Direct and residual effect of integrated nutrient management on crop productivity and physico-chemical characteristics of allfisols in okra-pea cropping system

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted on direct and residual effect of integrated nutrient management on crop productivity and physico-chemical characteristics of allfisols in okra-pea cropping system in Kashmir valley. The okra was grown as main crop and pea as residual crop. The experiment was laid out in simple square lattice design having 25 treatments with two replications. The pooled data revealed that integrated nutrient management significantly influenced the productivity of main as well as residual crop, physico-chemical properties and microbial activity of experimental soil. Among various treatments under study, treatment T₂₄ (FYM, sheep manure, poultry manure and vermicompost (3, 2, 0.5, 0.6 tonnes ha^-1, respectively) along with biofertilizers (Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria; both as seed inoculant @ 1.0 kg ha^-1 and as soil inoculant @ 2.5 kg ha^-1) and 50 % recommended dose (RDF) of fertilizers (N:P₂O₅:K₂O, 60:30:30 kg ha^-1, respectively) resulted significantly maximum fruit yield of okra (272.71 q ha^-1) and pod yield of pea (123.56 q ha^-1). The physico-chemical characteristics of the soil under study showed an improvement with organics application as compared to initial, control and RFD. Soil under the treatment T₂₄ showed lowest bulk density, particle density and pH; and highest porosity, EC, and organic carbon content. Available nutrients in soil (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphar) and microbial population (fungi and bacteria) were also recorded maximum with treatment T₂₄.