Effect of Nutrient Management Practices on Sustaining Soil Health and Quality of Soybean (Glycine max L.) under Rainfed System in Western Himalayas

Background: Soybean cultivation in the rainfed Himalayas is highly vulnerable to rainfall variations and soil health decline. Inadequate nutrient management has resulted in soil degradation and nutrient imbalances, underscoring the need for see-through sustainable practices to maintain soil fertility and productivity in the region. Methods: The current study was conducted on soil health and quality of soybean (Glycine max L.) under rainfed system in Western Himalayas during kharif 2023 at CSK HPKV-Hill Agriculture Research and Extension Centre, Bajaura (H.P.). The experimentation contains 8 treatments which are replicated three times using a randomized block design. The soil of the study area was silty clay loam in texture, neutral in reaction with 7.30 g kg-1 organic carbon. Result: The findings indicated that various approaches to nutrient management had dissimilar impressions on the soybean’s nutritional quality and soil health. 100% NPK dose along with FYM primes protein and oil content (37.40 and 19.72%) in soyabean. Similar treatment showed maximum uptake of nutrients viz., N, P and K (92.58, 12.29 and 54.77 kg ha-1), while Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn (81.79, 45.60, 17.30 and 49.91 g ha-1) in soybean, respectively. Availability of N, P and K was low, medium to high and medium in range under different treatments. The combination of various practices did not show any significant effect on micronutrient concentrations. Correlation studies reported that total nutrient uptake as well as protein and oil content in soybean were found to be increased vis-à-vis increasing availability of nutrients.