Browsing by Author "Ankit Gill"

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Assessing Soil Quality and Wheat Productivity under Manure Augmented Natural Farming
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2024) Praveen Thakur; Sukhdev Singh Paliyal; Ankit Gill; Pratibha Thakur; Nagender Pal Butail; Purushottam Dev; Anjali Thakur; Pardeep Kumar
This study explores the potential of integrating natural farming (NF) practices with farmyard manure (FYM) to improve soil attributes and productivity in wheat intercropped chickpea cultivation. The research offers novel ground by providing a comprehensive evaluation of soil quality within the NF system, and identifying key soil indicators for rainfed wheat-growing region. A two years long (2018-19 and 2019-20) factorial experiment employed Jeevamrit concentrations, its application intervals, and FYM levels as factors, resulting in 12 combinations in a randomized block design. The study objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of NF in wheat-chickpea intercropping, assessing impact of FYM integrated NF on soil quality, and to determine soil quality indicators under rainfed conditions. The results revealed that yield and soil attributes of wheat intercropped chickpea were significantly improved with FYM augmented NF system. The combined application of 10 t FYM ha− 1 and higher Jeevamrit concentration with 15-day interval significantly improved soil physical properties, including bulk density (1.43 g cm− 3), mean weight diameter of soil aggregates (1.15 mm), saturated hydraulic conductivity (8.29 cm h− 1), and plant available water (14.63 cm m− 1) during two years of experiment. The study yielded no evidence supporting the efficacy of NF on its own, as no considerable impact was observed on soil physical and chemical attributes from their initial status. However, soil biological parameters showed substantial enhancements (3.95% in microbial biomass carbon and 25.46% in dehydrogenase activity) over inorganic farming after two years of experimentation. Wheat grain-equivalent yield with biofarming treatments decreased by 8.15% over conventional farming (CF). Soil quality index was lowest under CF system (0.62), followed by natural farming (0.69) and improved to 0.90 with 10 t FYM ha− 1 addition. The study demonstrates the potential synergy between FYM and the NF approach, leading to improved soil attributes and agricultural productivity. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.
Bioremediation strategies for soil contaminated with heavy metal ions
(Elsevier, 2024) Praveen Thakur; Purushottam Dev; Anjali Thakur; Abhishek Rana; Ankit Gill; Mohit
Soil acts as the source and sink of heavy metal ions, but the growing human interventions have resulted in undesirable accumulation of heavy metal ions in the soil, thus causing soil contamination. The chapter comprised the advanced bioremediation technologies employed to stabilize or degrade specific heavy metal contaminants. The bioremediation strategies are feasible techniques for transforming active heavy metal ions into a less hazardous state, through microbial or phyto-assistance. It is crucial to monitor the fate and behavior of heavy metal contaminants in diverse soils, for adopting a suitable bioremediation tool. The technique relies on the synergistic behavior among the participants (roots, bacteria, fungi, etc.) of the rhizosphere, which effectively breaks down, stores, or transforms the heavy metal ions. The application of bio-amendments stimulates the microbial population to extend the limits of the bioremediation process. Additionally, the release of chemical exudates and synthetic chelates from diverse plant groups promotes biodegradation reactions involving microbes in the rhizosphere. It is crucial to generate sustainable interaction between the bioremediation strategy and the specific ion contaminant for relevant consequences in the environment. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved including those for text and data mining AI training and similar technologies.
Natural farming needs manure augmentation to optimize soil quality and crop productivity
(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2025) Praveen Thakur; Sukhdev Singh Paliyal; Pardeep Kumar; Yog Raj; Pratibha Thakur; Purushottam Dev; Anjali Thakur; Nagender Pal Butail; Ankit Gill
While assuming natural farming (NF) superior over conventional farming in improving physical, chemical and biological attributes, we hypothesized that the inclusion of farmyard manure (FYM) in addition to NF components would further enhance the soil quality and productivity. The objectives of the study were to assess the efficacy of NF in maize–blackgram intercropping, evaluating effect on soil quality of FYM-integrated NF, and to identify key soil quality indicators under rainfed agroecosystem. Over a 2 years span, the factorial experiment employed Jeevamrit concentrations (J1: 5% and J2: 10%), application intervals (I1: 15 days and I2: 30 days) and FYM levels (F1: 0 t FYM ha−1, F2: 5 t FYM ha−1 and F3: 10 t FYM ha−1) as factors, resulting in 12 combinations arranged in a randomized block design under maize intercropped blackgram. An additional recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) enabled an orthogonal contrast to compare effects of conventional farming and bio-farming. The results revealed that yield and soil attributes of maize, intercropped with blackgram, were significantly improved with FYM-augmented NF system. The combined application of 10 t FYM ha−1 and 10% Jeevamrit with 15 days application interval significantly improved the bulk density (1.43 Mg m−3), mean weight diameter of soil aggregates (1.12 mm), saturated hydraulic conductivity (8.13 cm h−1) and plant available water (14.2 cm m−1) over rest of the treatments. The study yielded no evidence supporting the efficacy of NF on its own, as it failed to demonstrate any considerable impact on soil physical, chemical and nutrient attributes from their initial status. However, NF treatments substantially enhanced the biological activity (microbial biomass carbon by 3.88% and dehydrogenase by 21.95%) over treatment receiving RDF. The conventional farming reduced the soil organic carbon content (5.58 g kg−1), along with lower levels of available nitrogen (286 kg ha−1), phosphorus (19.2 kg ha−1) and sulphur (18.4 mg kg−1) when compared to bio-farming. Application of 10% Jeevamrit at 15-day span +10 t FYM ha−1 increased the maize grain equivalent yield by 8.65% over conventional farming. Soil quality index measured 0.68 under conventional farming system, 0.73 under NF that further improved to 0.90 with 10 t FYM ha−1 addition. The study demonstrates the potential synergy between FYM and the NF approach, leading to improved soil quality and agricultural productivity. © 2025 British Society of Soil Science.
Quantifying the fertility status and relationship between soil properties under major tea estates of North-western Himalaya
(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2024) Ankit Gill; Vijay Kumar Sharma; Ravinder Singh Chandel; Purushottam Dev; Vikas Gill; Praveen Thakur
Tea is being grown on the gentle slopes of Himachal Pradesh located in the north-western region of mighty Himalaya, since 1850s. However, degrading soil health due to rampant usage of agrochemicals, and long-run tea cultivation adversely affects the productivity potential of the region. Analyzing soil-nutrient status is of great value to meet the crop nutrient demand. The research aimed to identify the vulnerable soil properties and their assessment for soil restoration under major tea estates of the North-western Himalaya. The study examined the physico-chemical and biological properties of soils of 37 tea estates. The large variation among different sites for physical parameters signifies the textural difference between the sites under study. Meanwhile, the soil pH of tea estates varied from extremely acidic to slightly acidic reaction, with an overall pH (H2O) of 5.33 in the top soils and 5.47 in the subsoils. High OC (13.35 g kg−1) under overall soil depth of tea estates presumably correlated with higher concentration of available nutrients, i.e. N (r = 0.641), K (r = 0.492), and S (r = 0.623) alongside exchangeable Ca (r = 0.724) and Mg (r = 0.718). The substrate carbon availability due to higher amount of organic matter in the top soils (16.1 g kg−1) leads to increased biological activity (MBC and DHA) in the surface soils as compared to subsoils. The unscientific approach of fertilizer application led to huge variability in green leaf yield across different tea estates. Thus, to achieve higher yield, it should be necessary to adopt nutrient application in a judicial manner in the tea plantations. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.