Abstract
Soil quality deterioration, especially in intensive cropping systems, has become a serious problem for crop productivity; consequently, strategies for sustainable crop production and soil health are urgently required. Experiments on fields were organized to investigate the impact of organic manures on crop productivity, soil physiochemical properties and soil water availability in a maize-based cropping system. The experiment consisted of five treatments, including organic manures (OM) and inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizers applied separately and in combinations: NPK = 250-150-125 Kg/ha (recommended rate), farmyard manure (FYM) = 16 t/ha, poultry manure (PM) = 13 t/ha, NPK + FYM = 150-85-50 Kg/ha + 8.5 t/ha and NPK + PM = 150-85-50 Kg/ha + 7.0 t/ha. The results showed that the combination of OM with mineral fertilizers increased crop productivity, fertilizer use efficiency and yield sustainability indices over the treatments amended with sole application of mineral fertilizers and OM. The analysis of undisturbed soil samples during different crop growth stages revealed that the addition of OM decreased the bulk density and increased the pore volume of soil at the beds of 0–20 and 20–40 cm. The application of OM to the soil not only increased saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil but also improved total available and readily available water contents to the plants, especially when FYM was included at 16 t ha−1. Soil-water retention properties recorded over the entire seven-day monitoring period following irrigation in the OM-amended treatments were consistently higher than the sole mineral NPK application treatments. When testing the soil nutrient status during different crop growth stages, it was noted that by adding OM into the soil not only the status of the organic carbon of soil, extractable N and K and available P contents is increased, but the duration of their availability to the plants are also enhanced. The results of the study show that organic manures addition is of major significance for maintaining soil quality and crop production sustainably, and should be advocated in the nutrient management strategies of intensive water- and nutrient-demanding cropping systems.
Highlights
Loss in the fertility of soil has become a primary root reason of less availability of among persons, especially in smallholder farms of the world, and water scarcity further aggravates this problem [1,2]
Grain yield and total biomass were greater in treatments for which organic and inorganic nutrient sources were applied in combination as compared to their sole applications
From the results of this study, it can be concluded that integrated use of organic manures can ensure an ecologically sound technology for improving physiochemical and hydrological properties of soil and crop productivity
Summary
Loss in the fertility of soil has become a primary root reason of less availability of among persons, especially in smallholder farms of the world, and water scarcity further aggravates this problem [1,2]. This trend is becoming more severe due to widely adopted practices of intensive and incessant cropping with poor soil management [3]. The implication of organic manures (OM) in crop production improves soil physiochemical properties and increases crop productivity and is eco-friendly, cheap, readily available and a potential source of nutrients [12]. Its addition to soil is supportive in reducing the effects of heavy metals and their uptake in crops, depending on their quality and quantity and the level of contaminants present in the soil–plant systems [6]
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