Ram Ratan Singh, Lalchand Maurya, Alok Kumar Pandey and Ajay Kumar Baheliya
Abstract
The adoption of natural farming practices addresses environmental concerns by enhancing plant resistance to stress, preventing pathogen attacks, and improving soil health a field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2022 and 2023 at the Student Instructional Farm (SIF) of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology (ANDUAT), Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. The study was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with nine treatments, each replicated three times. Various yield attributes including grain yield, straw yield, and biological yield were assessed. The study also estimated soil microbial population and enzymatic activities to evaluate the impact of different treatments on soil biological properties. In this context, the present study revealed that the treatment involving Panchgavya (6% foliar spray) + Jeevamrit (soil application @ 500 L ha-¹) resulted in the highest grain and straw yields, with increases of 55.37% and 29.83%, respectively. However, this treatment was observed to be inadequate in supplying the required nutrients to crops either directly or through the mobilization of native soil nutrients, in comparison to the Recommended Dose of Fertilizers (RDF) for finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.). Furthermore, the overall crop performance under Panchgavya (4% foliar spray) + Jeevamrit (soil application @ 500 L ha-¹) was found to be comparable to that of the RDF treatment. Among the different treatments, the population of actinomycetes, fungi, and bacteria was significantly higher, recorded at 9.65 CFU à 106 g-¹, 5.32 CFU à 103 g-¹, and 5.92 CFU à 104 g-¹, respectively, under the Panchgavya (6% foliar spray) + Jeevamrit (soil application @ 500 L ha-1) treatment after harvest. Additionally, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and dehydrogenase enzyme activity were notably influenced by the combined application of Panchgavya and Jeevamrit. The study recommended a useful approach for farmers to follow for the purpose preserve the sensitive nature of organic/natural farming, protect plants from stress, eradicate pathogens, and enhance plant and soil health.