Fertilizer Requirement of Lentil Based on Soil Test Crop Response Correlation Approach in an Inceptisol

Abstract

An experiment on nutrient requirement of lentil crop based on soil test crop response (STCR) correlation studies was conducted in an Inceptisol at Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during rabi 2017-18. Soil test data, lentil grain yield and NPK uptake by lentil crop were used for obtaining four important basic parameters, viz., nutrients required to produce one quintal of lentil grain (NR), contribution of nutrients from fertilizers (%CF), contribution of nutrients from soil (%CS) and contribution of nutrients from organic matter (%C-OM). It was found that 4.99, 0.90 and 2.16 kg of N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively were required for producing one quintal lentil grain. The per cent contribution of nutrients from soil, fertilizer and FYM were 29.1, 105.1 and 7.3 for N; 65.3, 38.7 and 2.4 for P2O5; and 14.1, 58.5 and 4.3 for K2O, respectively. Making use of these basic parameters, fertilizer prescription equations were developed for lentil (var. HUL-57TL) and an estimate of fertilizer doses formulated for a range of soil test values and desired yield targets for NPK alone and NPK plus FYM.