Deteriorating soil health : Cause and

Remedies for improvement of soil

Fertility and Productivity

1

Content…..

• Introduction

• Soil health

• Cause of deteriorating soil health

• Remedies, soil fertility and productivity

• Conclusion

2

What is healthy soil ?“The capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or

managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity,

maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and

habitation", covers a range of outputs including ecosystem productivity,

water quality and energy balances (Karlen et al., 1997; Carter, 2002).

3

Physical indicators Chemical indicators Biological indicators

Passage of air

Structural stability

Bulk density

Clay mineralogy

Colour

Consistence (dry, moist,

wet)

Depth of root limiting layer

Hydraulic conductivity

Oxygen diffusion rate

Particle size distribution

Penetration resistance

Pore conductivity

Pore size distribution

Soil strength

Soil tilth

Structure type

Temperature

Total porosity

Water holding capacity

PBS

Cation exchange capacity

Contaminant availability

Contaminant concentration

Contaminant mobility

Contaminant presence

Electrical conductivity

Exchangeable sodium percentage

Nutrient cycling rates

pH

Plant nutrient availability

Plant nutrient content

Sodium adsorption ratio

Organic carbon

Microbial biomass carbon

C and N/Oxidizable carbon

Total biomass

Bacteria

Fungi

Actinomycetes

Potentially mineralizable N

Soil respiration

Enzymes

Dehydrogenase

Phosphatase

Arlysulfatase

Biomass C/total organic carbon/

Respiration /biomass

Microbial community

fingerprinting

Substrate utilization

Fatty acid analysis

Nucleic acid analysis

combining them in a meaningful way to a single index may assess soil quality more

precisely (Jaenicke and Lengnick, 1999; Bucher, 2002) which is used to gauge the level

of an improving or declining soil condition (Wienhold, 2004). 4

Major causes Other causes

Intensive farming / Nutrient

mining

Acid rain

Imbalanced fertilizer use Improper land fill and illegal dumping

Herbicide and Pesticide GM crops

Contaminated surface water

into soil

Accidental spills

Deforestation Improper discharge of Nuclear wastes

Electronic wastes

Industrial accidents

Causes of soil health deterioration

5

Processes 1997 in

Mha.

2020 in

mha.

Impact on soil health

Soil erosion 166.0 189.0 Loss of natural and

applied nutrients,

WHC,OM, structure,

texture affected

Water logging 12.7 22.3 Root tissue

decomposition, oxygen

level depletion,

nutrients lossed by

leaching and

denitrification

Salt infestation 11.0 15.1 Uneven and stunted

growth, less water

availability to plants

Total 189.7 226.4

Expected Land degradation scenario in India till

2020

Venkateswarlu (2005)

Effects on Soil Health

6

Year Water

Organic

carbon % pH

Nutrient status

N P K

1960s At the

surface

>2.0 <6.5 300 24.0 210

1970s 2 m 1.5 6.5-7.0 250 22.1 200

1980s 3 m 1.0 6.5-7.0 180 17.0 192

1990s 5 m 0.5 7.0-8.0 120 13.0 185

2000s 7.8 m <0.5 >8.5 80 11.0 180

Profile of water table, organic carbon,pH and nutrient status

in tarai region of uttarakhand

Singh and Tiwari

(2012)7

kumar (2012)

DECLINING CROP RESPONSE TO FERTILIZERS

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) 6.0Reasons:Inadequate and imbalanced fertiliser use Increasing multi-nutrient deficiency Lack of farmers awareness about balanced plant nutritionLack of varietal breakthroughPoor crop management (Excess fertiliser dose not be the substitute of poor management)

8

Microflora Plot A ( NPK) Plot B ( NPK+Atrazine) Plot C

(NPK+Atrazine+

carbofuron)

Time of sampling Time of sampling Time of sampling

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 1st 2nd 3rd

Bacteria

(105/gm

of soil)

(y-1) 203 207 220 201 195 196 164 210 189 198 267 101 123

(y-2) 210 212 227 231 200 215 182 173 195 203 304 210 254

(y-3) 198 202 211 210 244 228

Fungi

(103/gm

of soil)

(y-1) 20 17 21 23 20 22 31 28 34 25 15 29 22

(y-2) 27 28 23 20 18 31 22 23 24 24 21 18 16

(y-3) 21 24 26 21 24 21

(y-1): First year; (y-2): Second year; (y-3): Third year Behki and Khan (1999)

• Bacteria and Fungi showed initial inhibition after the application of Atrazine in the first 2 years.

• Fungi increased in the first year after the application of the pesticides but followed a trend of

inhibition in the second year.

9

Low nutrient use efficiency by plants

Nutrient Efficiency

(%)

Cause of low efficiency

Nitrogen 30-50 Immobilization, volatilization,

denitrification, Leaching

Phosphorus 15-20 Fixation in soils Al – P, Fe – P,

Ca – P

Potassium 70-80 Fixation in clay - lattices

Sulphur 8-10 Immobilization, Leaching with

water

Micro

nutrients

(Zn, Fe, Cu,

Mn, B)

1-2 Fixation in soils

Sharma (2008)10

Intensive farming , fertilizer application and productivity in Tarai region of uttarakhand

Year Cropping system Fertilizer

application

Remarks

1960s Maize-barley/mustard/gram 60 kg N _ _ _

1970s maize/rice-wheat/barley 100:40:20 30kg S as

SSP

1980s Rice-wheat 120:40:20 20kg Zinc

1990s Rice-wheat 150:40:20 20kg Zinc

2000s Rice-wheat-rice

Rice-Veg. pea-rice

Rice-veg. Pea-sugarcane-ratoon-

wheat

180:40:20 20kg Zinc

Singh and Tiwari (2012) 11

Imbalanced fertilizer use evidenced by wider fertilizer consumption

ratios

Kumar (2011)

State 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O

Haryana 39.8 10.9 1 32.2 10.7 1 15.9 5.5 1

Punjab 34.3 9.0 1 23.6 6.7 1 18.4 5.9 1

U.P. 15.1 4.5 1 11.5 3.6 1 9.0 3.2 1

India 5.5 2.1 1 4.6 2.0 1 4.3 2.0 1

12

Pesticide Impact on soil health

Lindane(I) and endosulfan(I) Microbial count decreases Balwinder et al.(2006)

Diazinon(I), linuron (H),

mencozeb + dimethomorph

(F)

enzymetic,(dehydrogenase,ac

id and alkaline phosphatase

and urease) hindered

Cycon et al. (2005)

Hydroquinone and copper

sulphate and n-

thiophosphoric triamide

Hinders enzymatic hydrolysis

of urea

Kabat and panda

(2007)

Phosphomonoesterase (I)

and arginine deaminase(I)

Inhibits soil Enzymatic

dehydrogenase

Sushma and singh

(2006)

Fenvalerate (I) Catalase activities inhibited Shiyin et al. (2004)

13

NUTRIENT MINING IN SOILS OF INDIA (MT)

Addition Removal Balance

N 10.9 9.6 1.3

P2O5 4.2 3.7 0.5

K2O 1.4 11.6 -10.2

Total 16.5 24.9 -8.4

•Increased mining of soil potassium a cause of more rampant

decline in rice yields compared to wheat in IGP (data from 24

research stations)

Tandon (2004)14

Composition of sewage sludge from different cities in

IndiaCity N% P% K% O.M.

%

Cu

mg/kg

Zn

mg/kg

Cd

mg/kg

Cr

mg/kg

Ni

mg/kg

Pb

mg/kg

Ahmadabad 1.18 0.56 0.23 33.5 535 2147 3.5 60.4 32.3 76.8

Delhi 1.67 0.56 0.11 54.7 440 1610 5.5 53.5 81.5 34.5

Nagpur 1.08 0.51 0.21 39.1 272 832 1.5 49.2 14.9 24.3

Chennai 0.82 0.65 0.12 40.2 210 935 8.3 38.5 60.5 16.6

Jaipur 2.34 0.94 0.12 39.1 265 1710 7.3 176 37.5 66.9

Kolkata - - -

-

0.16 0.23 - - - 11.4 507 - - - 86.1 - - - - - -

Kanpur - - - 0.17 0.15 - - - 13.0 229 - - - 571 -- - - - - -

Bikaner - - - 0.11 0.19 - - - 13.6 49 - - - 35.6 - - - - - -

Mumbai - - - 0.23 0.11 - - - 108 234 - - - 378 - - - - - -

Juwarkar et al.(1997);Garg et al.(2000)

15

Location pH BOD(mg/L) Chromium

hexavalent

(ppm)

Nickel

(ppm)

Cyanides

(ppm)

Electroplating

industry

6.2-7.2 60-380 0.2-2.5 1-3 0.42-0.97

Sugar industry 7.1-7.9 1058-1640 - - -

Paper industry 7.0-10.1 560-1113 - - -

Households 6.7-7.8 80-460 0.1-0.2 0.2-2 0.05-0.07

Max. limits for

disposal on

agricultural lands

5.5-9.0 100 0.1 0.005 0.2

Characteristics of wastewater from domestic and industrial location in Ludhiana (PB.)

Tiwana et al.(1987)16

EFFECT OF SEWAGE SLUDGE APPLICATION ON DIFFERENT

SOIL PROPERTIES

17

Properties Effect

Soil aggregate stability Increase

Porosity Increase

Water holding capacity Increase

Bulk density Decrease

Humus content Increase

pH Decrease

Electrical conductivity Decrease

Total N Increase

Available P and K Increase

CEC Increase

Toxic elements Increase

Rai et al., 2011

Processes Impact on soil health

Nutrients in soil( H+ ion effect) Dissolves and causes leaching (K,Ca,Mg)

Photosynthesis Weakens

Flow of element to water bodies Acid activate Al from the soil which leaches

to water

Neutralizing Soils that contain Limestone and Calcium

Carbonate can neutralize the acids

Khitoliya (2007) and Mishra (2010)

Acid rain:-

18

Remedies?

19

Practices Water run off

(cm depth)

Conserve

d water

(cm)

Increase

yield

(tons/ha)

Soil health

Corn stover vs. no

stover residue

0.06 1.24 0.34 Increases soil

productivity, soil

porosity, water

infiltration

Organic matter

increases water

infiltration,

enhances root growth.

1.30

Rye cover mulch vs.

residue burned

3.9 13.5 3.4

17.4

Manure mulch vs.

no manure

9.0 4.1 1.1

13.1

Corn/oats hay vs.

conventional

0.58 2.50 0.6

3.08

Level terraced vs.

contour planted

0.94 7.2 1.8

8.14

Dense planting vs.

bare soil

2.49 0.97 0.2

3.32

Reduced till vs.

conventional

2.1 1.5 0.4

3.6 Troeh et al.(2004)

Different agricultural practices combination to protect soil water

20

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM)

•INM envisaging conjunctive use of chemical

fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers

enhances nutrient use efficiency, soil health, crop

yields and profitability.

• Need to augment supplies of organic manures,

fortified, coated & customized fertilizers supplying

secondary and micronutrients, biofertilizers and

soil amendments to have INM on a sound footing.

And

•Site specific nutrient management for better soil21

Changes in soil organic C through INM for 20 years

in some soils in the IGP

Location Cropping

system

Initial

SOC

(mg/kg)

Soil Organic Carbon after 20

years (mg/kg)

Control NPK NPK+

FYM

Pantnagar Rice-wheat 14.8 5.0 9.5 15.1

Pantnagar Rice-wheat-

cowpea

14.8 6.0 9.0 14.4

Faizabad Rice-wheat 3.7 1.9 4.0 5.0

Karnal Fallow- Rice-

wheat

2.3 3.0 3.2 3.5

Nambiar (1995) and Swarup et al. (1998) 22

Effect of SSNM on productivity (t/ha) of Wheat

Location, State FP SR SSNM % increase over SR % increase over FP

Sabour, Bihar 3.92 4.97 5.82 17.1 48.7

Palampur, H.P. 2.64 3.76 3.87 2.92 46.5

Ranchi, Jharkhand 2.56 4.06 4.15 2.21 58.5

Ludhiana,Punjab 5.45 6.28 6.55 4.3 20.1

Kanpur

Uttar Pradesh4.72 5.45 6.0 10.1 27.1

Modipuram

U.P4.77 4.90 6.43 31.0 46.5

Pantnagar

Uttarakhand3.87 5.10 6.93 25.3 66.0

Tiwari et al.,(2006)23

Crop Treatment Nutrient dose (kg/ha) Yield

(kg/ha)N P2O5 K2O

Wheat STCR target 5 t/ha 126 41 49 4887

State Recommendation 120 40 60 4567

Farmers’ Practice 80 0 57 3662

Mustard STCR target 2.5 t/ha 97 35 75.5 2281

State Recommendation 100 40 40 1890

Farmers’ Practice 60 0 57 1312

STCR Approach

Subba Rao (2009)24

Enhancing availability of organic manures

• Recycling and composting/ vermi composting of urban,animal

and agro industrial waste• About 57MT of urban solid waste generated per annumwith

potential to supply 8MT of good quality compost.• Present availability 383 mt against the moderaterequirement

of 900 mt / annum (@5 t / ha on gross cropped area of185 mha).

FYM Rural

compost

Urban

Compost

Vermi

Compost

Others Total

186 169 15 3 9 383

25

Effect on soil health due to integrated use of FYM with different nutrients dose of N

and P on Rice (Ethiopia)

Tilahun Tadesse et al.(2011)

FYM rates (0,7.5 and 15 t/ha)

N rates (0,60,120 kg N/ha) and

P rates (0,50,100 kg/ha) were tested in 27

treatments 26

Fertilizer

combination(FYM

t/ha-N kg/ha-P2O5

kg/ha)

N in inorganic

fertilizer kg/ha

N in FYM kg/ha Total N added

kg/ha

Nitrogen uptake

kg/ha

N balance kg/ha

0-0-0 0 0 0 81.6 -81.6

0-60-100 60 0 60 112.2 -52.2

0-120-0 120 0 120 122.2 -2.2

0-120-50 120 0 120 145.5 -25.5

0-120-100 120 0 120 125.1 -5.1

7.5-60-100 60 144.4 204.4 161.5 42.9

15-0-0 0 288.8 288.8 138.7 150.1

15-0-50 0 288.8 288.8 135.0 153.8

15-60-100 60 288.8 348.8 246.6 102.2

15-120-0 120 288.8 408.8 194.0 214.8

15-120-50 120 288.8 408.8 225.1 183.7

15-120-100 120 288.8 408.8 272.6 136.2

FYM interaction with N,P and parameters after harvesting in

soil

FYM Organic

matter(%)

Bulk density

(g/cm3 )

Available WHC

0 t/ha 3.26 1.33 47.4

7.5 t/ha 3.84 1.13 49.1

15 t/ha 4.78 1.02 52.3

Tilahun Tadesse et al.(2011)

27

ACID SOILS

• About 12 m ha of arableacid soils with pH<5.5have low nutrient useefficiency and cropproductivity.

• Liming to enhancenutrient use efficiencyand productivity ofcrops, especially ofpulses and oilseeds.

• The practice saves 50%

fertilizers28

State Crop RDF 50% RDF +Lime

Assam Rapeseed 9.70 10.10

Summer green gram 4.42 5.17

Kerala Cowpea 8.57 10.65

Black gram 6.38 8.10

Meghalaya Maize 30.50 30.30

Groundnut 14.20 21.30

West

Bengal

Mustard 8.15 8.40

Wheat 16.70 17.15

Jharkhand Maize + Pigeon pea

(Maize equiv. yield)

69.0 65.0

Pea 38.4 50.8

Orissa Groundnut 22.5 23.6

Pigeon pea 12.0 12.2

Crop Response( q/ha) to lime & Fertilizer Application

Sharma (2008) 29

Practice applied Positive impact on soil By

Organic manure addition Microbial activity

increased

Dinesh et al. (2000)

Organic farming than

mixed

Biological activity

increased

Duffy et al. (1994)

Organic amendments Soil enzymes stimulated Marcote et al. (2001)

Effect of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients on biological

activities

30

Crop By Leaf By Stem By root

Elephant foot

yam

4.60 8.30 - - -

Green gram 5.28 5.70 6.0

Cow pea 5.00 5.38 6.10

Maize 3.80 6.19 6.32

Rice (summer) 8.42 7.32 8.30

Rice (wet

season)

5.12 6.30 8.23

Jute 3.69 9.30 11.02

Potato 5.20 7.80 12.20

Mustard 6.96 7.00 7.23

Groundnut 2.12 2.43 3.10

Sesame 2.12 0.83 5.60

wheat 5.80 6.93 14.00Das (2007)

31

Strategic framework for effective steps for improving

soil Health, productivity and sustainability

1. Enhancing Nutrient and Water Use Efficiency

• Increasing inputs use efficiency

• Precision agriculture

• Nano-technology

• Fertilizer fortification

• Integrated nutrient management

2. Sustaining Soil and Produce Quality

• Efficient composting techniques and integrated plant nutrient supply

systems

• Organic farming

• Improving soil quality through organic matter additions and correcting

nutrient imbalances

• Development of a workable index of soil quality assessment imbibing

influence of different physical, chemical and biological soil attributes

• Understanding resilience of degraded soils and restoration of their

productivity

32

3. Soil Biodiversity and Genomics

• Characterization and prospecting of large soil bio-diversity

• Characterization of functional communities of soil organisms.

• Testing of mixed biofertilizers formulations

4. Climate change and carbon sequestration

• The carbon sequestration research in the context of sustainable

management of land and soil resources and conserving deteriorating

environment

• Conservation agriculture and carbon sequestration especially in semi-arid and

sub-humid regions.

• Tillage and nutrient interaction in soil

• Crop simulation modeling and remote sensing in climate change research

• Crop adaptation to climate change-rhizospheric studies

5. Minimizing Soil Pollution

• Bio-remediation/ phyto-remediation of contaminated soils

• Quality compost production and establishing quality standards

• Solid wastes and waste waters – quality assessment and recycling

33

SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT/CORRECTIVE

MEASURES IN TARAI AREAS OF

UTTARAKHAND

The major problems depletion needed of the soil in the

area are:-

1 Balanced use of fertilizers in the Rice - Wheat

system

2. Management of Developed plough pan

3. Preventing Depletion of organic matter and ground

water

4. Shift of pests and pathogens

34

Conclusion…………

35

36