Assessment of Soil Health and Productivity of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as Influenced by FYM, Vermicompost and NPK Treatments under Semi-Arid Climatic Condition

Abstract

The present study was formulated during the Rabi season of 2024-2025 at Research Farm, Mewar University Gangrar, (Chittorgarh) Rajasthan, to study the “Assessment of Soil Health and Productivity of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Influenced by Ten treatments, i.e., T1; Control, T2; NPK 100% (20:40:20), T3; NPK 50% + FYM 50% T4; FYM 100% (10 t ha-1), T5; NPK 50% + VC 50%, T6; VC 100% (5 t ha-1), T7; FYM 50% +VC 50%, T8; NPK 50% + FYM 25% +VC 25%, T9; NPK 25% +FYM 50 % +VC 25% and T10; NPK 25% + FYM 25% + VC 50% under Semi-Arid Climate”. The experimental data was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Experimental data that was recorded at different days of interval that is 30, 60 and 120 days. The treatments T6 (1.44 Mg m3) and T7 (1.47 Mg m3) having lower bulk densities. The steady increase from T2 (0.33%) to T6 (0.40), and then T7 (0.37), T10 (0.37%) and T9 (0.36%) indicates a progressive enhancement of additional mixture in the soil. The improvement was recorded for nitrogen availability in treatments T6 to T10 (above 240 kg ha-1). The highest P and K were recorded in treatment T7 (27.64 kg ha-1) and T7 (365.53 kg ha-1), respectively. The bacterial, fungi and actinomycetes counts were observed highest in T6 (34.50×10⁶ g-1 of soil), T7 (24.86×104 g-1 of soil) and T4 (29×10⁶ g-1 of soil), respectively.