Study on Productivity, Quality and Profitability of Soybean (Glycine max L.) as Influenced by Fertility Levels and Enriched Compost in Typic Haplustepts Soil

Abstract

Background: Enriched composts supply the plant nutrients and add a sufficient amount of organic matter to the soil, which helps in improving the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. It helps to maintain and sustain soil fertility for enhancing crop productivity and also acts as a recess for microbes and enriches the soil with a variety of the indigenous micro-flora and fauna. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to study the effect of fertility levels and enriched compost on productivity, quality and profitability of soybean (Glycine max L.) in sub-humid southern plain and Aravalli hills region of Rajasthan. Methods: The experiment was undertaken during kharif 2018 at Rajasthan College of agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan) in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. The treatments were comprised of three levels of recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) (control, 50% RDF and 100% RDF) and four levels of enriched compost (control, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 t ha-1). Result: The increasing fertility levels upto 100% RDF and enriched compost upto 4 t ha-1, significantly increased (P=0.05) the plant height, dry matter accumulation, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed yield, haulm yield and protein and oil content in seed of soybean. However, the combined application of 100% RDF along with 6 t ha-1 enriched compost recorded higher seed and haulm yield. The results further revealed that the application of 100% RDF and 4 t ha-1 enriched compost significantly improved the productivity, quality and profitability of soybean under Typic Haplustepts soil.