Soil Physical Properties and Groundnut (Arachis hypogae L.) Yield under Long­ Term Application of Manure and Fertilizers under Rainfed Condition

In the long term experiment of continuous use of various inorganic fertilizers and manure in an alfisol the status of soil physical properties their deterioration and improvement in the soil and crop yield of groundnut were studied during kharif 2015 being conducted at Regional Agricultural Station, Tirupati. The soil of experimental area was sandy loam in texture, slightly acidic, non-saline, low in organic carbon content. Results showed that physical properties like porosity, maximum water holding capacity, mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter, per cent water stable aggregates (>0.25 mm) were recorded highest with the application of FYM@ 5 t ha-1 followed by the different treatments receiving gypsum, lime, ZnSO4 in combination with NPK nutrients over the control. However, infiltration rate, saturated hydraulic conductivity were recorded higher in control plot followed by the FYM alone treated plot. The application of NPK (20:10:25 kg ha-1) + lime (100 kg ha-1) recorded highest pod yield of 1950.75 kg ha-1 which was on par with NPK+gypsum, NPK+gypsum+ZnSO4, NPK and FYM alone treated plot. Thus, the balanced use of fertilizers continuously either in combination with other nutrient source or with organic manuring is necessary for improving soil physical properties and yield of groundnut under rainfed conditions.