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Background: Balancing productivity, profitability and environmental health is a key challenge for maintaining agricultural sustainability. The use of locally available agro-inputs in agriculture by avoiding or minimizing the use of synthetically compounded agro-chemicals appears to be one of the probable options to sustain the agricultural productivity. Widespread use of herbicides has resulted in purported environmental and health problems as well as residual toxicity issues in succeeding crops. At present, the awareness on safe food is increasing. So, keeping this point in view the present investigation was carried out to evaluate the influence of organic sources of nutrients and weed management on growth, yield and weed flora of Frenchbean. Methods: A field experiment was conducted during summer season of 2016 and 2017. The present investigation was laid out in split plot design with six sources of nutrients in main plot and four weed management treatments in sub plots. Result: Application of treatment T5 recorded significantly higher growth parameters, yield attributes, fresh pod yield, net returns and B:C ratio of French bean which was statistically at par with T3 and T2. Amongst the weed management treatments, treatment W1 resulted in significantly lowest species wise and total weed density and biomass, highest weed control efficiency, lowest weed index, highest growth, yield attributes and fresh pod yield of French bean which was statistically at par with W2 and W0. However, the highest net returns and B:C ratio were obtained in weed free plots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 12 long-term (of 15 to 42 years duration) experiments with different cropping systems under various soils and agro-climatic conditions, we studied how different (inorganic and integrated) nutrient management practices influenced boron (B) availability in soils, and its nutrition of nine crops. To this end, four nutrient management practices viz., NPK (recommended dose of N, P and K), NPK + FYM (farmyard manure), control and fallow, which were common in all the experiments, were selected and their effects on B availability in soils were tested using four commonly used methods viz., hot-CaCl 2 (HCC), KH 2 PO 4 (PDP), mannitol-CaCl 2 (MCC) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in relation to B nutrition of wheat, rice, cowpea, sorghum, sesame, mustard, groundnut, soybean and lentil. Amounts of B extracted by the four different methods followed the order HCC = HCl > MCC > PDP across the tested soils. Averaged over the extractants, long-term nutrient management practices with NPK + FYM resulted in 15% increases in available B in soil over the control, which produced 20% increase in plant tissue B concentration. Such increases with integrated (NPK + FYM) nutrient management practices maintained available B in soils and plant tissues above its critical limits that supplied adequate amounts of B for nutrition of all the tested crops grown intensively for so many years. A B balance study in six experimental sites showed a net B accumulation over time as irrigation water contained and supplied (130–296 g B ha−1 year−1) more B than removed by harvested crops. Of the four methods used, HCC was the best for assessment of availability of B in soils under long-term cultivation. • 15–42 years integrated NPK supply maintained adequate B in soils and in plants. • Long-term nutrient management caused a positive balance of B in soils. • Hot-CaCl 2 was the best extractant in capturing changes in B availability in soils under LTFE. • B-rich irrigation water and to a lesser extent FYM caused B accumulation in soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and its allocation into different pools is important for global food and environmental security. Accordingly, an attempt is made in the present study to investigate into the dynamics of SOC pools i.e. total soil organic carbon (TOC), oxidisable organic carbon (OC) and its different fractions viz. very labile (CVL), labile (CL), less labile (CLL) and non-labile (CNL) in soils under a 26 years old long-term experiment with rice (Oryza sativa L) - wheat (Triticum aestivum L) cropping system on Inceptisols under humid agro-climatic region of India with different soil management practices (control, 100% recommended dose of NPK, and 50% recommended dose of NPK + 50% N through farmyard manure (FYM). Of the several pools analyzed, a higher proportion of C was found in labile pool followed by very labile, non-labile, and less labile ones constituting about 46, 26.5, 20 and 7.3% of the total organic C at surface soil. The NPK+FYM treatment was found to have higher SOC pools, lability index (LI), recalcitrance indices and stratification ratio as compared to others. Results indicated that balanced fertilization with inorganic and organics is important for maintaining overall sustainability of the rice-wheat system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the growth on the basis of secondary data in area, production and productivity of major crops in Jammu region for the period from 1984-85 to 2013-14. The comparison has been made over the time to examine the trends and it was observed that in Jammu region rice, maize and wheat crop dominated the area and these crops together occupied more than 84 per cent of gross cropped area during the last three decades. The entire period 1984-85 to 2013-14 found that rice, maize, wheat, millets, condiments and spices, fruits and vegetables, fodder crops had positive area growth while pulses, barley, jawar, bajra, sugarcane, oilseeds and fibers had negative area growth. The production was positive for rice, wheat and pulses and negative for maize whereas as yield was recorded positive for rice, wheat and pulses and negative for maize crop. The study concluded that most of the cultivated land is dominated by cereals groups, therefore, need for crop diversification which ultimately leads to protection of soil health, regular returns, employment opportunities as well as better and balanced diet for the local people in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scarcity of water resources in India is limiting the production of flooded rice crop. A field experiment was conducted in factorial RBD with sixteen treatment combinations including four rice varieties viz. V1: PR-115, V2: DRRH-3, V3: PAC-837 and V3: PR-121 and four fertility levels viz. F1: control (N0P0K0), F2: N, P2O5, K2O at 90: 45: 22.5 kg ha-1, F3: N, P2O5, K2O at 120:60:30 kg ha-1 and F4: N, P2O5, K2O at 150: 75: 37.5 kg ha-1 replicated thrice. The results revealed that among the different varieties, PAC-837 recorded highest plant height and number of tillers m-2 at all the growth stages. All yield attributes viz. number of effective tillers m-2, number of seeds per panicle, 1000-grain weight, spikelet sterility and grain yield, straw yield and harvest index significantly differed in different varieties and were recorded highest in PAC-837 which were however, statistically at par with DRRH-3 except grain yield and effective tillers m-2. Rice variety PAC-837 recorded highest grain yield of 45.65 q ha-1 and straw yield of 59.98 q ha-1. Among the fertility levels, number of effective tillers m-2 significantly increased up to 120: 60: 30 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1 thereafter nonsignificant differences were noticed. The grain and straw yield increased up to 150: 75: 37.5 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1 and recoded grain yield of 52.78 q ha-1 and straw yield of 73.85 q ha-1 with application of 150:75:37.5 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1. Nutrient application of 150: 75: 37.5 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1 recorded highest available N (238.16 kg ha-1), P (16.18 kg ha-1) and K (163.25 kg ha-1) in soil after harvest of the crop. Higher available nitrogen (235.28 kg ha-1), phosphorus (16.38 kg ha-1) and potassium (154.24 kg ha-1) n soil were recorded with PR-121 and lowest available major nutrients were recorded with variety PAC-837. This study would help to introduction and adaptation of new rice variety PAC-837 with application of 150: 75: 37.5 N-P2O5-K2O kg ha-1 under aerobic conditions in Shiwalik foothills region of North-Western Himalayas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]