A field experiment was conducted during rainy (kharif) and winter (rabi) seasons 2019–20 and 2020–21 at the research farm of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to study the effect of rice establishment techniques (RETs) and microbial consortia mediated in situ rice residue management options on nitrogen (N) budgeting in a rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system (RWCS). The experiment was laid out in split plot design with 3 replications having 2 main plot treatments, viz. aerobic rice (AR) and conventional transplanted rice (CTR) in kharif and 7 sub plot treatments, viz. clean cultivation (removal of paddy straw), paddy straw incorporation, paddy straw mulching, paddy straw incorporation + Pusa decomposer, paddy straw mulching + Pusa decomposer, paddy straw incorporation + urea @20 kg/ha, paddy straw incorporation + Pusa decomposer + urea @10 kg/ha. The residual effects of these treatments were observed in seed drill and zero till sown wheat in rabi seasons. Results showed that N uptake (95.1 kg/ha and 100.4 kg/ha in CTR and 79.4 kg/ha and 83.8 kg/ha in AR) was significantly superior in CTR than AR in kharif seasons. The residual effects of in situ rice residue management options in wheat, paddy straw incorporation + Pusa decomposer + urea @10 kg/ha resulted in significantly higher N uptake (136.4 and 141.5 kg/ha) than other treatments, and it was followed by paddy straw incorporation + Pusa decomposer in both the years. The nutrient uptake by the RWCS was an important indicator of soil fertility and plant nutrient status. This investigation concluded that there is need for use of microbial consortia mediated in situ rice residue management in RWCS for positive N balance in spite of enhanced nutrient uptake.

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2018-19 at ICAR-IARI, New Delhi to study the effect of rice (Oryza sativa L.) establishment methods and enriched organic nutrient sources on growth and productivity of rice. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications having two main plot treatments, viz. aerobic rice (AR) and conventional transplanted (CT) rice and five sub plot treatments, viz. Control (No fertilizer), 100% RDF (100% mineral fertilization), 50% P through P enriched compost + 50% P through DAP, 50% N through N enriched compost + 50% N through urea and DAP and 100% organic (through N enriched compost and P enriched compost). Results showed that plant growth, productivity and profitability were significantly superior in CT rice than AR. Among the nutrient management options, 50% N through N enriched compost + 50% N through urea and DAP resulted in significantly higher grain yield (4.85 and 5.13 t/ha), gross (₹ 1.35 lakh and 1.43 lakh) and net return (₹ 85 lakh and 0.85 lakh) and yield attributes than other treatments and it was at par with 50% P through P enriched compost + 50% P through DAP in both the years. Hence, the conventional transplanting of rice along with integrated application of enriched compost and inorganic fertilizer may be recommended to farmers for getting higher productivity and profitability in rice.

A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2017-18 and 2018-19 to investigate the effects of different methods of zinc fertilization on growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment was laid-out in a randomized complete block design with 12 treatments and 3 replications. Seed priming as well as soil application was effective in improving emergence count of wheat over control. Soil application of zinc sulphate heptahydrate @ 25 kg/ha could improve growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of wheat while nutripriming and foliar application failed to do so. The study suggested that soil application method alone or in combination with other application methods like nutripriming or foliar application can provide yield advantage of 10-15% over no zinc application. Considering the fact that combination of other application methods with soil application could not improve yield over soil application alone significantly, hence; soil application of 25 kg ZnSO4.7H2O alone can be recommended for achieving higher grain yield under irrigated mollisol.

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