Nutrient availability and grain yield of winter sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) as influenced by tillage practices and integrated nutrient management in Vertisols of semi-arid tropics of India

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in Vertisols at Bijapur during 1994-96 to study the effect of tillage practices and integrated nutrient management on winter sorghum yield and soil nutrient availability. The increase in winter sorghum yield with deep tillage over medium and shallow tillage was 27 and 57% in 1994-95 as compared to 18 and 34% in 1995-96. Deep tillage resulted in 22 and 45% higher yield as compared to medium and shallow tillage in the pooled data. This was mainly due to conservation and increased availability of moisture and nutrients, i.e. N, P and K. The higher availability of nutrients in the topsoil (0-0.15 m) as compared to the subsoil (0.15-0.30 m) was due to the application of nutrients in the topsoil layer and the higher rate of mineralization. Among the organic materials applied, Leucaena loppings at 2.5 t ha-1 led to a significantly (9%) higher yield (1636 kg ha-1) over vermicompost (1500 kg ha-1) and was on par with farmyard manure (1572 kg ha-1) in the pooled data and during both years of the study. The higher percentage increase in grain yield with Leucaena application was due to the better moisture conservation and availability of major nutrients, i.e. N, P and K. Winter sorghum responded significantly to N application at 25 kg ha-1 in 1994-95, whereas in 1995-96 and in the pooled data the response varied up to 50 kg N ha-1. In the pooled data, the grain yield increased by 17 and 24% with the application of 25 and 50 kg N ha-1 compared with the control. The higher yields obtained with the application of nitrogen were due to the better availability of nutrients, especially N, as these soils are low in available N.