Influence of methods of irrigation and fertilizer application on Physical and Physico – Chemical properties and available nutrient status of soil in Groundnut

Groundnut is an important food legume and oilseed crop of tropical and subtropical areas and cultivated on about 25 million hectare
of land in more than 90 countries in the world, under different agro-climatic regions where rainfall during the growing season
exceeds 500 mm. Though, nutritionally groundnut is an energy rich crop, it is grown mainly on energy-starved conditions of poor
fertility soils and about 70% of the its production in the world occurs in the semi-arid tropics with average yield is around 800 kg ha.
In past the combination of improved varieties and nutrient management practices have contributed signi

icantly to increase in
production and productivity. However, India could not maintain the required growth rate of the productivity and became a decade
behind of China mainly because, in India, the groundnut crop is mostly grown as rainfed in dry lands, on problem soils under low
fertility, and low input management. Long term use of fertilizers like acidic or basic or neutral may affect the physico chemical
properties of soil which may be long term or short term. Therefore, it is imperative to study the In

luence of methods of irrigation and
fertilizer application on Physical and Physico – Chemical properties and available nutrient status of soil under Groundnut cultivation.
Hence the
ield experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bhavanisagar, Erode district of Tamil Nadu to study the
in
luence of various methods of irrigation and fertilizer application on Physical properties viz., bulk density, particle density, pore
space and Physico – Chemical properties viz., pH, EC, organic carbon and CEC and available nutrient status (Nitrogen, Phosphorus
and Potassium) of post harvest soil in Groundnut under maize – groundnut cropping system. The various irrigation methods (main
plot treatments) followed were I – Drip irrigation, I – Drip fertigation, I – Sub surface drip irrigation, I – Sub surface drip 1 2 3 4
fertigation, I – Sprinkler irrigation and I – Conventional method of irrigation and the various methods of application of fertilizers 5 6
were imposed as subplot treatments, ie., S – Absolute control (No fertilizer), S – Recommended dose of NPK fertilizers through 1 2
normal fertilizers / Recommended dose of NPK fertilizers through water soluble fertilizers (According to the irrigation treatment)
-1 and S – S + Vermicompost @ 5 t ha and the treatments were replicated thrice. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design in a 3 2

2

plot size of 15 M . The crop rotation followed was maize – groundnut. The second crop in the cropping system i.e., groundnut was
sown by following a spacing of 30 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants. The intercultural were followed as per crop
production guide. The irrigation and fertilizer application were followed as per the treatment schedule. The crop was harvested at
maturity. After the harvest of the crop, the post harvest soil samples were collected, processed and analysed for their physical and
physico – chemical properties and available nutrient status. The results of the study indicated that there was a slight increase in the
bulk density, particle density and EC, but the increase was not signi

icant. There was no improvement in the pH of the soil. With
respect to organic carbon, CEC and available nutrient status viz., available N, available P and available K also there was no
improvement when compared to the initial soil properties. With regard to various irrigation methods and fertilizer applications, the
-1 sub surface drip fertigation with recommended dose of NPK fertilizers + vermicompost @ 5 t ha (I S ) is superior in enhancing post 4 3
harvest soil physical and physico – chemical properties and available nutrient status of groundnut when compared to other
treatment combinations.