Effect of long-term fertilizers and manure application on microbial biomass and microbial activity of a tropical agricultural soil

Abstract

We investigated some aspects of soil quality and community-level physiological profiles (CLPP) of bacteria in soil under a long-term (37 years) trial with either exclusive inorganic fertilizers or fertilizers combined with farmyard manure cultivated with jute–rice–wheat system. The treatments consisted of 100% recommended dose (RD) of NPK, 150% RD of NPK, 100% RD of N, 100% RD of NPK + FYM (10 t ha−1 year−1), and untreated control. Long-term application of 150% RD of NPK lowered the soil pH considerably while the soils in the other treatments remained near neutral. The 100% RD of NPK + FYM treated plot showed significantly highest accumulation of organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, and fluorescein diacetate hydrolyzing activity among the treatments. CLPP analysis in Biolog Ecoplates revealed that utilization of carbohydrates was enhanced in all input treated regimes, while the same for polymers, carboxylic acids, amino acids, and amines/amides were similar or less than the untreated control. However, within these groups of carbon sources, heterogeneity of individual substrate utilization between treatments was also noted. Taken together, addition of organic supplements showed significantly increased microbial biomass carbon and microbial activity, but input of nutrient supplements, both inorganic and organic, only marginally affected the overall substrate utilization pattern of soil microorganisms.