A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of organic farming practices on soil health and crop performance of Soybean (Glycine max). The crop cultivar JS-335 of soybean was grown with 30:26.2:16.6 kg ha -1 (NPK) recommended dose of fertilizers under three management practices viz., organic, chemical and integrated (50:50) in randomized block design, replicated three times. Soil organic carbon, available N, P and K, microbial enzymatic activities, total biomass, seed yield and harvest index (HI) were analyzed during the study. It was observed that soil organic carbon (11.3 g kg ) and soil enzyme activities viz., dehydrogenase (DHA) (98.20 µ grams TPF/g soil/24 h) and alkaline phosphatase (178.2 µ grams p-nitro phenol/g soil/h) were found significantly higher in the plot managed organically while available K (320.1 mg kg ) of soybean was found highest in organic farming practices followed by integrated and chemical practices. Very poor microbial activities were observed in chemically managed plots. Thus, the study demonstrated that the organic farming practice improved soil health and performance of soybean crop.

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Present field experiment was conducted at the Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India in a clayey soil (Typic Haplusterts) under soybean (Glycine max, cv. JS 335) wheat (Triticum durum, cv. HI 8498) cropping system in a randomized block design with seven treatments in four replications to study the changes in soil fungal, bacterial and actinomycetes population; and resultant enzymatic activities in soil under organic, biodynamic and conventional agriculture management. The results of study revealed that, the soil microbial population (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes), soil enzyme activities and soil microbial biomass carbon were found in the order of organic > conventional ≥ biodynamic agriculture. The organic agriculture registered 27-102% and 28-111% higher enzymatic activities than conventional and biodynamic agriculture, respectively. Similarly, soil microbial biomass carbon was found 30-45% and 33-42% higher under organic agriculture management as compared to conventional and biodynamic agriculture management, respectively. No significant effect of biodynamic agriculture management on soil microbial properties was observed.

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