Influence of nitrogen levels and G-amrut on quality and soil properties of summer sesame under organic farming

Introduction

Organic farming is the original type of agriculture and has been practiced for thousands of year. The traditional belief is that organic manure promotes quality while mineral fertilizers promote quantity. In organic farming, it is important to work constantly to build a healthy soil that is rich in organic matter and has all the nutrients that the plants need. Oilseed are backbone of agriculture economy of India since long and considered as the second largest agricultural commodity after cereal. With an annual average yield of about 29 million tons, India stands as fourth leading oilseeds producing countries, next only to the USA, China, Brazil. Sesame is also known as gingelly, til, benne seed. Sesame plays an important role in agricultural and industrial economics of our country. India occupies a very prominent place in the oil seeds producing countries of the world as it produces large variety of oilseed crop among the six major oil seed crops viz., groundnut, sesame, castor, rapeseed, mustard and linseed. Sesame stand next to groundnut so far as the production of edible oil is concerned. The area under oilseeds in India is 28.79 million hectares, the oilseed production is exceeding 40 million tonnes in 2022-23 and productivity of sesame is 400-500 kg/ha in 2024-25. The production of sesame in India was 8.29 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 (Anon., 2024). The combine use of compost and G-amrut helps to restore and sustain soil fertility and crop productivity. It favorably affects the physical, chemical and biological environment of soil. Adoption of appropriate integrated nutrient management strategies holds a great potential in boosting the sesame production. Therefore, combine use of compost and G-amrut is crucial not only for increasing the yield but also for the improvement of soil health.

Materials and Methods

The field experiment for the present investigation was conducted at Organic Farm, Navsari (Gujarat) during the year 2022-23. The data of soil analysis revealed that the soil of experimental plot was clay in texture, the soil of experimental field was clayey in texture, medium in available nitrogen (302 kg/ha) and available phosphorus (48kg/ha) and high in available potassium (511 kg/ha). The soil reaction was slightly alkaline (7.60 pH) with normal electric conductivity (0.39 dS/m). During the crop period, the mean maximum and minimum temperature ranged between 35.5 °C -30.6 °C and 14.6°C-27°C, respectively. The maximum and minimum humidity ranged between 27 to 64 per cent to 93 to 95 per cent, respectively. The field experiment consisted of combine use of compost and G-amrut. The recommended dose of nitrogen for summer sesame is 50 kg/ha. The sesame cv. Gujarat Til-3 was sown with spacing 45 cm between two rows. The required quantity of well decomposed bio-compost was incorporated and mixed well within the soil at the time of land preparation. The sowing was done by line sowing method. The five plants were tagged in the net rows of each treatment plot for recording the observations during the experiment. International Pipette Method (Piper, 1966) [12] 2.

Textural Class Clay B) Chemical Properties of soil 1.

pH(1:2.5) 7.60 Potentiometric (Jackson, 1973) [6] 2.

EC(1:2.5) (dS/m) 0.39 Conductometric (Jackson, 1973) [6] 3.

Organic Carbon (%) 0.85 Walkley and Black (Jackson, 1973) [6] 4.

Available N (kg/ha) 288 Alkaline KMnO4 (Subbiah and Asija, 1956) [15] 5.

Available P2O5 (kg/ha) 47 Spectrophotometric (Olsen et al, 1954) [9] 6.

Available K2O (kg/ha) 511 Flamephotometric (Jackson, 1973) [6] 8.

DTPA extractable Fe (mg/kg) 18.53 Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978) [8] 9.

DTPA extractable Mn (mg/kg) 29.5 10.

DTPA extractable Zn (mg/kg) 0.79 11.

DTPA extractable Cu (mg/kg) 1.66

Methodology

The G-amrut for foliar spraying and drenching with irrigation water were prepared by mixing fresh ground leaves with cow urine in 1:1 ratio followed by fermentation. This mixture was kept for anaerobic decomposition for 45 days and was shaken well every day in morning or evening. While spraying residue and extract of formulation were separated by passing the mixture through a sieve cloth. The extract was collected into flask. The formulation prepared was fermented 45 days before spraying and drenching. The spraying was done at 30, 45 and 60 DAS and the extract was prepared every time using fresh leaves. In order to record various quantitative observations, five plants were selected from each net plot by using random table for periodical observations. The selected plants were labelled with proper notations and observations on growth and yield attributing characters were recorded. Total biological yield, seed yield and stover yield were recorded from net plot area. Formulation of G-amrut:1 kg Gliricidia leaves +1 lit Cow urine + 8liter water.

Results and Discussion Effect on soil p h, ec and organic carbon after harvest of summer sesame

The range of P H and EC in the treatments did not differ significantly in soil pH after harvest of crop. Numerically the highest value of P H and EC was 7.56 and 0.42 dS m -1 recorded under control (T 1 ) treatment, respectively. The organic carbon content was significantly higher in T 6 (100% RDN + 500 l/ha G-amrut) treatment 0.99 per cent, However, treatments T 2 (100% RDN), T 3 (100% RDN + 2% G-amrut), T 4 (75% RDN + 2% G-amrut) and T 7 (75% RDN + 500 l/ha Gamrut) recorded at par values 0.86, 0.96, 0.94 and 0.89 per cent organic carbon content with T 6 . The significant increase in OC content was observed in all the treatments, where organic biomass was added for N supply through RDN through biocompost, whereas in control was not added. This might be attributed to contribution of OC to the soil in form of organic source added to RDN. Similarly, also Chhibba (2010) reported that the incorporation of crop residue and FYM alone or in combination with green manuring significantly increase carbon content in soil. The results are in conformity with the findings of Ramesh et al. (2009) [13] , Yadav et al. (2020) [18] in soybean and Hirapara et al. (2020) [5] in sesame.

Effect on nutrient status of soil after harvest of summer sesame

The range of available N in the treatments varied from 252 to 302 kg/ha. The highest nitrogen content 302 (kg/ha) was recorded in the treatments T 6 (100% RDN + 500 l/ha G-amrut) and it was statistically at par with all other treatments except T 5 (272 kg/ha), T 8 (271 kg/ha) and T 1 (252 kg/ha). Lower amounts of available N (252kg/ha) was found in the control treatment (T 1 ). The nitrogen content of whole soil also increases under the influence of organic matter. In the present study nitrogen supplied in soil through organic source. The increase in available nitrogen content of soil might be attributed to direct effect of organic nitrogen supplied in form of compost that slowly mineralized in soil after the composting process. In case of available P 2 O 5 , significantly the highest available P 2 O 5 (48 kg/ha) registered under treatment T 6 (100% RDN + 500 l/ha Gamrut) and it was at par with 43 kg/ha in T 3 treatment. The increase in the available P and K may also primarily due to higher amounts of P and K added to the soil through organic manures compared in the urea. The increase in available P could as described to the organic acids, which were released during microbial decomposition of OM and helped in the solubilization of native phosphates, as a result, the available P content increased. Available K 2 O significantly higher values of available potash (511 kg/ha) was recorded in treatment T 6 (100% RDN + 500 l/ha G-amrut) and it statistically remained at par with the T 3 and T 4 with values 506 and 476 kg/ha, respectively. The lower amount of available P 2 O 5 and K 2 O were recorded in treatments T 1 (control) 31 kg/ha and 408 kg/ha, respectively. The increase availability of K may be due to beneficial effect of organic manures on the reduction of K fixation and release of K due to interaction of organic material with clay beside the direct K addition the soil. Another reason for K, buildup of soil available K by the addition of potassium through gliricidia green leaf extract as G-amrut might had fact as gliricidia leaves contains higher amount of K, which when applied in the soil, its solubilizing action of certain organic acids producedd during decomposition results in greater capacity to hold K in the available form. Similar results were observed by Ramesh et al.

(2009) [13] , Hirapara et al. (2020) [5] in sesame, Panghate et al.

(2020) [10] , Srikant et al. (2020) and Yadav et al. (2020) [18] in soybean.

Effect on DTPA extractable micronutrients in soil

The results revealed that the status of DTPA extractable micronutrient Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn (mg/kg) ranged from [5] in sesame, Yadav et al. (2020) [18] and Panghate et al. (2020) [10] soil after harvest of crop.

Effect on quality of sesame

The quality parameters like crude protein content did not significantly differ but the protein yield, oil content and oil yield were noted significantly higher under treatment T 3 (100% RDN + 2% G-amrut) with value of 293 kg/ha, 46.87% and 670 kg/ha, respectively. The increased in oil content might be due to increased availability of nutrient through compost, biofertilizers and foliar spray which has resulted in creations of maximum nutrients availability to sesame crop during growth and reproductive phase has resulted in higher seed oil content and seed yield as reported by Gabhane et al. (2019) [4] . The results of present studies corroborate with the findings of Choudhary et al.

(2017) [2] in sesame, Takar et al. (2017) [16] in sesame and Vani et al. (2017) [17] in sesame.

Conclusion

Among all the treatments, T 6 (100% RDN + 500 l/ha G-amrut) and T 3 (100% RDN + 2% G-amrut) consistently demonstrated superior results in soil fertility after harvest of sesame cv. GT-3.

References

1. Anonymous. Production profile of sesame. 2021. https://www.viralspices.com/blog/india-global-emergingleader-sesame-seed-exports
2. Choudhary K, Sharma SR, Jat R, Didal VK. Effect of organic manures and mineral nutrients on growth, yield attributes and yield of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). Int J Commun Sys. 2017;5(2):86-88.
3. Elwell WT, Gridley JAF. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry. London: Pergamon Press Ltd.; 1967.
4. Gabhane AR, Gite PA, Khadse VA, Kadu PR, Patle PN. Production potential of organic summer sesame as influenced by compost, foliar nutrients and biofertilizers. J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2019;SP2:47-50.
5. Hirapara KV, Mathukia RK, Prakash RS, Korat HV. Influence of biochar on growth, yield and quality of summer organic sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and soil properties. Int J Commun Sys. 2020;8(6):395-398.
6. Jackson ML. Soil chemical analysis. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd; 1973. p.183-192.
7. Kumawat RN, Mahajan SS, Santra P. Effect of panchgavya on soil chemical properties of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) rhizosphere and crop productivity in Western Rajasthan. Legum Res. 2013;26(1-2):39-43.
8. Lindsay WL, Norvell WA. Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 1978;42:421-428.
9. Olsen SR, Cole CW, Wathade FS, Dean LA. Estimation of available phosphorus in soil by extraction with NaHCO3. Washington: USDA Circular No. 959; 1954. p.1-13.
10. Panghate PA, Kuchanwar OD, Pimpale AR, Kausadikar PH, Gopal KR, Nagmote RS. Dynamics of organic inputs on physico-chemical properties of soil under certified organic farms in Nagpur district. J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2020;9(3):1395-1400.
11. Panse VG, Sukhatme PV. Statistical methods for agricultural workers. New Delhi: ICAR Publication; 1985.
12. Piper CS. Soil and plant analysis. New York: Academic Press; 1966.
13. Ramesh P, Panwar NR, Singh AB, Ramana S. Effect of organic nutrient management practices on the production potential, nutrient uptake, soil quality, input-use efficiency and economics of mustard (Brassica juncea). Indian J Agric Sci. 2009;79(1):40-44.
14. Srikanth K, Sadu Y, Menon S. Effect of organic manures in cultivation of mustard. 2020.
15. Subbiah BV, Asija GL. A rapid procedure for the estimation of available nitrogen in soil. Curr Sci. 1956;25:259-260.
16. Takar SS, Jat G, Bijarnia AL, Shivran A, Yadav HL. Effect of integrated nitrogen management through organic resources on yield, nutrient content and uptake of summer sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). Int J Chem Stud. 2017;5(4):1130-1133.
17. Vani KP, Divya G, Nalini N. Effect of integrated nutrient management on yield attributes and quality of summer sesamum. Int J Chem Stud. 2017;5(5):1304-1306.
18. Yadav J, Gabhane VV, Shelke A, Rathod A, Satpute U, Chandel A. Effect of potash management through Gliricidia green leaf manuring on soil fertility and yield of soybean in vertisols. J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2020;9(2):1033-1037.