Optimizing Farmyard and Poultry Manures Co-Applied with Npk for Improved Yield and Soil Fertility of Water Eroded Land

Fertilizer application from integrated organic and inorganic sources is universally accepted agronomic practice for improved yield and soil properties. However, determination of a suitable dose from either source that could beneficially and easily combine to give maximum output still needs lots of research. The experiment was conducted during wheat season 2014-15 on a selected water eroded site in District Swabi. Fourteen treatments viz the control (T1), recommended dose (RD) (120:90:60 kg ha^-1 N: P2O5: K2O. T2), four combinations of farmyard manure (FYM) i.e 20, 15, 10 and 5 t ha^-1 with 0, 25, 50, 75% of the RD (T3, T4, T5, T6, respectively), four combinations of poultry manure (PM) i.e. 10, 7.5, 5 and 2.5 t ha^-1 with 0, 25, 50, 75% of the RD (T7, T8, T9, T10, respectively) and four combinations of the mixed FYM (5 t ha^-1) and PM (2.5 t ha^-1) with 0, 25, 50, 75% of the RD (T11, T12, T13, T14, respectively) were evaluated in RCB design. Results revealed that T13 (integrated 5 t ha^-1 FYM + 2.5 t ha^-1 PM + 50% RD) resulted in the maximum grain and biological yield (4.2 and 11.2 t ha^-1, respectively) and 1000 grain weight (40.57 g). Furthermore, T3 (20 t ha^-1 FYM+0 NPK) resulted in the highest organic matter (1.42%) in soil as well as reduced soil pH and bulk density over control whilst the maximum soil mineral N, P and K (27.2, 15.4 and 136 mg kg^-1, respectively) were recorded in soil treated with 10 t ha^-1 PM alone. However, due to highest yield as well as improved soil properties, this research suggest the integrated use of FYM+PM (5 + 2.5 t ha^-1) + NPK 50% of the recommended dose for sustainably improved production on eroded soils.