Soil Fertility Status as Influenced by Integrated Nutrient Management in Mustard-Cowpea-Rice Cropping Sequence in Lateritic Soils of Konkan

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on nutrient content and uptake in mustard-cowpea-rice cropping sequence in lateritic soil of Konkan. The soil fertility parameters viz., bulk density, porosity, organic carbon content, microbial count (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes) and content of available nutrients (NPK) in soil showed significant improvement with the application of organic, inorganic and organic+inorganic sources of nutrients compared to control treatment. The highest microbial count in soil was contributed under INM T₇ treatment and its effects were significantly superior over to those of chemical fertilizes alone (T₃) or use of organic manure alone (T₂). The content of available nutrients in soil was also slightly higher with T₇ treatment compared to use of only chemical fertilizers (T₃). It is therefore, in lateritic soil of Konkan for mustard-cowpea-rice cropping sequence the integrated nutrient management practice i.e. application of 50 per cent recommended dose of N, P₂O₅ and K₂O be applied through chemical fertilizers and the remaining 50 per cent recommended dose be applied through manure for each crop in the cropping sequence for soil fertility sustenance and saving of chemical fertilizers. For mustard and cowpea FYM be used as manure and for rice, glyricidia green leaf manuring be used.