Public Health · Vol. 11, No. 2 · 2026 · pp. 15–20 · e-ISSN 2472-3878

Effect of nutrient management on soil properties in Inceptisols of Agra

Anil Kumar Sahu, Yogesh Singh

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17140/phoj-11-15 · Published 2026-10-06 · Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · © 2026 The Author(s)

Also available as PDF (figures and tables appear in the PDF).

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at R.B.S. College, Bichpuri, Agra to evaluate the effect of nutrient management on soil properties in Inceptisols of Agra. The experiment was layout in randomized block design with ten treatments of T1- 100% RDF 80:40:40, T2- 100% RDF + S 20kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T3- 100 % RDF + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T4 - 100% RDF + S 20kg/ha +Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T5- 75 % RDF + S 20kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T6- 75 % RDF + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T7- 75 % RDF + S 20kg/ha + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T8- 50 % RDF + S 20kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T9- 50 % RDF + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha, T10- 50 % RDF + S 20kg/ha + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/h, with three replications. The study found that applying (T4) @ 100% RDF + S 20kg/ha +Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha-1 significantly improved soil organic carbon, available nutrients (N, P, K, S and Zn) compared to other treatments. Application of (T4) @ 100% RDF + S 20kg/ha +Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha-1 recorded significantly higher EC, pH, soil organic C, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and zinc over (T9) @ 50 % RDF + Zn 5kg/ha + FYM 5t/ha treatment.

Keywords: INM; SOC; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Sulphur; Zn

Introduction Amongtheprimarynutrients,phosphorusisthemost importantconstraintforincreasingoilseedproduction becauseofthenutrient’srequirementofoilseeds,in generalishigh.ThePcompounds(ADPandATP)infact

asenergycurrencywithintheplant.Itplaysavitalrole inplantmetabolism.Thus,phosphorusinfluencesthe vigourofplantsandrootgrowth.Sulphurisconstituent of three S containing amino acids (cystine, cysteine andmethionine)whicharebuildingblocksofprotein.

Sulphurisalsoenhancingnitrogenfixationinsome oilseedlikegroundnutandsoyabean,sinceitisanac- tiveconstituentofnitrogenousenzyme,whichisvital forN2fixation.Oilseedrapehasastrongpungencyfor nitrogenbecauseofthehighlevelofnitrogenHowever,

excessapplicationofnitrogenousfertilizersbeyonda certainlimitinducedlodgingandeventuallylessened grainyieldanditscomponentssulphurisacrucialel- ementforrapeseed-mustardindeterminingitsseed yield,oilcontent,qualityandresistancetovariousbi-

oticandabioticstresses. Besidespromotingchloro- phyllformationandoilsynthesis,itisanimportantcon- stituentofseedprotein,aminoacids,variousenzymes, andglucosinolates.SoilsofIndiahadmultiplenutrient deficiencies,mainlyofN,P,K,SandZnandtheiruse

havebecomeessentialtoobtainoptimumcropyield.

FYMhelpsinmaintainingsoilsustainabilityinterms of nutrients supply capacity of soil. The increase in productivityofthecropsmightbeattributedduetoits essentialroleofallnutrientspresentinFYMforplant growththroughitseffectasagoodsourceofsoilor- Resultsanddiscussion

ganicmatterwhichimprovesthephysio-chemicaland biologicalpropertiesofsoil.ApplicationofFYMalsoin- creasescationexchangecapacityandhelpsinkeeping soilmicronutrientsinavailableformthroughitschelat- ingactionaswellasmicrobialactivityinsoilbesides

supplyingmacroandmicroplantnutrients.cropsand useofhighanalysissulphurdevoidfertilizerscoupled.

MaterialsandMethods 100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1was ThefieldexperimentswereconductedattheAgricul- recorded(8.33)comparedtocontrol(T9)@50%RDF+ tural Research farm of R.B.S. College Bichpuri, Agra Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(8.14)respectively.Theresults locatedinsemi-aridorgraysteppearidregionofSouth- obtainedinthepresentstudycorroboratethefindings WesternUttarPradeshduringtwoconsecutivekharif Solankietal.(2015)andKhambalkaretal.(2017).

seasonsof2023-25and2024-25onsandyloamsoil.

ThesoilhadEC0.19dSm-1,pH8.38,organiccarbon Soilorganiccarbon 4.3gkg-1,availableN192.6,P13.8andK209.5kgha-1. Thesoilorganiccarboninsoilincreasedsignificantly ThesoilhadCaCl2extractablesulphurcontentof15.3 witheachlevelofnutrientmanagementtreatments kgha-1andDTPAextractablezinc0.82mgkg-1.Theex- ascomparedtocontrol.Amongthedifferentnutrient perimentwaslaidoutinrandomizedblockdesignwith managementtreatments,applicationof(T4)@100%

threereplications.Thetreatmentswerecomprisedof RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1recordedsig- T1-100%RDF80:40:40,T2-100%RDF+S20kg/ha+ nificantlyhighertheSOCinsoil(5.32gkg-1)followed FYM5t/ha,T3-100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha,T4- by(T2)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(5.18 RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha,T6-75%RDF+Zn5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha,T7-75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+

FYM5t/ha,T8-50%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha,T9- 50%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha,T10-50%RDF+S 20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/h.

Soilsamplingandanalysis Soilsampleswerecollectedduring2023fromtheplow layer(0-20cmdepth)fromtheexperimentalplotafter the crop harvest. These samples were partitioned and passed through standard prescribed sieves for further use in a different kind of analysis. The soil samplesthatpassedthroughthe0.2-mmsievewere usedforestimatingsoilorganiccarbon.Fortherestof thesoilqualityparameterssuchaschemical(pH,EC), availableN,P,K,S,andZnparameters,soilsamples

thatpassedthrough2-mmsieveswereused.SoilpH andECweremeasuredina1:2soil/watersuspension (Richards, 1954), organic carbon by wet oxidation with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) + potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7)(WalkleyandBlack, 1934), availableNby

alkaline-KMnO4 oxidizable N method (Subbiah and Asija,1956),availablePby0.5Msodiumbicarbonate (NaHCO3) extraction method (Olsen et al., 1954), available K (Hanway and Heidel, 1952) , available sulfurby0.15%CaCl2(WilliamsandSteinbergs,1959),

andAvailableZnbyDTPAmethod(LindsayandNorvell, 1978).

ECandpH TheElectricalConductivity(EC)inthesoilsvariedfrom 0.24to0.33dSm-1acrossthetreatments.However,ap- plicationof(T4)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+ FYM5t/ha-1recordednon-significantlyhigherECvalue

insoil(0.33dSm-1)comparedtocontrol(T9)@50% RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(0.24dSm-1).Significantly higherpHvalueinsoilwiththeapplicationof(T4)@ available-Zninsoil

Treatments pH ECdSm-1 OC(gkg-1) N(kgha-1) P(kgha-1) K(kgha-1) S(kgha-1) Zn(mgkg-1) T1 8.20 0.26 4.56 197.4 T2 8.36 0.31 5.18 231.4 T3 8.33 0.30 5.05 225.7 T4 8.41 0.33 5.32 239.8

T5 8.28 0.28 4.81 212.9 T6 8.26 0.27 4.69 203.5 T7 8.31 0.29 4.95 219.1 T8 8.14 0.25 4.32 186.7 T9 8.11 0.24 4.14 178.0

T10 8.16 0.25 4.44 191.6 SEM± 0.02 0.03 0.16 9.67 CD@5% 0.05 NS 0.34 20.31 Note. Valuesarepresentedasreportedinthesourcedocument.

gkg-1),(T3)@100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1 managementtreatments,applicationof(T4)@100% (5.05gkg-1),(T7)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+ RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1recorded FYM5t/ha-1(4.95gkg-1),(T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+ significantlyhighertheavailablephosphorusinsoil FYM5t/ha-1(4.81gkg-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn5kg/ha (17.1kgha-1)followedby(T2)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1(4.69gkg-1),(T1)@100%RDFha-1(4.56 +FYM5t/ha-1(16.6kgha-1),(T3)@100%RDF+Zn

gkg-1),(T10)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+ 5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(16.2kgha-1),(T7)@75%RDF FYM5tha-1(4.44gkg-1),(T8)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+ +S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(15.7kgha-1), FYM5t/ha-1(4.32gkg-1)comparedto(T9)@50%RDF (T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(15.2kg +Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(4.14gkg-1)respectively.The ha-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(15.0 presentobservationssupportandextendtheearlier kgha-1),(T1)@100%RDFha-1(14.4kgha-1),(T10)@

reportsSinghandKumar(2015)andMajumderetal. 50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5tha-1(14.0kg (2017)andSharmaetal.(2017) ha-1),(T8)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(13.4

Availablenitrogen Amongthedifferentnutrientmanagementtreatments, applicationof(T4)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1recordedsignificantlyhighertheavail- ablenitrogeninsoil(239.8kgha-1)followedby(T2)@

100%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(231.4kgha-1), (T3)@100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(225.7kg ha-1),(T7)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM 5t/ha-1(219.1kgha-1),(T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1(212.9kgha-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn

5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(203.5kgha-1),(T1)@100%RDF ha-1(197.4kgha-1),(T10)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn 5kg/ha+FYM5tha-1(191.6kgha-1),(T8)@50%RDF +S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(186.7kgha-1)comparedto (T9)@50%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(178.0kgha-

1)respectively.Thesefindingsareinagreementwith thosereportedbySinghandKumar(2015),Majumder et al. (2017) Sharma et al. (2016) and Sharma et al.

(2024).

Availablephosphorus respectively.Thepresentresultsalignwiththefindings Theavailablephosphorusinsoilincreasedsignificantly reportedbySinghandKumar(2015),Majumderetal.

witheachlevelofnutrientmanagementtreatments (2017),Sharmaetal.(2022)andIndoriaetal.(2025).

ascomparedtocontrol.Amongthedifferentnutrient 14.4 209.9 14.2 0.56 16.6 242.5 16.5 0.68 16.2 233.8 16.0 0.65 17.1 247.6 17.1 0.70

217.3 15.0 0.60 15.0 222.0 14.6 0.58 15.7 226.5 15.5 0.62 13.4 188.7 13.2 0.52 12.8 180.6 12.4 0.50

209.7 13.6 0.54 0.79 7.54 0.49 0.04 1.65 15.83 1.02 0.08

kg ha-1) compared to (T9) @ 50% RDF +Zn 5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha(12.8kgha-1)respectively. Thepresent resultsalignwiththefindingsreportedbySinghand Kumar(2015), Majumderetal. (2017), Sharmaetal.

(2020)andSharmaetal.(2022)

Availablepotassium Amongthedifferentnutrientmanagementtreatments, applicationof(T4)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1recordedsignificantlyhighertheavail- ablepotassiuminsoil(251.3kgha-1)followedby(T2)

@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(242.6kgha-1), (T3)@100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(236.6kg ha-1),(T7)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM 5t/ha-1(229.5kgha-1),(T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1(222.7kgha-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn

5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(216.9kgha-1),(T1)@100%RDF ha-1(209.6kgha-1),(T10)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn 5kg/ha+FYM5tha-1(204.4kgha-1),(T8)@50%RDF +S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(195.2kgha-1)comparedto (T9)@50%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(186.6kgha-1)

Availablesulphur Amongthedifferentnutrientmanagementtreatments, applicationof(T4)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1recordedsignificantlyhighertheavail- ablesulphurinsoil(17.1kgha-1)followedby(T2)@

100%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(16.5kgha-1),(T3) @100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(16.0kgha-1), 4.

(T7)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1 (15.5kgha-1),(T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ ha-1(15.0kgha-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM 5t/ha-1(14.6kgha-1),(T1)@100%RDFha-1(14.2kg ha-1),(T10)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM

5tha-1(13.6kgha-1),(T8)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+ FYM5t/ha-1(13.2kgha-1)comparedto(T9)@50% RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(12.4kgha-1)respectively. 5.

Theresultsobtainedinthepresentstudycorroborate thefindingsAkrametal. (2024)Sharmaetal. (2018) andSharmaetal.(2024).

Availablezinc Amongthedifferentnutrientmanagementtreatments, applicationof(T4)@100%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha +FYM5t/ha-1recordedsignificantlyhighertheavail- ablezincinsoil(0.70mgkg-1)followedby(T2)@100%

RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(0.68mgkg-1),(T3)@ 100%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1(0.65mgkg-1), (T7)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha-1 6.

(0.62mgkg-1),(T5)@75%RDF+S20kg/ha+FYM5t/ ha-1(0.60mgkg-1),(T6)@75%RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM 5t/ha-1(0.58mgkg-1),(T1)@100%RDFha-1(0.56mg kg-1),(T10)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+Zn5kg/ha+FYM 7.

5tha-1(0.54mgkg-1),(T8)@50%RDF+S20kg/ha+ FYM5t/ha-1(0.52mgkg-1)comparedto(T9)@50% RDF+Zn5kg/ha+FYM5t/ha(0.50mgkg-1)respectively.

Theresultsobtainedinthepresentstudycorroborate thefindingsMajumderetal. (2017)Laletal.,(2020) Sharmaetal.(2022)andAkrametal.(2024). 8.