Effect of Nanofertilizers and Microbial Inoculants on Post-harvest Soil Chemical and Biological Properties Under Fodder Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)
Abstract
A field study was conducted during the Kharif season of 2024 and 2025 at the Genetic and Plant Breeding Farm of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design (RBD) comprising ten treatments with three replications. The treatments included various combinations of conventional fertilizers, nano-fertilizers and microbial inoculants applied to the crop, as: control (no N and P but only K) (T1 ); recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) @ 120- 60-40 kg NPK ha-1 (T2 ), 75% RD of N and P + nano urea and nano DAP @ 2ml l-1 of water, respectively (T3 ); 75% RD of N and P + nano urea and nano DAP @ 4ml l-1 of water, respectively (T4 ); 75% RD of N and P + nano urea and nano DAP @ 6ml l-1 of water, respectively (T5 ); 75% RD of N and P + urea and DAP @ 2%, respectively (T6 ); T3 + soil application of Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 and Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) @ 2kg ha1 (T7 ); T4 + soil application of Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 and PSB @ 2kg ha-1 (T8 ); T5 + soil application of Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 and PSB @ 2kg ha-1 (T9 ); T6 + soil application of Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 and PSB @ 2kg ha-1(T10). The investigation recorded that the soil organic carbon content, soil available nutrient content, dehydrogenase enzymatic activity and soil microbial population was improved with the application of 75% RD of N and P + nano urea and nano DAP @ 6ml l-1 of water, respectively + soil application of Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 and PSB @ 2kg ha-1 (T9 ).