Impact of urea and farm yard manure on nitrate concentration in soil profile and productivity of wheat crop

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During the last century, concerns about nitrate presence in the groundwater have tremendously increased worldwide, mainly because of its detrimental consequences on environment and human health. There are different factors contributing their past in nitrate pollution, farm manure is given due consideration. Knowing above facts, a field study was performed to check the effect of different farm yard manure (FYM) levels with urea on nitrate distribution in the soil profile and yield of wheat crop. The experiment was set out in a randomized complete block design, consisted of application of nitrogen at 125 kg ha−1 from urea, 80 kg ha−1 of N from urea +10 tons FYM ha−1 and 20 tons FYM ha−1 with three replications. Wheat (cultivar S7ehar-2006) was sown as test crop. Soil samples were examined to measure the nitrate concentration from four different depths (0–25, 25–50, 50–75, and 75–100 cm) after harvesting. Results showed that the straw yield, total biomass, spike length, and number of grains per spike and 1000-grain weight were significantly influenced by fertilizer strategies. All manure treatments significantly affected the infiltration rate and concentration of nitrate at different depths of the soil profile. Farm yard manure showed greater nitrate concentration up to 50 cm depth as compared to alone urea and combined application, while at the depth of 100 cm, combined application of urea and FYM showed a minimum concentration of nitrates than alone application of either urea or FYM.