<div>Background: The field experiment was conducted during 2018-19 experimental farm of Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur (H.P.), India. The experiment comprised of ten treatments (maize-wheat, maize-wheat + gobhi sarson, dhaincha-cabbage-frenchbean, sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean, maize + soybean chickpea + linseed, rice-wheat + gram, hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid), hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-ryegrass + berseem, babycorn-broccoli-frenchbean and okra-turnip-tomato) which was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. 
 
Methods: The present investigation was conducted during October 2018-October 2019 (Kharif and Rabi seasons) at an elevation of 1100 m amsl at a latitude of 32&deg;04&rsquo;N and longitude of 76&deg;35&rsquo; E at Bhadiarkar Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The soil of the experimental area falls in the order of Alfisols with Paleudalf as the great group as per the Udic Moisture Regime. During kharif and rabi season the crop varieties were applied with the recommended dose of N, P2O5 and K2O (kg ha-1). The source of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potash. 
 
Result: In terms of food for human consumption, highest yield was obtained under the okra-turnip-tomato cropping sequence followed by dhaincha-cabbage-frenchbean and sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean. While in terms of fodder yield, highest was obtained under hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid) cropping sequence followed by hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-ryegrass + berseem. Highest maize grain equivalent yield was obtained with okra-turnip-tomato crop sequence. All other treatments remained superior in comparison to the maize-wheat crop sequence. Maize + soybean-chickpea + linseed emerged to be the best treatment with the highest benefit cost ratio. The treatment comprising okra-turnip-tomato sequence also proved to be the second-best treatment followed by hybrid sorghum + hybrid bajra-oats + sarson (hybrid). Sunhemp-vegetable pea-frenchbean recorded the highest uptake of the available nutrients from soil which was followed by babycorn-broccoli-frenchbean. There was net loss of available nutrients although the loss was less in the sequences with multiple crops during the year. The treatments had no significant effect on the pH and organic carbon content of the soil.</div>

​Effect of Different Crop Sequences on Soil Nutrient Status, Nutrient Uptake and Crop Yield in Western Himalayas of India

Background: Silicon (Si) has been considered a beneficial element for many plants. Si-rich biochar (Sichars) from rice husk or peanut shell have been suggested to be a potential source of bioavailable Si for Si-accumulator plants. Our study aimed to assess the Si-fertilization efficiency from chemical fertilizer and rice husk and peanut shell biochars on rice dry matter and shoot Si uptake. 
 
Methods: Pot trials were conducted in two crop seasons in 2023 (from February to April - spring season and from May to July- summer season) in the close net house. Treatments included 1 treatment with pure soil (control), 4 treatments with Si and N&ndash;P&ndash;K fertilizers and 6 treatments with biochar amendments and N-P&ndash;K fertilizers. These pot experiments were designed in the randomized complete block (RCBD) with 4 replications. 
 
Result: Shoot dry matter increased from 35.6 to 66.7% compared with control in different rates of Si fertilizer application and was also found the highest values in RHB and PSB at 15 g/kg soil application. Different Si and biochar application rates had a significant effect (P&lt;0.05) on Si uptake by rice shoot. Therefore, Si-rich biochar considers as potential material for providing available Si to maintain the required level of available Si in soil and plant for healthy and high crop production.

Effect of Silicon based Fertilizer and Biochar from Crop Residues on Dry Matter Accumulation and Si Uptake by Rice Crop in Central Vietnam

Background: At the present situations, sole croppingand generalized fertilization recommendations could not produce advantageous results for neither profitable crop production nor for a sustainable environment. Therefore, the study focuses on evaluating the response of pearl millet to various cropping systems and different nutrient management techniques for enhancing crop productivity and sustaining soil fertility.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The field trial took place at the instructional farm of Karunya Institute of Technology and Science in the Coimbatore district of western Tamil Nadu, India. The trial spanned over two growing seasons and followed a factorial randomized block design, with 2 factors: cropping systems and nutrient management, replicated three times. The design resulted in a total of 12 treatment combinations, comprising 3 levels of cropping system viz., sole cropping of pearl millet, pearl millet with black gram and cowpea intercropping systems; and 4 levels of nutrient management comprising different doses of fertilizer levels in combination with biofertilizers such as Azospirillum and PSB and foliar sprays of 2% urea and 3% Panchagavya.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The experimental findings indicated that intercropping treatment, Pearl millet + Black gram at a 1:1 ratio, exhibited superior results in enhancing plant growth, improving the crop nutrient uptakeand enriching soil fertility. In the case of nutrient management treatments, application of 75% of recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) + Azospirillum and phosphate solubilizing bacteria + foliar application of 2% urea at 15 and 35 days after transplanting (DAT) resulted in producing higher plant height, enhanced dry matter production, efficient crop nutrient uptake, improved soil fertility status for sustainable agriculture.&nbsp;

Evaluation on the Influence of Cropping Systems and Nutrient Management Practices in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) Growth, Crop Nutrient Uptake and Soil Fertility Status

<div>Background: Soybean-wheat is the most dominant soybean based cropping system and it also fits well in soybean-spring maize and soybean-gobhi sarson cropping systems. Soybean being a highly nutrient-exhaustive crop requires higher amounts of nutrients, particularly phosphorus for its optimum production. Thus, the present investigation was undertaken. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted for three years to study the effect of phosphorous application on yield and P uptake by soybean in different cropping systems. There were three cropping systems which were kept in main plots and five P levels viz., 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 applied to soybean which were kept in the sub plot. 
 
Result: Application of 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 resulted in highest mean seed yield of soybean (20.9 qha-1) but significant response was observed up to 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 (19.8 qha-1) only. Highest mean seed P uptake of soybean was observed under application of 80 kg P2O5 ha-1. The mean seed yield, stover yield and P uptake of soybean was not affected significantly under different cropping systems. The interaction effects of cropping system and applied P levels were however non-significant. A significant build-up of available P in surface soil over control was observed under 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 level.</div>

Effect of Phosphorous Application on Yield and its Uptake by Soybean (Glycine max L.) in Different Cropping Systems

<div>Background: Freshwater in sufficient quantity and adequate quality is a prerequisite for human societies and natural ecosystems. To adequately feed 9.3 billion people in 2050, consumptive water use (i.e. transpired water) by all food and fodder crops needs to increase from its present estimated level of 7000 km3/year to 12,586 km3/year. However, fresh water resources are increasingly getting scarce because of increased competition among a multitude of users. Getting agriculture to perform with progressively smaller allocation of renewable water resources will remain a challenge on global scale. To meet the challenge there is an urgent need to improve the crop water productivity to ensure the sustainability of agriculture. 
 
Methods: An experiment was carried out at village Menawali, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan during both kharif and rabi seasons to assess productivity, economics, N-uptake and water use of different crops. An area of 187 ha comprising 25 farmers irrigated by common irrigation channels were selected to collect the information. The information required i.e. soil, crop management, growth, phonological, yields, water balance, N-uptake and water use efficiency of each crops were collected from 15 farmers. Bt-cotton and clusterbean of kharif and wheat and Indian mustard in rabi were prominent crops, cotton-wheat, cotton-mustard, clusterbean-wheat and clusterbean-mustard were major cropping sequences of the study region. 
 
Result: In kharif season, Bt-cotton gave higher economic yields than clusterbean and amongst rabi season crops, economic yields of wheat and mustard were 4255, 1778 kg/ha, respectively. The economic yield of cropping sequences varied from 3741-6514 kg/ha and were higher for cotton-wheat (6218 kg/ha), intermediate for clusterbean-wheat (5785 kg/ha) and lower for cotton-mustard (3741 kg/ha) and clusterbean-mustard (3308 kg/ha). The cotton-wheat (₹1181.2 mm) sequence had highest water use. Clusterbean-wheat cropping system recorded highest water productivity (16.5 kg/ha mm) followed by clusterbean-mustard (14.9 kg/ha mm). The clusterbean-mustard (₹456/ha mm) cropping sequence was most profitable and fetched highest net return followed by clusterbean-wheat (₹383/ha mm).</div>

Assessing Crop and Water Productivity Performance of Different Crops and Cropping Systems

<div>Background:&nbsp;Weeds are the major biological constraint in okra due to its slow initial growth and wider row spacing. Due to severe crop weed competition, weeds removed considerable amount of nutrients from the soil. Competition exists between the crop and weed for nutrients results in nutrient deficiencies in crop. Hence the present experiment is formulated to assess the effect of stale seedbed, mulching and mechanical weeding on nutrient availability, nutrient uptake by crop and weed in okra. 
 
Methods: Experiment was conducted at Coconut Research Station, Balaramapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala during Rabi 2020-21. Design adopted for the study was RBD with two factors. The first factor was seedbed preparation (S) and the second factor was weed management (W). Stale seedbed (S1) and normal seedbed (S2) were the two different seedbed preparation methods and dried banana leaf mulch @10 t ha-1 alone (W1), dried banana leaf mulch @10 t ha-1 fb wheel hoe weeding at 30 and 45 DAS (W2), dried banana leaf mulch @10 t ha-1 fb hand weeding at 30 and 45 DAS (W3), wheel hoe weeding at 15, 30 and 45 DAS (W4), hand weeding at 15, 30 and 45 DAS (W5) and weedy check (W6) were the six different weed management options tried. Soil samples were collected after the harvest of the crop to determine the nutrient availability. Weed samples at 30 and 60 DAS and plant samples at harvest were analyzed to determine the NPK content and respective uptake of nutrients were calculated by multiplying the nutrient content with DMP. 
 
Result: Stale seedbed significantly enhanced the dry matter production and nutrient uptake by okra at harvest and lowered the nutrient removal by weeds at 30 and 60 DAS. Compared to non-stale, stale seedbed recorded significantly higher fruit yield. Among the weed management, wheel hoe weeding at 15, 30 and 45 DAS, recorded the lowest total weed dry weight at 30 and 60 DAS and resulted in the highest NPK uptake by crop and fruit yield. Uncontrolled weed growth resulted in a loss of 81.33, 18.16 and 50.84 kg N:P:K ha-1&nbsp;at 30 DAS and 102.09, 57.90 and 55.31 kg N:P:K ha-1 at 60 DAS, respectively. Nutrient removal by weeds was the lowest in wheel hoe weeding at 15, 30 and 45 DAS and the highest in weedy check. It could be concluded that, wheel hoe weeding at 15, 30 and 45 DAS was the best option for the management of weeds, higher nutrient availability and uptake and yield in okra.</div>

Nutrient Availability and Nutrient Uptake by Crop and Weed as Influenced by Stale Seedbed, Mulching and Mechanical Weeding in Okra

The study to investigate the effect of Rhizobium inoculation and cropping systems on the uptake of macronutrients in shoot, root and whole plant of Phaseolus vulgaris and Lablab purpureus was conducted at Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) for two cropping seasons. A randomized complete block design was used in a 3-factorial arrangement with two levels of Rhizobium (with and without rhizobia), two legumes (P. vulgaris and L. purpureus) and five cropping systems (sole maize or sole legumes, 1 row maize to 1 row legumes (1:1) i.e. 0 m or 0.45 m of legume from maize row, 1 row maize to 2 rows of legumes (1:2) i.e. 0.1 m or 0.2 m of legumes from maize rows). The result showed that Rhizobium inoculation significantly (P&pound;0.001) increased the uptake of N, P, K, Ca and Mg in the plant parts and whole plant. Similarly, cropping systems significantly (P&pound;0.001) increased the uptake of N, K and Mg in shoots and whole plant of P. vulgaris and L. purpureus but decreased the P and Ca content in roots. Legumes significantly increased the uptake of the macronutrients in shoots and roots but more nutrients concentration in shoots than roots for both cropping seasons. There were significant (P&pound;0.001) interaction between; Rhizobium x legumes x cropping systems on whole plant uptake of N in cropping season 1 and 2. Regardless of the type of interaction, inoculated legumes maximized the uptake of macronutrients in shoots, roots and whole plant.&nbsp;

Effects of Rhizobium inoculation and cropping systems on macronutrients uptake and partitioning in two legumes (Common bean and Lablab)

<div>Background: Gypsum and organic amendments are potential ameliorants for reclamation of saline and/or sodic soil conditions to improve crop productivity and soil fertility. Application of gypsum at higher dose (&gt;1 t ha-1) with organic amendments such as FYM, crop residue on soybean crop is largely unknown for salt affected soils. Impact of these soil amendments on soybean chlorophyll pigments, symbiotic traits, nutrient uptake, nutrient harvest index, carbohydrate equivalent yield, crop productivity and economic returns is not being addressed properly. This is particularly true for oilseed crop grown under saline conditions. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was conducted for two years (2017 and 2018) to assess the impact of amendments like gypsum, crop residue (CR), farm yard manure (FYM) with recommended dose of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (RNPK) fertilizer dose on soybean crop in degraded vertisol with eight treatments and three replications laid in randomized block design. 
 
Result: Results revealed that among treatments, phenological traits such as total chlorophyll (1.561 and 1.593mg g-1), carotenoid (0.156 and 0.154 mg g-1) at 30DAS (days after sowing), nodulation traits (33.6 and 32.4 nodules plant-1) and dry matter accumulation (26.2 and 23.9 g plant-1 at harvest) improved significantly in RNPK+Gypsum+CR+FYM and RNPK+Gypsum+FYM treatments respectively. Combined application of fertilizers with organic and gypsum amendments increased soybean yield by the magnitude of 49-53% compared to only fertilizer applied treatments. Higher biological yield (4169-4339 kg ha-1), carbohydrate equivalent yield (258.8-266.5 kg ha-1) and nutrient uptake (118: 8:47:11 -140: 9: 57: 12 kg ha-1N:P:K:S) were observed in RNPK+Gypsum+CR&plusmn;FYM treatments. Economic analysis showed higher net returns and benefit-cost ratio in RNPK+Gypsum+CR (Rs 15247 and 1.48) and RNPK+Gypsum (Rs 14499 and 1.59) treatments.&nbsp;</div>

Photosynthetic Pigments, Symbiotic Traits, Yield Attributes and Nutrient Uptake of Soybean Crop as Influenced by Soil Amendments on Degraded Vertisol of Chambal Tablelands

Background: The cropping systems in any agro-ecological zone in the globe are driven by a number of critical issues, including rising food demands, the depletion of land and the degradation of land resources. The goal of traditional cropping methods has been to maximise crop yields. Cropping systems that take into account the new social, economic and ecological or environmental considerations are urgently needed nowadays. Due to their adaptability to diverse cropping patterns and capacity to fix nitrogen, legumes can offer prospects for continuous increases in productivity. Legume-based crop rotations help to maintain of organic matter, increase of soil nitrogen, nutrient balance, maintenance of soil physical qualities and disruption of soil-borne disease cycles. Conservation tillage is centered on minimum tillage, permanent raised beds, zero tillage with low soil disturbance and the preservation of protective plant cover or plant residues on the soil surface to prevent soil losses, stimulate microbial population and retain moisture and nutrients.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Field experiment were conducted during 2019-20 and 2020-21 at the Main Research Station (MRS), GKVK, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore On sandy loam soil&nbsp; to study the performance of Weed management in maize-based cropping system in conservation agriculture. The experiment was laid out under split plot design with five main plots on different tillage treatments i.e., Conventional tillage, Zero Tillage, Minimum Tillage, Minimum Tillage and Permanent raised bed and three sub plots of different weed management practices i.e., Chemical weed management practices, Integrated weed management practices and Unweeded Control replicated thrice. 
 
Result: Among tillage practices, permanent raised bed recorded the least total weed density and weed dry weight at harvest when compared to other tillage practices and also high seed yield, haulm yield and B: C ratio due to less weed&nbsp; infestation, good root growth, adequate aeration and nutrient availability compared to other tillage practices. Permanent raised beds had significantly higher nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake than zero tillage. Among weed, management practices, Integrated weed management (Pendimethalin-750 g/ha (PE) + Hand weeding at 30 DAS) recorded the least total weed density and weed dry weight at harvest compared to unweeded treatment and also high seed yield, haulm yield and B: C ratio due to less weed infestation, compared to unweeded treatment. Integrated weed management resulted in significantly higher nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake compared to unweeded (control).

Tillage and Weed Management on Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Greengram under Maize-greengram Cropping System in Conservation Agriculture

Background: Adoption of SSNM is directly affected by cost of fertilizer. Soil test crop response (STCR) concept attribute to contribution of soil and targeted yield level for fertilizer recommendation for a selected crop. This approach is also known as prescription based fertilizer recommendations. It is specific type of soil, climatic condition and specific location. Nutrient requirement is differ for different crops. The available soil nutrients efficient used and added to those available soil nutrients through fertilizers is different for different type of soil geography under a particular set of climatic conditions. 
 
Methods: A research experiment was carried out during rabi 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 at Research Farm of Agronomy, Dr. P.D.K.V, Akola (Maharashtra). Fertilizers were applied based on uptake pattern of crop, target yield levels and soil test values. The experiment was laid out in FRBD-Factorial randomized block design with two factors. Total 15 treatment combinations were formed which replication 4 times. 
 
Result: Significantly greater uptake of nitrogen (62.76, 74.67 and 81.89 kg ha-1), phosphorus (19.15, 24.32 and 29.38 kg ha-1), potassium (80.32, 92.14 and 99.18 kg ha-1), sulphur (18.46, 24.10 and 26.03 kg ha-1) and zinc (493.97, 571.01 and 620.91 g ha-1) recorded in treatment where crop supplied with farm yard manure @ 5 t ha-1 than rest of treatments during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively. A similar trend was observed in respect of soil nutrient status such as available N, P2O5, K2O, S and Zn. Application of fertilizers through soil test crop response equation with zinc sulphate @ 25 kg ha-1 and Sulphur @ 10 kg ha-1 registered maximum total uptake of nitrogen (66.89, 78.99 and 90.06 kg ha-1), phosphorus (20.78, 25.31 and 31.96 kg ha-1), potassium (86.05, 97.99 and 109.09 kg ha-1), sulphur (20.27, 26.39 and 29.80 kg ha-1) and zinc (537.78, 618.06 and 696.21 g ha-1) than rest of nutrient management treatments during three years of field experiment, respectively. The same trend was observed with respect to available N, P2O5, K2O, S and Zn under respective treatment during three years of experimentation.

Estimation of Nutrient Uptake and Available Nutrient Status of Rabi Safflower Through Soil Test Crop Response in Rainfed Ecosystem