Impact of rice-husk ash on the soil biophysical and agronomic parameters of wheat crop under a dry tropical ecosystem

Abstract

Several alternative amendments like organic manure and biochar have been proposed for revitalizing the degrading soil viability and fertility for sustainable agriculture, globally. However, detailed field-scale studies focussing on the soil and agronomic parameters of crops under these amendments are limited in dry tropical ecosystems. Therefore, we studied the impact of various soil amendments viz., rice-husk ash (RHA) and farm-yard manure (FYM) along with mineral fertilizer on soil biophysical and agronomic parameters of wheat crop. We specifically explored the impact of the amendments on soil CO2 efflux (SCE, under different growth stages) and the harvest index of wheat crop, which are considered as the key indicators of soil viability and agronomic efficiency, respectively. SCE, soil moisture, soil temperature, soil N, microbial biomass and soil pH were found significantly varying under different treatments (P < 0.05). SCE was found maximum under sole FYM applied and minimum under mineral fertilizer applied treatments, whereas RHA application lowered the SCE as compared to sole FYM application. Moreover, SCE showed variation with plant growth stages, and found maximum during stem elongation followed by heading stage whereas minimum during ripening stage. Soil moisture was found to have considerable regulation for the overall variation in SCE (r2 = 0.17; P = 0.04). In contrast to the soil properties, agronomic parameters (except harvest index) were found higher under mineral fertilizer applied treatments followed by sole FYM and combined FYM + RHA treatments, whereas sole RHA applied treatment showed minimum values. However, significant variations were observed only for harvest index, aboveground dry matter, grain and straw yields (P < 0.05). Further, harvest index was found highest under sole and combined FYM and RHA applied treatments whereas lowest in mineral fertilizer applied treatments. Soil C/N ratio (r2 = 0.16; P = 0.04) and panicle length (r2 = 0.18; P = 0.03), respectively as soil and agronomic parameters, have been found to have considerable control over harvest index. The findings revealed that soil viability is higher under sole FYM and combined FYM + RHA treatments whereas mineral fertilization enhances agronomic performance. Based on the studied two indicators, we conclude that both soil and agronomic sustainability can be maintained by using a combination of organic (FYM and RHA) fertilization with reduced inputs from mineral fertilizers. However, it further needs exploration for various soil and plant eco-physiological parameters of different crops at field level for wider adaptation in the dry tropical region. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd