Sudha Sambyal Malik, Ramesh C. Chauhan

Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, College of Basic Sciences, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, 176062, India.

Abstract

One of the important indicators of soil quality is the soil organic matter which influences the soil microbial population dynamics and enzyme activities, which in turn affect the soil fertility. Present study was conducted in the soil microbiological section, Department of Soil Science, CSKHPKV, Palampur in rice-lentil cropping sequence with organic, integrated and inorganic nutrient management. There were eight treatments with three replications and randomized block design. The surface and subsurface soil samples were collected before sowing and after harvesting from each treatment (0–15 and 15–30 cm) deep samples. The soil samples were analyzed to study how the microbial properties changed with changing the inputs in soil. An addition of organics along with in-organics improved urease and phosphatase activity in the soil. Whereas the application of only organic inputs was found to improve the soil biological properties such as microbial population, biomass carbon, microbial respiration and dehydrogenase activity. These microbial properties play a significant role in nutrient cycling, improvement of soil structure and many other functions, which directly and indirectly improve the soil health.

Keywords: Integrated treatment; Microbial properties; Nutrient management; Organic treatment .