Ashok K. PatraIndian Institute of Soil Science

Bhopal

Soil Health, the Missing Link in Sustainable Pulse Production in India

healthy soils for a healthy life

“Pulses” the “Pulse” of Soil

Declining Crop Response To FertilizersPeriod Response ratio (kg grains per kg NPK)

5th Plan (1974-79) 15.08th Plan (1992-97) 7.59th Plan (1997-02) 7.010th Plan (2002-07) 6.511th Plan (2007-12) 6.0

Soil Health Issues and Crop Productivity

Imbalanced nutrient application

(2013-14 NPK: 9.7 :2.7 :1)Decline in organic carbon contentNegative nutrient balance: 8-10 Mt/ yearEmerging multinutrient deficienciesDevelopment of acidity/salinity/alkalinityDeclining and disproportionate growth of biodiversity

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Not only crop response ratio is low, the recovery efficiency of nitrogen (per cent of applied N recovered by the crop) in India is only 30-50%, it can be as low as 20-30% in rice. This calls for the use of more efficient nitrogen fertilizers such as nitrification inhibitor blended or slow release fertilizers.Customized fertilizers may provide a solution.

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 20250

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Food

grai

n pr

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Elements deficient Foodgrain production (Mt)

NFeN

KPZnFeN

MnSKPZnFeN

BMnSKPZnFeN

BMnSKPZnFeN

MoBMnSKPZnFeN

?MoBMnSKPZnFeN

Emerging Micronutrient Deficiencies due to Imbalanced Fertilizer Use

As food grain production increased with time the number of elements becoming deficient in soils and crops also increased due to imbalanced fertilization use.

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1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

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N, P

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K (M

t)

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Food

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NPKFood grain

Food grain production and fertilizer use

Fertilizers – An important input contributing 50% towards improvement in crop productivity

Crop Total uptake (kg/tonne of main produce)

N P2O5 K2O S Ca Mg

Chickpea 60.7 9.2 39.2 8.7 18.7 7.3

Pigeon pea 70.8 15.3 16.0 7.5 19.2 12.5

Lentil 57.0 14.9 21.6 3.0 7.5 2.0

Soybean 70.7 30.9 57.7 6.7 14.0 7.6

Green gram 106.0 48.1 73.2 12.0 71.0 43.0

Black gram 78.9 14.4 65.6 5.6

Rice 20 11 30 3 7 3

Wheat 25 9 33 4.7 5.3 4.7

Total (Grain+Straw) Nutrient uptake (expressed in kg/tonne of main produce) by some pulse crops

Source: FAI statistics (2012-13)

Crop Yield

(t/ha)

Total uptake (kg/ha) GRD (kg/ha)

N P2O5 K2O Total N P2O5 K2O Total

Soybean 2.0 140 62 115 317 20 70 50 140

Chickpea 2.0 121 18 78 218 20 50 40 110

Pigeonpea 1.5 106 22 24 152 20 80 40 140

Lentil 1.0 57 15 21 93 20 40 20 80

Mung 0.8 85 39 59 183 25 50 10 85

Rice 5.0 100 55 150 305 120 60 50 230

Wheat 5.0 125 45 165 335 120 60 40 220FAI Fert. Stat 2012-2013

Nutrient uptake and applied

Soil Fertility Status of M. P. Available nutrient

Soils of % of districtsLow Medium High

Nitrogen 30 60 10Phosphorus 31 58 11Potassium 15 33 52

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Status of Micro and Secondary Nutrients in Indian soils

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13 125 3

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S Zn B Mo Fe Mn Cu

% d

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Deficiencies of S, Zn and B has become critical

SOIL QUALITY? SOIL HEALTH? SOIL QUALITY?

SOIL QUALITY?SOIL HEALTH? SOIL HEALTH?

Functions:

1. To sustain biological productivity

2. To maintain environmental quality

3. To promote plant & animal health

etc…….

SOIL HEALTH?

SOIL HEALTH

SOIL QUALITY?

SOIL HEALTH

SOIL QUALITYSOIL QUALITY

SOIL QUALITY

SOIL HEALTH =Continuing capacity of the soil to function as a vital living system

SOIL Health

Pulses promote soil health

1 g soil may contain 104

species of bacteria

Mixed Consortium Biofertilizers : Mixed biofertilizers (BIOMIX) containing a consortium of N fixers, P solubilizers and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizhobacteria (PGPR) were developed through the Network Project on Soil Biodiversity and Biofertilizers. Field trials showed the saving of 25% of N and P fertilizers. Field trials of BIOMIX in various states showed an yield increase of 9% - 14%.

Enhancement of Biofertilizer Efficacy: Bioinoculants (Azospirillum, Azotobacter, PSB) mixed with well decomposed FYM/Vermicompost in 1:25 ratio and incubated at 30% moisture for a week improved the microbial population 2-15 fold. Demonstrations revealed an yield increase of 8-12% in above ground vegetables and 25-30% in below ground vegetables with the use of this formulation.

Liquid Biofertilizer Formulations: Four to five ml of liquid inoculum (population of 3x109 cells/ml) is enough to coat 1 kg seed.

Biofertilizers

MridaparikshakA Mini Lab for Soil Analysis & Fertilizer Recommendation

Developed by ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal

Mini-lab (Mridaparikshak)

• A digital mobile quantitative to provide soil testing service at farmers’ doorsteps.

• Determines soil pH, EC, organic C, available N, P, K and micronutrients like Zn, Fe,& B.

• Provides crop and soil specific fertilizer recommendations directly to farmer’s mobile through SMS.

Soil Health Assessment

Impact of fertilization on yields (q/ha) of some pulse crops in Bhopal & RaisenTreatments

Soybean Chickpea LentilT1 10.46 8.69 4.82

T2 11.71 (11.9) 9.92 (14.1) 5.67 (17.6)

T3 12.20 (16.6) 10.27 (18.2) 5.77 (19.7)

T4 12.99 (24.2) 10.70 (23.1) 5.79 (20.1)

T5 13.24 (26.6) 10.40 (19.7) 6.10 (26.6)

CD (P=0.05) 0.75 1.10 0.45T1: Farmers’ practice; T2: Recommended NPKSZn; T3: 75% Recommended NPK + FYM (@2.5 t/ha); T4: 75% Recommended NPK + Crop residue (@2.5 t/ha) + PSB as soil application (@ 3 kg/ha); T5: 75% Recommended NPK + FYM (@2.5 t/ha) + Crop residue (@2.5 t/ha) + PSB as soil application (@ 3 kg/ha).

Final results of NATP project on pulses

Best nutrient recommendations are available for (1) soybean-chickpea, (2) soybean-lentil, (3) paddy-chickpea (4) urdbean-chickpea, and (5) sorghum-chickpea.

Soil test crop response based fertilizer nutrient recommendations in pulses

An example: Andhra Pradesh (Pigeonpea)

Name of the Centre Tandur

Soil phosphorus range 3 - 36 kg ha-1

Soil Vertisol Soil potassium range 180 -510 kg ha-10.75 :0.60 : 1.2

Crop and Variety Pigeon pea – LRG-30

Season developed Kharif, 2007Target range 15 – 20 q ha-1

Soil nitrogen range 190 – 410 kg ha-1

Fertilizer adjustment equations

FN= 4.71 T– 0.21 SN, FP2O5 = 5.83 T – 2.93 SP, FK2O = 6.96 T – 0.31 SK

Andhra Pradesh (Pigeonpea)

Soil available nutrient (kg ha-1)Fertilizer nutrient required (kg ha-1) for

yield target

KMnO4

N Olsens’ P Amm.Ac-K 15 (q/ha) 20 (q/ha)

N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O

190 3 180 31 79 49 54 108 83

210 6 210 27 70 39 50 99 74

230 9 240 22 61 30 46 90 65

250 12 270 18 52 21 42 81 56

Applicability Jadcherla and Mahabubnagar districtSoil type VertisolCrop Pigeonpea (Redgram) – LRG-30Season developed KharifYield target Upto 15 to 20 q ha-1

• Soil test crop response based equations have been developed for important pulse crops

• These recommendations are embedded in Govt. Soil health cards

• These recommendations are for all the essential nutrients depending upon the soil test values

• The recommendations are for targeted yields which are expected to be achieved if good agronomic practices are followed in raising the crops

STCR based equations in soil health cards

healthy soils for a healthy life

Thank you