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EFFICIENCY OF VARIOUS ORGANIC RESIDUES FOR ENHANCING RICE-WHEAT PRODUCTION UNDER NORMAL SOIL CONDITIONS

G. SARWAR^1*, N. HUSSAIN², H. SCHMEISKY³, S. SUHAMMAD¹, M. IBRAHIM¹ AND S. AHMAD¹

 Abstract: Rice-wheat system is one of the most important cropping sequences adopted on large areas not only in Pakistan but also in many other countries of the world. Rice and wheat straw is the main crop residue that is largely burnt due to introduction of mechanical harvesters. This burning poses diversified pollution problems like ashes, production of heat and toxic gases and burning of nearby useful plants. The cost of production of rice and wheat crops is going high and high due to ever escalating prices of chemical fertilizers. The burning of precious organic matter is the major factor of low fertility status and poor physical properties of soil. Resultantly, the soils cannot give yield of crops according to the full potential. The cost of crop production can be brought down and newly emerging problem can be controlled if sources of nutrients available at farm (crop residues and animal wastes) be brought under the input cycle. The compost, FYM and Sesbania green manure were used for nutrient supplementation alone and along with chemical fertilizer for rice and wheat crops. Crop yields significantly increased with the use of compost in combination with chemical fertilizer (3.94 t ha^-1 for rice and 5.73 t ha^-1 for wheat), FYM (3.36 t ha^-1 for rice and 4.38 t ha^-1 for wheat) and Sesbania green manure (2.86 t ha^-1 for rice and 3.50 t ha^-1 for wheat). However, compost proved superior to farmyard manure as well as Sesbania green manure. The pollution problem created due to burning of rice and wheat residues could also greatly be solved.

¹University College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

²Soil Salinity Research Institute (SSRI), Pindi Bhattian, Punjab, Pakistan

³University of Kassel, Nordbahnnof Str-1A, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

*Corresponding author’s E-mail address: seerver@yahoo.com