1 = Control (no input), T2 = 100% NPKS, T3 = 100% NPKS + FYM (10 tons ha-1) + Bio-fertilizer (PSB + BGA), T4 = 125% NPKS, T5 = 150% NPKS, T6 = 50% NPKS + FYM (10 tons ha-1) + Bio-fertilizer (PSB + BGA). The application of 50% NPKS + 10 tons FYM ha-1 + Bio-fertilizers PSB + BGA increased rice yield and improved soil fertility more than inorganic fertilizers alone. Higher nutrient availability was also observed in these treated plots.