Effect of Bio-NPK Consortia and Zinc on the Physico-chemical and Biological Properties of Inceptisol Soil under Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] Cultivation

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is an important pulse as well as oilseed crop. It is believed to be originated in China around 2838 B.C. It belongs to family leguminoceae and subfamily papilionaceae. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of bio-NPK along with zinc on soil properties under soybean grown soil in kharif 2023 at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhule. The field experiment consisted of eight treatments viz., T1 (Absolute control), T2 [GRDF (50:75:45 N: P2O5: K2O kg ha-1 + 10 t FYM ha-1)], T3 (GRDF 100% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 and 4 ml bio-NPK consortia), T4 (GRDF 100% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 and 6 ml bio-NPK consortia), T5 (GRDF 100% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1and 8 ml bio-NPK consortia), T6 (GRDF 75% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1and 4 ml bio-NPK consortia), T7 (GRDF 75% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1and 6 ml bio-NPK consortia), T8 (GRDF 75% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 and 8 ml bio-NPK consortia) were replicated thrice under randomized block design. Application of bio-NPK consortia and zinc showed significant effect on available N, P, K, DTPA-Zn and microbial count in soil after harvest of soybean. Significantly maximum available N, P, K, DTPA-Zn (175.05, 17.45, 362.13 kg ha-1 and 0.67 mg kg-1, respectively), bacterial count Rhizobium, PSB and KMB in soil (14.49, 22.33 and 20.60 105 cfu g-1 soil, respectively) were noticed in treatment receiving GRDF 100% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1and 8 ml bio-NPK consortia (T5), which was followed by application of GRDF 100% + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 and 6 ml bio-NPK consortia (T4).