Vol. 7, Issue 7 (2018)

Author(s):
Bhawna Sao and Dr. RK Prajapati

Abstract:
Field experiment was conducted to investigate the nutrient status of soil and crop of wheat under Ceibapentandra (L) Gaertn. Agri-silviculture system. The tree components comprise of Ceiba pentandra (L) Gaertn. Ceiba pentandra is a medium sized deciduous tree widely distributed in western-southern part of india. It is commonly known as silk cotton or kapok tree. The Agri-silviculture system was grown on vertisol soil in July 19^th 1995. The study were done during rabi season with 40 treatment. These comprises of three spacing (4x4 m; 4x6 m and 4x8m), four varieties of wheat (Sujata (V₁); Lok-1 (V₂); Kanchan (V₃) and GW-174 (V₄)) and three distances from tree base {0.5 to 1.0 m (d₁), 1.5 to 2.0 m (d₂) and 2.5 to 3.0 m (d₃)}, including four control treatment.. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with five replications. The result in the present investigation on soil nutrient status revealed that higher available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and organic carbon were observed in the soil at 4x4 m tree spacing,while it was minimum in the sole crop. Available nutrient and organic carbon decreased gradually with increasing the soil depth. Perennial woody tree species are important components of Agri-silviculture system. They have extensive root systems and accumulate large quantity of biomass (above and below ground) as compared to annual crops. Litter addition, decomposition and nutrient release, biological nitrogen fixing, nutrient pumping and controlling erosion losses are vital processes for improving soil nutrient status for sustainable farm production.And the nutrients (N, P and K) content in the shoot and root component of wheat crop were found to be maximum in Sujata varieties and were minimum in GW-174 variety. The nutrient content decreased with the growth of crop. The rate of decrease was found to be more repaid in nitrogen followed by potassium and phosphorus. The status of nutrients (N, P and K) in the tall varieties. (Sujata and Lok-1) were found to be high as compared to dwarf varieties (Kanchan and GW-174).