Impact of long-term fertilization on soil quality and fertility under soybean-safflower cropping sequence in Vertisol

Abstract

The present study was undertaken during 2010-2013 in an ongoing long-term fertilizer Experiment initiated during 2006-2007 at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani with organic and inorganic applications to assess the impact of long-term fertilization on soil quality and fertility under soybean-safflower cropping sequence in Vertisol (Typic Haplusterts) having 12 treatments framed in randomized block design (RBD). The results indicated that the highest total soil quality index (SQI) (0.71) was noted with the application of 100% NPK + FYM @ 5 Mg ha-1, followed by 150% NPK (0.69) and 100% NPK + ZnSO @ 25 kg ha-1 (0.65) treatments with the 4 lowest value (0.51) under absolute control treatment. Similar trend was observed in case of other analysis. Among the various treatments, application of NPK + FYM proved superior, which not only had better soil quality, but also the most promising for maintaining soil fertility in Vertisol.