Comparative Assessment of Integrated Fertilization Approaches on Finger Millet Quality and Soil Properties in North-Western Himalayas

Abstract

Climate change induced soil degradation and progressive nutrient depletion are emerging as critical constraints for global food security, particularly in hill agroecosystems. In this context, integrated nutrient management (INM) offers a holistic and ecologically sustainable strategy to improve crop productivity and soil fertility. Therefore, a field experiment was laid out during kharif 2024 (one year) on finger millet as the test crop to evaluate the effect of INM practices on primary macronutrients’ content, uptake and soil chemical properties. The study included nine nutrient management practices (T1: FYM @ 5 t ha-1, T2: N40P20K0 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1, T3: N40P20K20 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1, T4: N60P30K20 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1, T5: N40P20K0 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 + Azospirillum, T6: N40P20K20 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 + Azospirillum, T7: N60P30K20 + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 + Azospirillum, T8: natural farming practices, T9: organic farming practices) which were replicated thrice in a randomized block design. The results revealed that conjoint application of N60P30K20 + 5/ t/ ha-1 FYM + Azospirillum (T7) recorded the highest content of nitrogen (N) (1.34%), phosphorus (P) (0.27%) and potassium (K) in grains and total uptake of N, P and K (55.66, 11.31 and 94.78 kg ha-1, respectively) by finger millet. Further, similar treatment recorded maximum soil available P (29.58 kg ha-1). Subsequently, organic practices (T9) significantly improved bulk density. Correlation analysis revealed significant and positive relationship between N, P and K uptake with available N and P, while available K showed nonsignificant relationship. Soil pH exhibited a significant negative correlation with nutrient uptake. Overall, the findings emphasize that combined use of fertilizers, FYM and Azospirillum is an effective strategy for enhancing nutrient uptake and productivity of finger millet under hill conditions.