AUTHOR=Bhatt Manoj Kumar , Singh D. K. , Raverkar K. P. , Chandra Ramesh , Pareek Navneet , Dey Prithwiraj , Pramanick Biswajit , Joshi Hem Chandra , Kumar Mukesh , Gaber Ahmed , Alsuhaibani Amnah Mohammed , Hossain Akbar 

TITLE=Effects of varied nutrient regimes on soil health and long-term productivity in a rice–wheat system: insights from a 29-year study in the mollisols of the Himalayan Tarai region

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1206878

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2023.1206878

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=The maintenance of sustainability and quantification of soil health of the rice–wheat system in the Himalayan tarai is of utmost importance, and long-term study can properly demonstrate the needful to be done to achieve this. The current study was conducted after the completion of a 29-year of crop-cycle in rice–wheat system in 2015 at Pantnagar. Since the beginning of the experiment in 1986, various NPK combinations with or without Zn and farmyard manure (FYM) applications were maintained in a fixed layout along with an absolute control plot without any external nutrition. FYM at 5 Mg ha-1 and Zn at 5 kg ha-1 were applied in rice only, and NPK-chemical fertilizers were applied both in rice and wheat. Results revealed that the application of N at 120 kg ha-1+ 40 P at kg ha-1+ K at 40 kg ha-1+ FYM at 5 Mg ha-1+ Zn at 5 kg ha-1 (NPK+FYM+Zn) resulted in the maximum attainments of long-term system productivity and sustainable yield index (SYI) which was 22% higher than that of under NPK application only. NPK+FYM+Zn and NPK+FYM also improved the overall soil physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Soil organic carbon, dehydrogenase activity, soil available P and K, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, and actinomycetes were found as the most important soil quality parameters in Mollisols. From this study, it can be concluded that the application of recommended NPK along with FYM and Zn can improve soil health and sustain the system productivity of rice–wheat system in Mollisols of Himalayan tarai.