Sustainable Production of Soybean (Glycine max L.) Crop Through Chemical Fertilizers and Organic Manures Along with the Improvement in Soil Health

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out on the black cotton soil in the years 2018 and 2019 in the district of Sangli, Maharashtra, India to evaluate the sustainable agricultural practices for improving the growth and yield of the soybean (Glycine max L.) variety JS-335 along with the soil improvement. Twelve treatments were evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications. The results revealed that combined applications of chemical fertilizer (RDF-30:80:20:40) and organic manures (FYM and VCM) improved the growth attributes and seed yield as compared to control and other treatments along with a significant improvement in the soil health parameters. This agricultural practice emerged as a promising method for sustainable cultivation of soybean (C.V. JS-335) which improved the economic yield (kg.ha-1), agronomic efficiency (kg.ha-1), physiological efficiency (kg.ha-1), partial factor productivity (kg.ha-1), apparent recovery efficiency (kg.ha-1) and sustainable yield index (0.80) with maximum return having cost: benefit ratio (1:3.8). The results found statistically significant and correlated having a positive relationship between yield and sustainability parameters.