Oral Presentation 10 by Ashok K Patra at the International Conference on Pulses in Marrakesh, Morocco, 18-20 April 2016

1. Ashok K. Patra
Indian Institute of Soil Science
Bhopal
Soil Health, the Missing Link in
Sustainable Pulse Production in India

2. healthy soils for a healthy life

3. Period Response ratio (kg grains per kg NPK)
5th Plan (1974-79) 15.0
8th Plan (1992-97) 7.5
9th Plan (1997-02) 7.0
10th Plan (2002-07) 6.5
11th Plan (2007-12) 6.0

4. Imbalanced nutrient application
(2013-14 NPK: 9.7 :2.7 :1)
Decline in organic carbon content
Negative nutrient balance: 8-10 Mt/
year
Emerging multinutrient deficiencies
Development of
acidity/salinity/alkalinity
Declining and disproportionate 4

5. Not only crop response ratio is low, the recovery efficiency of
nitrogen (per cent of applied N recovered by the crop) in India
is only 30-50%, it can be as low as 20-30% in rice.
This calls for the use of more efficient nitrogen fertilizers such
as nitrification inhibitor blended or slow release fertilizers.
Customized fertilizers may provide a solution.

6. 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2025
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Foodgrainproduction
Elements deficient Foodgrain production (Mt)
N
Fe
N
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
Mn
S
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
B
Mn
S
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
B
Mn
S
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
Mo
B
Mn
S
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
?
Mo
B
Mn
S
K
P
Zn
Fe
N
As food grain production increased with time the number of
elements becoming deficient in soils and crops also increased
due to imbalanced fertilization use.

7. 0
3
6
9
12
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
N,PandK(Mt)
0
50
100
150
200
250
Foodgrain(Mt)
N
P
K
Food grain
Food grain production and fertilizer use
Fertilizers – An important input contributing 50%
towards improvement in crop productivity

8. Crop Total uptake (kg/tonne of main produce)
N P2O5 K2O S Ca Mg
Chickpea 60.7 9.2 39.2 8.7 18.7 7.3
Pigeon pea 70.8 15.3 16.0 7.5 19.2 12.5
Lentil 57.0 14.9 21.6 3.0 7.5 2.0
Soybean 70.7 30.9 57.7 6.7 14.0 7.6
Green gram 106.0 48.1 73.2 12.0 71.0 43.0
Black gram 78.9 14.4 65.6 5.6
Rice 20 11 30 3 7 3
Wheat 25 9 33 4.7 5.3 4.7
Total (Grain+Straw) Nutrient uptake (expressed in kg/tonne
of main produce) by some pulse crops
Source: FAI statistics (2012-13)

9. Crop Yield
(t/ha)
Total uptake (kg/ha) GRD (kg/ha)
N P2O5 K2O Total N P2O5 K2O Total
Soybean 2.0 140 62 115 317 20 70 50 140
Chickpea 2.0 121 18 78 218 20 50 40 110
Pigeonpea 1.5 106 22 24 152 20 80 40 140
Lentil 1.0 57 15 21 93 20 40 20 80
Mung 0.8 85 39 59 183 25 50 10 85
Rice 5.0 100 55 150 305 120 60 50 230
Wheat 5.0 125 45 165 335 120 60 40 220
FAI Fert. Stat 2012-2013
Nutrient uptake and applied

10. Available
nutrient
Soils of % of districts
Low Medium High
Nitrogen 30 60 10
Phosphorus 31 58 11
Potassium 15 33 52
10

11. 41
49
33
13 12
5 3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
S Zn B Mo Fe Mn Cu
%deficientsamples
3
Deficiencies of S, Zn and B has become critical

12. SOIL QUALITY? SOIL HEALTH? SOIL QUALITY?
SOIL QUALITY?SOIL HEALTH? SOIL HEALTH?
Functions:
1. To sustain biological productivity
2. To maintain environmental quality
3. To promote plant & animal health
etc…….
SOIL HEALTH?
SOILHEALTH
SOIL QUALITY?
SOILHEALTH
SOILQUALITYSOILQUALITYSOILQUALITY
SOIL HEALTH =
Continuing capacity of the soil to function as a
vital living system

13. SOIL Health

14. Pulses promote soil health
1 g soil may
contain 104
species of
bacteria

15. Mixed Consortium Biofertilizers : Mixed biofertilizers (BIOMIX) containing a
consortium of N fixers, P solubilizers and Plant Growth Promoting
Rhizhobacteria (PGPR) were developed through the Network Project on
Soil Biodiversity and Biofertilizers. Field trials showed the saving of 25%
of N and P fertilizers. Field trials of BIOMIX in various states showed an
yield increase of 9% - 14%.
Enhancement of Biofertilizer Efficacy: Bioinoculants (Azospirillum,
Azotobacter, PSB) mixed with well decomposed FYM/Vermicompost in
1:25 ratio and incubated at 30% moisture for a week improved the
microbial population 2-15 fold. Demonstrations revealed an yield
increase of 8-12% in above ground vegetables and 25-30% in below
ground vegetables with the use of this formulation.
Liquid Biofertilizer Formulations: Four to five ml of liquid inoculum
(population of 3x109 cells/ml) is enough to coat 1 kg seed.
Biofertilizers

17. Mini-lab (Mridaparikshak)
• A digital mobile quantitative to
provide soil testing service at
farmers’ doorsteps.
• Determines soil pH, EC, organic
C, available N, P, K and
micronutrients like Zn, Fe,& B.
• Provides crop and soil specific
fertilizer recommendations
directly to farmer’s mobile
through SMS.
Soil Health Assessment

18. Impact of fertilization on yields (q/ha) of some pulse crops in Bhopal & Raisen
Treatments
Soybean Chickpea Lentil
T1 10.46 8.69 4.82
T2 11.71 (11.9) 9.92 (14.1) 5.67 (17.6)
T3 12.20 (16.6) 10.27 (18.2) 5.77 (19.7)
T4 12.99 (24.2) 10.70 (23.1) 5.79 (20.1)
T5 13.24 (26.6) 10.40 (19.7) 6.10 (26.6)
CD (P=0.05) 0.75 1.10 0.45
T1: Farmers’ practice; T2: Recommended NPKSZn; T3: 75% Recommended NPK +
FYM (@2.5 t/ha); T4: 75% Recommended NPK + Crop residue (@2.5 t/ha) + PSB as
soil application (@ 3 kg/ha); T5: 75% Recommended NPK + FYM (@2.5 t/ha) + Crop
residue (@2.5 t/ha) + PSB as soil application (@ 3 kg/ha).
Final results of NATP project on pulses
Best nutrient recommendations are available for (1) soybean-chickpea, (2) soybean-
lentil, (3) paddy-chickpea (4) urdbean-chickpea, and (5) sorghum-chickpea.

19. Soil test crop response based fertilizer
nutrient recommendations in pulses

20. An example: Andhra Pradesh (Pigeonpea)
Name of the
Centre Tandur
Soil phosphorus
range 3 - 36 kg ha-1
Soil Vertisol Soil potassium range 180 -510 kg ha-1
0.75 :0.60 : 1.2
Crop and Variety
Pigeon pea – LRG-
30
Season developed Kharif, 2007
Target range 15 – 20 q ha-1
Soil nitrogen range 190 – 410 kg ha-1
Fertilizer adjustment equations
FN= 4.71 T– 0.21 SN, FP2O5 = 5.83 T – 2.93 SP, FK2O = 6.96 T – 0.31 SK

21. Andhra Pradesh (Pigeonpea)
Soil available nutrient (kg ha-1)
Fertilizer nutrient required (kg ha-1) for
yield target
KMnO4
N Olsens’ P Amm.Ac-K 15 (q/ha) 20 (q/ha)
N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O
190 3 180 31 79 49 54 108 83
210 6 210 27 70 39 50 99 74
230 9 240 22 61 30 46 90 65
250 12 270 18 52 21 42 81 56
Applicability Jadcherla and Mahabubnagar district
Soil type Vertisol
Crop Pigeonpea (Redgram) – LRG-30
Season developed Kharif
Yield target Upto 15 to 20 q ha-1

22. • Soil test crop response based equations have
been developed for important pulse crops
• These recommendations are embedded in Govt.
Soil health cards
• These recommendations are for all the essential
nutrients depending upon the soil test values
• The recommendations are for targeted yields
which are expected to be achieved if good
agronomic practices are followed in raising the
crops
STCR based equations in soil health cards

24. healthy soils for a healthy life
Thank you