Augmentation of nitrogen management reduce nitrogen stress and enhance productivity of super-seeder sown wheat under rice residue incorporation

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3150157/v1

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Augmentation of nitrogen management reduce nitrogen stress and enhance productivity of super-seeder sown wheat under rice residue incorporation

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3150157/v1

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The in-situ management of rice straw incorporation is now an essential practice in the rice-wheat cropping system with the growing adoption of super-seeder among farmers. However, the effect of nutrient immobilization due to incorporation of massive organic residues at the initial stage of the decomposition is a major constraint for better yield and productivity. This study investigates the effect of bio-decomposer, nitrogen (N) level, and N scheduling on N immobilization status, dry matter, N accumulation, and remobilization and productivity in super-seeder sown wheat for two consecutive years (2020-21 and 2021-22). The experiment was laid in split-plot design with two factors in the main plot viz., without (B0) and with (B1) application of bio-decomposer and nitrogen levels 150 (N1) and 180 (N2) kg ha^− 1; and three N splits (%) in sub-plot viz., 50: 25:25 (S1), 40: 30: 30 (S2), and 30 :35:35 (S3) and replicated thrice. N content and uptake at pre- and post-anthesis were recorded significantly higher with N2 and S1 compared to N1 and S2 and S3 in both the years. Post-anthesis N accumulation (post-NA) and N remobilization (NR) with N2 was significantly higher to the tune of 22% and 17% than N1. Dry matter accumulation (DMA) at anthesis and harvest with N2 was significantly higher by 5.7%, while with S1 there is an improvement of 6.2% over S3. The grain yield with N2 and S1 significantly improved by 8.3% and 10.9% (two years mean) compared to N1 and S3, respectively. Soil urease activity was significantly enhanced with the application of microbial formulation (bio-decomposer), N2, and S1 in comparison to B0, N1 and S3 at 30 and 60 DAS (days after sowing). Hence, the present study revealed that the application of microbial-formulation and higher N level coupled with higher proportion of basal N could be propounded for sustainable production and higher productivity. Besides, use of bio-decomposer also improved soil health. The result presented here assumes great significance in proper utilization and conservation of rice residue under rice-wheat cropping system.

Bio-decomposer

Nitrogen

dry matter accumulation

urease activity

N content and uptake

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most extensively grown cereal crops worldwide, and serves as a staple food for about 205 million of world population. Globally, wheat occupies around 217 million hectares of land with the annual production of 713 million tonnes (USDA, 2019), and provides half of the calories in the region of North Africa, West and Central Asia. The rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) of Indo-Gangetic plain falling in South Asia covers 12.3 m ha in India (Brar et al., 2019). This system is of immense importance for ensuring food and nutritional securities in India and contributes about 75% to the national food chain (Benbi and Senapati, 2010). However, the conventional RWCS has been deemed unsustainable under the ever-changing climatic conditions, due to receding groundwater table (Mahajan et al., 2012), increasing labour, capital, and energy requirements (Bhushan et al., 2007). In addition, conventional transplanted rice has negative impact on the succeeding wheat, resulting in soil structural degradation (Tripathi et al., 2005), and delayed seeding of the wheat crop (Jat et al., 2020). Hence, the conventional RWCS need to re-orient to a more sustainable practices to safeguard the food-security of millions of south Asian families.

The highly mechanized harvesting and threshing of rice using combine harvesters is a common practice in North-West (NW) India, wherein huge residues are left behind in the forms of standing stubbles and loose residue in the field. Timely management of this residue in the short span of 10–20 days for timely planting of wheat crop is a difficult task. Therefore, the farmers commonly opt for burning of rice residue in the combine-harvested fields due to lack of access to user-friendly, cost- and time-effective management practices. It was estimated that in NW states of India, about 23 MT of rice residues were burnt annually (Tripathi et al., 2013). Extensive residue burning results in production of copious amount of harmful gases; an acre (4046.8 m²) of paddy field produces around 2.5 tonnes of stubble, whereby on burning, releases 7.5 kg of particulate matter, 150 kg of carbon monoxide, 3,650 kg of carbon dioxide, 498 kg of ash and 5 kg of sulphur dioxide (Mooventhan et al., 2018), and the black carbon emitted during residue burning warms the lower atmosphere and is the second most important contributor to global warming after CO₂ (Singh et al., 2017). Burning of rice residue degrades the soil health due to loss of soil organic matter and plant nutrients. About 90% of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S), and 15–20% of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contained in rice residue are lost during burning (Brar et al., 2019). Therefore, the need for providing a cost-effective and farmer friendly option for management of rice residue is a major challenge for the sustainability of intensive RWCS in developing countries.

The on-farm management of rice straw (RS) viz., surface retention, incorporation (in-situ) and composting (ex-situ) and the recent practice i.e., use of bio-decomposer, are the promising strategy to address the issue of burning as well as maintaining the soil health for long-term sustainability of RWCS. Ex-situ rice residue management is not adopted on large scale by the farmers as it is energy and cost intensive coupled with time limitation. Over the years, different in-situ RS management technologies have been notified and adopted under the RWCS, such as zero-tillage, happy seeder, and super seeder. The recent development of machinery like super-seeder (rota-till-drill) has greatly simplified the incorporation of rice residues into the soil by crushing and evenly spreading the straw over the field leading to clean cultivation (Kaur et al., 2022). In addition, incorporation of residues increases hydraulic conductivity, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and reduces bulk density of soil by modifying soil structure and aggregate stability, surface crust formation, water evaporation from the top few inches of soil and prevents leaching of nutrients and enhance crop yield (Bechini et al., 2015) coupled with considerable reduction of greenhouse gases (Memon et al., 2018), could be an alternative to conventional RWCS for sustaining the production system. Furthermore, the soil biological properties viz., microbial biomass, urease activity, dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase had been found to enhanced through incorporation of residues (Jat et al., 2017).

Rice residues are potential source of organic carbon and plant nutrients to enhance the soil organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling, and soil physical environment. Rice straw contains around 0.7% N, 0.23% P and 1.75% K and it is also an important source of micronutrients (Zinc) and rich in Silicon (Goswami et al., 2020). Soil enzymes are a major index for soil microbial activity and soil organic carbon status (Singh et al., 2009a), particularly α- and β-glucosidase and urease (Bandick and Dick, 1999). It has been reported that urease activity is very crucial for soil N metabolism and the activity is enhance positively by the application of organic manure and chemical N fertilizers (Mikanova et al., 2009; Singh et al., 2009b). This condition can be administered by application of inoculum consortium (bio-decomposer) for decomposition of the crop residue besides enhancing microbial population. Soil microbial biomass includes bacteria, fungi, and protozoa present in the soil. Application of microbial formulation under rich incorporated organic residues could provide substrate availability, moisture, and temperature for better microbial growth (Ghimire et al., 2017).

The development of crop yield can be determined through the accumulation and partitioning of dry matter (Zheng et al., 2013). Further, it has been reported that, the accumulation, distribution, and remobilization of dry matter in plant organs differs with different management practices such as fertilization (Yan et al., 2019). In wheat, it has been reported that during the grain filling period, the dry matter for grain is mainly supported by the vegetative organs, and strongly influences the grain yield formation (Huang et al., 2020). Therefore, the vegetative organs (non-grain components) growth post flowering in wheat is very crucial to carry out the photosynthetic activity and continue to support the translocation of soluble carbohydrate (Zhang et al., 2019). In addition, the supply of macronutrients particularly nitrogen (N) greatly influenced the production and distribution of dry matter (Yan et al., 2020), wherein the growth and photosynthetic capacity of the crop is influenced through its application before flowering (Ferrise et al., 2010), which would ultimately impact the grain yield. The variation in N uptake is primarily associated with the dry matter (Masoni et al., 2007) apart from the soil N status and other management practices.

Considering the great significance of in-situ management of available nutrient resources, the present study was taken up to i) assess the effect of bio-decomposer, nitrogen level, and nitrogen split on productivity of wheat crop under rice straw incorporation, ii) find out the N immobilization status through its uptake and content in plants coupled with soil urease activity, and iii) assess dry matter and nitrogen accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain yield and N.

2.1 Experimental site description and climatic conditions

A fixed-plot field experiment was carried out during the rabi (winter) season for two years (2020-21 and 2021-22) at Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (29° N; 79°3′ E), Uttarakhand, India, located at an elevation of 243.8 m above mean sea level. The regions fall under sub-humid, sub-tropical climatic zone, on the foot-hills of Himalayas (Tarai region). The region experiences warm and humid summer (April-June), with cold winter (November-February). Generally, south-west monsoon commences in the second fortnight of June and continues sparsely till September. The mean annual rainfall is about 1400 mm, of which 80–90% is received during the south-west monsoon. The daily average air temperature during the experimental period (December-April) varies from 1.0–9.0°C (min.) and 30–43°C (max.), respectively and the crop received an average of 6.2 sunshine hour. The soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam, with soil pH of 7.2 (Jackson, 1973), EC of 0.31 dSm^− 1 (Bower and Wilcox, 1965), soil organic carbon-0.80% (Black, 1965), available nitrogen 0.11 g kg^− 1 (Subbaiah and Asija, 1956), available phosphorous 0.01 g kg^− 1 (Olsen et al., 1954), and available potassium 0.08 g kg^− 1 (Jackson, 1973).

2.2 Cultural operation, design, and crop management

The preceding Kharif rice was harvested by combine harvester, and rice straw equivalent to 7 t ha^-1 was retained and spread uniformly in all the plots. The experiment was laid in split-plot design with two factors in the main-plots (bio-decomposer and nitrogen level), and three sub-plots (nitrogen splits) and replicated thrice. The wheat variety in the present study (PBW 373) was a late sown variety developed by Punjab Agricultural University, India. The details of the cropping history and treatment are given in Table 1 and 2, respectively. Prior to sowing (4–5 days) of wheat crop, the microbial formulation (pusa bio-decomposer) (25 litres ha^-1) was prepared and then sprayed uniformly over the retained residue. The microbial formulation used in the present study was developed by the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India containing beneficial microorganisms which enhance the enzymatic activities in soil and straw for fast decomposition of biomass (Manu et al., 2023). The crop was sown 20 days after the harvest of the preceding rice using super-seeder (rota-till-drill), wherein the residue is incorporated to the depth of about 0.15 m while the seed was drill to a depth of 0.05–0.07 m in a single operation. The crop was sown on 24th November (2020-21), and 26th November (2021-22) at a row-spacing of 0.20 m and seed rate of 110 kg ha^-1. Pre-sowing irrigation was not applied since good amount of residual moisture was present. The fertilizer, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were applied in the form of NPK mixture (12:32:16% of N, P and K) and urea (46% N). Full dose of P and K were applied as basal, while N was applied in three different splits ratios as described in Table 2. Irrigation was applied based on the critical crop growth stages and taking rainfall into consideration. A total of four and three irrigations were given in the first (2020-21) and second year (2021-22) respectively. For management of weeds, post-emergence (35 DAS) herbicide clodinafop-propargyl 15% + metsulfuron methyl 1% (broad spectrum) at 400 g a.i. ha^-1 was sprayed in both the years. In the second year (2021-22), propiconazole 25 EC @ 500 mL ha^-1 was sprayed during the active tillering stage to control yellow rust (Puccinia triticina f.sp. tritici). The other diseases and pest were controlled following the standard management practices.

Table 1

Cropping system followed prior to the current study
Sl. No.	Year	Season
Sl. No.	Year	Kharif	Rabi	Summer
1.	2016-17	Rice	Wheat	Fallow
2.	2017-18	Rice	Wheat	Fallow
3.	2018-19	Rice	Wheat	Fallow
4.	2019-20	Rice	Wheat	Fallow
5.	2020-21	Rice	Experimental crop (Wheat)	Fallow
6.	2021-22	Rice	Experimental crop (Wheat)	Fallow
#The cropping system in the first 4 years was conventional rice wheat cropping system

Table 2

Treatment adopted during the 5th and 6th year wheat crop (experimental year)
S. No.	Symbol used	Treatments
Bio-decomposer
1.	B0	Without bio-decomposer
2.	B1	With bio-decomposer
N-level
3.	N1	Nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1
4.	N2	Nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1
N-split (%)
1.	S1	50:25:25 (Basal:CRI:Booting)
2.	S2	40:30:30 (Basal:CRI:Booting)
3.	S3	30:35:35 (Basal:CRI:Booting)

2.3 Soil sampling

A composite soil sample from 0.00-0.15 m depth (initial and at harvest) were collected randomly in all the plots using tube auger. The sample was shade dried, processed, passed through 80 mesh sieves, and analyzed for determination of various soil chemical properties. Further, for soil urease activity fresh soil sample were collected at 30 and 60 DAS (days after sowing) in both the years, while for soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) the fresh soil sample were collected at crop maturity of the second season.

2.4 Nitrogen content and uptake in plants

The plant samples for N content and its uptake were collected from an area of 1 m² at 30, 60 DAS, anthesis, and harvest. The samples were shade-dried for 48 h (hours), then oven-dried at 65 ± 5°C to a constant weight and the oven-dried biomass was recorded. The dried samples were grinded through Wiley-mill having 40-mesh sieve, and appropriate amount (0.5 g) of the ground sample was used for determining the total N content by employing the procedure as described by Jackson (1973). The total shoot N uptake was worked out by multiplying the N content with the shoot biomass for all the stages of the crop. The nitrogen accumulation, remobilization, remobilization efficiency, and contribution to grain nitrogen was worked as given by Zhang et al. (2017) and Zhiipao et al. (2023b):

Post-anthesis nitrogen accumulation (Post-NA, g m ^-2 ) = Total above-ground N uptake at maturity- Total N uptake at anthesis

Nitrogen remobilization (NR, g m ^-2 ) = Total N uptake at anthesis – Vegetative N uptake at maturity

3) Nitrogen remobilization efficiency (NRE, %) = (NR/ Total N uptake at anthesis) × 100

4) NR contribution to grain N (%) = (NR / grain N) × 100

2.5 Dry matter accumulation

The plant samples were collected at 30 DAS (days after sowing), 60 DAS, anthesis, and harvest in both the years. In each plot, the plants were cut at the base from an area of 1 m² in the mid-rows. The samples were placed in a perforated paper bag, air-dried for 48 h, and then oven-dried at 65 ± 5°C till constant dry weight. The dried biomass values were used for determining dry matter accumulation, remobilization, remobilization efficiency, and contribution of remobilization to grain yield as described by Ntanos and Koutroubas (2002) and Zhiipao et al. (2023a).

Post-anthesis dry matter accumulation (Post-DMA, g m ^-2 ) = Total above-ground dry matter at maturity - dry matter at anthesis

Dry matter remobilization (DMR, g m ^-2 ) = Dry matter at anthesis – vegetative dry matter at maturity

3) Dry matter remobilization efficiency (DMRE, %) = (DMR/Dry matter at anthesis) × 100

4) DMR contribution to grain yield (%) = (DMR / grain yield) × 100

2.6 Yields and yield components

The wheat was harvested during the second fortnight of April in both the years. The crop was harvested manually from the net plot (5 m x 4 m, 20 m²) leaving the border rows from both the sides. The harvested samples were sun-dried, weighed for biological yield (total above-ground biomass), threshed using pullman thresher, and the grain yield was recorded for each plot. The straw yield for each plot was calculated by subtracting the grain yield from the biological yield. The yield attributes, such as productive tillers (tillers bearing productive spike), spike weight (average of 10 spikes), grains spike^− 1 (10 spikes average), and 1000-GW (grain weight) were recorded by harvesting the crop from 1 m² area at maturity.

2.7 Urease activity

The activity of urease was determined following the method of McGarity and Myers (1967) at 30 and 60 DAS. One g fresh soil was kept in 100 ml volumetric flask and to it 1ml of toluene was added. It was then allowed to stand for 15 minutes to permit the complete penetration of toluene into the soil. Thereafter, 10 ml of buffer (pH 7) solution and 5 ml of 10% urea solution was added. The flask was shaken for 30 min and incubated at 37°C for 3 hours in an incubator. Whereas in control, 10 ml of distilled water was added instead of urea solution. After incubation, the volume was made up to 100 ml by adding distilled water, mixed thoroughly, and filtered through Whatman filter paper No. 5. Indophenol blue method was adopted for the measurement of ammonia released as a result of urease activity. 0.5 ml of filtrate was taken in a 25 ml volumetric flask and to it 5 ml of distilled water was added. The mixture was treated with 2 ml of phenolate solution and 1.5 ml of sodium hypochloride solution containing 5% of active chlorine. The final volume was made up to 25 ml by adding distilled water. The optical density was read in spectrophotometer at 630 nm. The amount of NH₄⁺-N released was calculated by reference- calibrated curve and was expressed as NH₄⁺-N µg per gram dry soil per three hours.

2.8 Soil microbial biomass carbon

Soil microbial biomass carbon in soil samples was estimated following chloroform fumigation extraction procedure as described by Brookes et al., 1985. 10g of fresh moist soil sample was taken in four sets, two sets of soil samples were fumigated with ethanol-free-chloroform for 24 h (hours) in vacuum desiccators and the other two was placed in deep freeze (non-fumigated). Following evacuation and fumigant removal, the soil samples (both fumigated and non-fumigated) was extracted with 0.5 M K₂SO₄ (1:4 soil: solution ratio) by shaking for 30 minutes on a mechanical oscillating shaker then filtered through Whatman No. 42 filter paper. The readily oxidizable carbon in the extracts were estimated by dichromate digestion method and expressed on oven dry weight basis (105°C for 24 hours). Biomass carbon in soil was calculated from the relationship; Biomass carbon in soil (Bc) = Fc/Kc, Where, Fc = Difference between extractable carbon from fumigated soil and non-fumigated soil. Kc = Efficiency factor, which is 0.45 (Vance et al., 1987) and express as µg g^− 1 soil.

2.9 Statistical analysis

The data was analyzed by using analysis of variance technique (Gomez and Gomez, 1984), with SAS 9.4 for testing the significance of difference between any two means wherever F-test was significant. Tukey’s honestly significant difference test (Tukey’s HSD) at 0.05% probability was performed to compare the mean effects.

3.1 Weather conditions

The highest mean precipitation of 98.9 mm was received in January 2022 followed by 48.2 mm in February 2022 whereas, the other months of the crop season remain dry. The total amount of rainfall received in 2021 was 25.7 mm, while in 2022 it was 154.7. As a result of significant rain in the second year during the anthesis of the crop, the grain yield was ultimately higher in the first year than the second year (Table 7). Besides, due to water logging, leaching and denitrification of N caused chlorosis and thereby reduced photosynthetic capacity and N availability to the crop (Jiang et al. 2008). During the study period, about 90–95% of total rainfall was received between January and February. The average minimum and maximum relative humidity (RH) ranged between 48–89% and 51–89%, respectively in 2020-21 and 2021-22. (Supplementary Tables 1 and 2).

Table 7

Yield component under bio-decomposer, nitrogen level and nitrogen split on super- seeder sown wheat
Treatment	Effective tillers m^− 2		Spike length (cm)		Grains spike^− 1		Grain weight spike^− 1 (g)		1000-grain weight (g)
Treatment	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	421.3a	411.8a	13.6a	13.0a	43.9a	42.8a	1.7a	1.6a	38.8a	38.0a
B1	430.3a	420.8a	14.1a	13.5a	46.5a	45.1a	1.8a	1.7a	39.0a	38.3a
N-level
N1	413.3b	404.3b	13.3a	12.8a	42.6b	41.3b	1.6b	1.6b	38.7a	38.0a
N2	438.3a	428.8a	14.4a	13.8a	47.8a	46.5a	1.9a	1.8a	39.1a	38.4a
N-split
S1	440.2a	430.7a	14.0a	13.5a	49.1a	47.1a	1.9a	1.8a	39.0a	38.3a
S2	429.4ab	419.9b	13.8a	13.3a	45.6ab	44.3ab	1.8ab	1.7ab	38.9a	38.2a
S3	407.9c	399.1c	13.6a	13.0a	41.0b	40.3b	1.6b	1.5b	38.8a	38.1a
* B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35 (N applied at sowing, crown root initiation, and booting). Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

3.2 Nitrogen content and uptake

The shoot nitrogen content at 30 DAS remains similar between B0 and B1, while with the N-level, N2 had significantly higher shoot N content compared to N1 by 16.5% and 14.5% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively (Table 3). Among the N-splits, maximum shoot N content was observed with S1, wherein it was similar to S2 in both the years but significantly higher than S3 to the tune of 7% and 6%. Similarly, the shoot N content at 60 DAS did not observe significant difference between B0 and B1 in both the years, but with N-levels, N2 recorded significantly higher shoot N content of 12.9% (2020-21) and 13.4% (2021-22), respectively (Table 4). Further, among the N-splits, S1 had the highest shoot N content wherein, it was similar S2 in but statistically more than S3 in both the years. The increment of S1 over S3 in shoot N content was to the tune of 5% and 5.8% in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The total shoot N content at flowering remains similar between B0 and B1 in both the years, but with N-level, N2 resulted in significantly higher shoot N content than N1 by 12.9% and 15.8%, respectively in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Further, among the N-splits, maximum shoot N content was observed with S1 in both the years, wherein it was significantly higher than S3 to the tune of 7.7% (2020-21) and 8.0% (2021-22) but at par with S2. Similarly, at harvest total N content in straw with B0 and B1 were at par, but with N-level, N2 had significantly higher content of 18.3% and 21.2% over N1 in 2020-21 and 2021-22. While, among the N-splits S1 resulted in highest N content which was similar to N2 but significantly more than S3 to the tune of 19.4% (2020-21) and 21.2% (2021-22). Furthermore, the N content in grain did not have significant impact with or without bio-decomposer application in both the years. Nevertheless, with N-level, N2 had significantly higher N content in grain over N1 by 13.9% and 15.5% in 2020-21 and 2021-22. While, among the N-splits, maximum grain N content was observed with S1 in both the years, wherein it was significantly more than S2 and S3 by 6.9% and 13.4% in 2020-21, while in 2021-22 it was significantly higher by 5.7% and 8.6%, respectively (Table 4).

Table 3

Nitrogen content in above-ground at 30 and 60 DAS (days after sowing) under bio-decomposer application, nitrogen level, and nitrogen split on super-seeder sown wheat.
Treatment	Shoot nitrogen content (%)
	30 DAS		60 DAS
	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	1.44a	1.67a	1.90a	1.76a
B1	1.55a	1.78a	2.00a	1.87a
N-level
N1	1.36b	1.59b	1.82b	1.68b
N2	1.63a	1.86a	2.09a	1.95a
N-split
S1	1.56a	1.79a	2.02a	1.88a
S2	1.49ab	1.72ab	1.95ab	1.81ab
S3	1.45b	1.68b	1.91b	1.77b
* B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35 (N applied at sowing, crown root initiation, and booting). Shoot (Stem + leaf). Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

Table 4

N content at flowering and harvest under bio-decomposer, nitrogen level, and nitrogen split in super-seeder sown wheat
Treatment	At flowering		At harvest
	N Content in shoot		N content in straw		N content in grain
	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	1.91a	1.89a	0.54a	0.55a	2.07a	2.03a
B1	2.02a	1.97a	0.56a	0.56a	2.22a	2.15a
N-level
N1	1.83b	1.76b	0.49b	0.50b	1.98b	1.91b
N2	2.10a	2.09a	0.60a	0.61a	2.30a	2.26a
N-split
S1	2.04a	2.03a	0.61a	0.63a	2.30a	2.19a
S2	1.97ab	1.89b	0.53b	0.54b	2.14b	2.07b
S3	1.89c	1.87c	0.50c	0.50c	1.99c	2.00c
* B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35. Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

The total shoot N uptake in 2020-21 at 30 and 60 DAS under B1 was significantly higher than B0 by 10.3% and 8.9%, while with N-level N2 resulted in statistically higher N-uptake to the tune of 24.2% and 17.7% at 30 and 60 DAS. Among the N-splits, N-uptake at 30 DAS with S1 was significantly higher by 10–15% over S2 and S3, while at 60 DAS S1 was significantly higher by 12.7% over S3 but similar to S2 (Fig. 1a). Further, in 2021-22 at 30 DAS B0 and B1 were found similar in N-uptake, while at 60 DAS B1 was statistically higher by 8.9% over B0. While, between N-level, N2 had significantly higher N uptake both at 30 and 60 DAS to the tune of 21.3% and 18.5%, respectively. Further, among the N-splits, highest N uptake was recorded with S1 both at 30 and 60 DAS which was significantly higher by 9–17% and 5–13% compared to S2 and S3 (Fig. 1b). The total N uptake in shoot at flowering with B1 was significantly higher than B0 by 7.3% and 5.5%, in 2020-21 and 2021-22. With, N-level, N2 resulted in significantly higher N uptake to the tune of 18.4% (2020-21) and 20.7% (20201-22), while among the N-splits maximum N uptake was recorded with S1 in both the years, wherein it was significantly more than S3 by 12.8% in 2020-21, and 8% and 13.1% than S2 and S3 in 2021-22 (Fig. 2). Further, the N uptake in straw at harvest remains similar between B0 and B1 in 2020-21, while in 2021-22 significantly higher N uptake was observed with B1 (6.5%) over B0. While, with N-level, N2 resulted in significantly higher N uptake of 25.3% (2020-21) and 21.6% (2021-22) over N1. Among the N-splits, S1 observed maximum N uptake in both the years which was significantly higher than S2 and S3 by 13.6% and 22.6% in 2020-21, and 17.5% and 25.9% in 2021-22 (Fig. 3). In addition, the N uptake in grain remains similar between B0 and B1 in 2020-21, but B1 had significantly higher uptake of 9% in 2021-22. While, the N uptake with N2 had significantly 20.2% and 20.3% more compared to N1 in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. The highest N uptake in grain was recorded with S1 among the N-splits, wherein it was significantly more than S2 and S3 to the tune of 11–19% in 2020-21 and 10–13% in 2021-22 (Fig. 3).

3.3 Post-anthesis N accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain N

The post-anthesis N accumulation (post-NA) with B0 and B1 were at par in both the years. While, the Post-NA with N2 had significantly 4.5 g m^-2 and 3.5 g m^-2 more compared to N1 in 2020-21 and 2021-22 (Table 5). Among the N-splits, S1 had highest post-NA which was significantly higher than S2 and S3 by 17–27% in 2020-21, and S3 by 20.5% in 2021-22. The N remobilization under B1 was significantly higher by 8.1% in 2020-21 but remains similar in 2021-22. Further, between the N-level, N2 was significantly higher than N1 by 13.6% and 20.2% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. While, N remobilization remains at par among the N-splits in both the years. The N remobilization efficiency (NRE) in both the years were at par between B0 and B1, while with N1 the NRE was enhanced by 5.3% over N2 in 2020-21 but were found similar in 2021-22. Further, among the N-splits, there observed no significant difference in 2020-21, while in 2021-22 significantly higher NRE of 10.7% was recorded with S3 compared to S1 but remains at par with S2. The contribution of N remobilization to grain N among the treatments did not observe significant difference in both the years.

Table 5

N remobilization (NR), post-anthesis N accumulation, NR Efficiency, and contribution of NR to grain under bio-decomposer, nitrogen level, and nitrogen split in super-seeder sown wheat
Treatment	N remobilization (NR)		Post-anthesis N accumulation		NR Efficiency (NRE)		Contribution of NR to grain
Treatment	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	10.48b	10.51a	15.53a	14.34a	60.3a	60.8a	41.4a	43.3a
B1	11.40a	11.05a	16.77a	16.27a	61.2a	60.5a	41.1a	40.7a
N-Level
N1	10.14b	9.57b	13.92b	13.57b	62.4a	60.6a	43.1a	42.4a
N2	11.74a	11.99a	18.38a	17.04a	59.1b	60.6a	39.4a	41.6a
N-split
S1	11.13a	10.94a	18.99a	17.42a	58.0a	56.7c	38.3a	40.2a
S2	11.20a	10.83a	15.62b	14.65b	61.6a	61.6ab	41.9a	42.5a
S3	10.50a	10.56a	13.84bc	13.85bc	62.6a	63.5a	43.6a	43.4a
* B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35. Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

3.4 Dry matter accumulation

The data pertaining to dry matter accumulation of wheat at 30 and 60 DAS is given in Suppl. Table 3, while for anthesis and harvest under different treatments have been furnished in Table 6. The application of bio-decomposer did not affect the dry matter accumulation at 30 and 60 DAS in both the years. While, between the nitrogen levels, N2 produced significantly higher dry matter of 7.9–9.7% (30 DAS) and 5.8–5.9% (60 DAS), respectively over N1. Among the N-splits, S1 resulted in statistically higher dry matter accumulation compared to S3 but at par with S2 in both the stages of the crop and years. The increment of S1 over S3 was to the tune of 8.5–12.2% (30 DAS) and 7.8–7.9% (60 DAS). Further, the dry matter accumulation at flowering did not differ with and without bio-decomposer application, but with the N-level, N2 had significantly higher dry matter of 5.8% and 5.5% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively over the N1. Similarly, among the N-splits, S1 produced maximum dry matter in both the years which was at par with S2 but significantly more than S3 by 5.2% (2020-21) and 7.1(2021-22). Similarly, at harvest the total dry matter remains similar to each other between B0 and B1 in both the years, but with N-level N2 had significantly higher dry matter accumulation of 5.2% and 5.6% in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Among the N-splits, maximum dry matter accumulation was recorded with S1 in both the years, wherein it was similar to S2 but significantly higher than S3 by 5.8% and 5.9% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively (Table 6).

Table 6

Dry-matter accumulation (DMA), remobilization (DMR), remobilization-efficiency (DMRE), and its contribution to grain yield (DMRG) under bio-decomposer application, nitrogen level, and nitrogen splitting on super-seeder sown wheat.
Treatments	Dry-matter accumulation (g m^− 2)
	Flowering		Harvest		Post-DMA (g m^− 2)		DMR (g m^− 2)		DMRE (%)		DMRG (%)
	2020-21	2 021–22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	s2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	907a	887a	1234a	1221a	344.9a	314.7a	374.9a	355.6a	41.0b	38.9a	51.4a	52.7a
B1	924a	910a	1277a	1268a	340.1a	344.2a	444.5a	388.3a	47.8a	41.7a	55.8a	51.7a
N-Level
N1	888b	873b	1222b	1209b	322.0a	320.7a	360.4b	315.0b	40.3b	35.3b	52.1a	49.2a
N2	943a	924a	1289a	1281a	363.0a	338.2a	459.0a	428.8a	48.5a	45.3a	55.1a	55.1a
N-split
S1	936a	929a	1299a	1289a	369.5a	352.6a	475.3a	426.1a	50.4a	45.0a	55.8a	54.0a
S2	923ab	903ab	1243ab	1232ab	327.2a	309.1a	436.5ab	402.6ab	47.2ab	43.5ab	56.2a	55.9a
S3	887b	863b	1224b	1213b	330.9a	326.6a	317.3c	287.0c	35.6c	32.4c	48.7a	46.6a
B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha*^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35 (N applied at sowing, crown root initiation, and booting). Post-DMA- post-anthesis dry matter accumulation. Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

3.5 Post-anthesis dry matter accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain yield

Bio-decomposer did not influence the post-anthesis dry matter accumulation (Post-anthesis-DMA) in both the years (Table 6). However, between the N-level, N2 had significantly 11.3% more post-DMA over N1 in 2020-21, though it remains similar in 2021-22. Further, among the N-splits, maximum post-DMA was recorded with S1 in both the years, wherein it was significantly higher by 12.1% and 7.4% compared to N3 in 2020-21 and 2021-22, but at par with S2. The dry matter remobilization (DMR) in both the years remains similar with or without bio-decomposer application, while with the N-level, N2 had significantly higher DMR to the tune of 21.4% and 26.5% compared to N1 during 2020-21 and 2021-22. Further, among the N-splits, a significantly higher DMR was observed with S1, wherein it was at par with S2 but statistically (p < 0.05) more than S3 by 33.2% (2020-21) and 32.6% (2021-22), respectively. The dry matter remobilization efficiency (DMRE) with B1 was significantly more than B0 in 2020-21, but remain similar in 2021-22. While, the DMRE with N2 was significantly higher compared to N1 in both the years, and among the N-splits, the highest DMRE was recorded with S1 which was at par with S2 but significantly more than S3 in both the years. Further, the contribution of dry matter remobilization to grain yield remains similar for all the treatments irrespective of the years.

3.6 Yield components

The number of effective tillers with and without bio-decomposer application were at par in both the years, while between the N-levels, N2 produced significantly higher effective tillers of 5.7% in both the years compared to N1 (Table 7). Further, among the N-splits, the effective tillers with S1 was maximum in both the years, wherein it was at par with S2 but significantly more than S3 by 7.3% in 2020-21, while in 2021-22 S1 resulted in significantly higher effective tillers over S2 and S3 to the tune of 2.5–7.3%. The spike length remains similar between the treatments during both the years of study. Further, the number of grains spike^-1 did not differ with the bio-decomposer in both the years. Nevertheless, the grains spike^-1 with N2 produced 10.8% (2020-21) and 11.2% (2021-22) more compared to N1. The maximum grain spike^-1 was recorded with S1 among the N-splits, wherein it remains similar to S2 in both the years but significantly higher than S3 to the tune of 16.5% and 14.4% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. The grain weight spike^-1 was not influenced by bio-decomposer in both the years, but between the N-levels, N2 produced significantly heavier grain weight over N1 by 12.7% and 12.4% in 2020-21 and 2021-22. While, among the N-splits, S1 resulted in heaviest grain weight spike^-1 in both the years, wherein it was statistically at par with S2 but significantly more than S3 by 17.6% (2020-21) and 15.4% (2021-22). The 1000-grain weight in both the years remains similar between the treatments.

3.7 Grain and straw yields

Bio-decomposer did not have significant impact on grain yield of wheat in both the years, but with N-levels, N2 resulted in significant yield improvement of 8% and 8.5% respectively in 2020-21 and 2021-22 compared to N1 (Table 8). Further, among the N-splits, S1 produced maximum grain yield which was similar to S2, but significantly higher than S3 to the tune of 10.1% (2020-21) and 11.8% (2021-22). Similarly, straw yield in both the years remains at par with and without bio-decomposer, while with N-levels, N2 had significantly higher straw yield of 7.4% and 7.8% over N1 in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Among the N-splits, the highest straw yield was recorded with S1 in both the years, wherein it was statistically higher than S3 by 6.9% and 9.9% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, though at par with S2. In addition, the biological (total above-ground biomass) yield did not observe significant impact with the bio-decomposer though there is 4.4% and 4.7% higher with B1 over B0 in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The N-levels had significant impact on biological yield with N2 resulted in significantly higher yield of 7.7% (2020-21) and 7.6% (2021-22) compared to N1. Furthermore, the N-splits with S1 produced maximum biological yield in both the years, which was at par to S2 but significantly higher than S3 by 8.2% and 10.6% in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.

Table 8

Yields under bio-decomposer, nitrogen level, and nitrogen split on super-seeder sown wheat
Treatment	Yield (t ha^− 1)
	Grain yield		Straw yield		Biological yield
	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22	2020-21	2021-22
Bio-decomposer
B0	4.92a	4.62a	6.87a	6.70a	11.79a	11.40a
B1	5.14a	4.86a	7.19a	7.10a	12.33a	11.97a
N-level
N1	4.82b	4.61b	6.76b	6.62b	11.58b	11.23b
N2	5.24a	5.04a	7.30a	7.18a	12.54a	12.15a
N-split
S1	5.33a	5.15a	7.30a	7.27a	12.63a	12.41a
S2	4.96ab	4.69ab	7.00ab	6.88ab	12.00ab	11.57ab
S3	4.79b	4.54b	6.79b	6.55b	11.59b	11.09b
* B0- without application of bio-decomposer; B1- with bio-decomposer application; N1- nitrogen at 150 kg ha^− 1; N2- nitrogen at 180 kg ha^− 1: S1- 50:25:25; S2- 40:30:30; S3-30:35:35 (N applied at sowing, crown root initiation, and booting). Data in the column followed by different letters are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 as analysed by Tukey’s honest significant difference (Tukey’s HSD) test.

3.8 Urease activity and soil microbial biomass carbon

The urease activity (UA) in the upper soil layer (0.00-0.15 m) at 30 and 60 DAS with B1 was significantly higher by 6.8% and 6.2% over B0 in 2020-21 (Fig. 4a). While, between the N-level, N2 had significantly higher UA of 10.8% and 9.4% compared to N1, while among the N-splits, S1 resulted in maximum UA wherein it was at par with S2 but significantly more than S3 to the tune of 8.2% and 12.3% at 30 and 60 DAS. Similarly, in 2021-22 (Fig. 4b), the soil UA in the soil depth of 0.00-0.15 m with B1 was statistically higher by 7.8% and 9.1% at 30 and 60 DAS. Further, with N2 the UA was increased by 9.5% and 8.8% over N1, respectively at 30 and 60 DAS. Among the N-splits, S1 produced the highest UA which was significantly more than S3 by 13.8% and 12.8%, but found similar to S2 at 30 and 60 DAS. Furthermore, the soil microbial biomass carbon (soil-MBC) at harvest in the 0.00-0.15 m soil depth with B1 was significantly higher than B0 by 8.9% (Fig. 5). Indeed, different N-level and N-splits did not have significant impact on soil-MBC.

4.1 Nitrogen content and uptake and post-anthesis accumulation

The incorporation of rice straw (RS) results in soil nitrates immobilization due to high C:N ratio, thereby reducing the uptake of nitrogen by plants leading to nitrogen (N) deficiency (Thuy et al., 2008). Hence, to accelerate the decomposition process, the application of bio-decomposer (beneficial microbial formulation) coupled with a timely supply of optimum N fertilizer could create a congenial environment for better crop growth and development. The lower N content and uptake with N1(@ 150 kg ha^-1) as compared to N2 (@ 180 kg ha^-1) could be due to low N availability in rice crop residues, wherein the decomposer has to obtained the inorganic N from the N- fertilizer applied for building their cellular components (Robertson and Groffman, 2007; Chen et al., 2014) resulting in temporary immobilization of inorganic N (Beri et al., 1995). While, with a higher rate of N-application (N2), the excess nitrogen could meet the nitrogen requirement of the microbes for the breakdown of the organic matter resulting in higher available N to crop particularly in the early stages. Further, higher proportion of N as basal might have subdued the temporary N lock-up in the soil (Yadvinder-Singh et al., 2005) thereby enhancing the availability of N to the crop and improving its content and uptake.

Further, previous study reported that the total N content was primarily associated with the variation in dry matter (Banzinger et al., 1994; Masoni et al., 2007). The N content in grain at maturity has been propounded to be greatly influenced by the remobilization of N accumulated before anthesis (Cox et al., 1985), while its contribution from post-anthesis uptake depends on the soil N status, genotype, and water availability during the grain filling period (Mi et al., 2000; Martre et al., 2006).

4.2 Dry matter accumulation and post-anthesis dry matter accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain yield

The dry matter and nutrient accumulation and remobilization for wheat grown under additional dose of nitrogen and higher nitrogen at basal were comparatively higher than the treatments with recommended dose of nitrogen and lower nitrogen at basal which could lead to a larger accumulation of assimilates available for remobilization with higher assimilate demand during the grain filling. In addition, dry matter partitioning and remobilization have been noted to be affected by factors such as climatic conditions, varieties, planting patterns, and management practices (Weichert et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2021). The higher dry matter remobilization (DMR) could be due to an increase in mineralization of organic residue which increases the nutrient concentrations in the soil and attributes to better early crop establishment and improved root growth and volume thereby enhancing the plant uptake resulting in increasing cellular activities ultimately lead to a higher synthesis of photosynthates remobilization. The total dry matter remobilized under the higher nitrogen dose (N2) was enhanced by 21.4–26.5% and 32.6–33.2% in both years (Table 6). In wheat, current photosynthesis, and the remobilization of reserves from the stem and other plant parts provide the carbon required during the grain filling phase (Pheloung and Siddique, 1991).

The dry matter remobilization efficiency (DMRE) in the present study varies with different treatments. This could be the result of decreased in dry matter accumulation and the photosynthetic rate at anthesis due to stress at the initial stage of the crop without decomposer and lesser dose at basal application, yet improved the remobilization of photosynthates to the spikes. Similar findings under the water stress conditions were reported by (Zhang et al., 2019; Yan et al., 2022). Further, it has been reported in wheat that the contribution from remobilization of dry matter to grain yield varies from 7–57% (Ehdaie and Waines, 2001), which was in line with our study, wherein it ranged between 15–29% among the treatments (Table 6). Nevertheless, the contribution of dry matter remobilization to grain yield (DMRG) among the treatments was found to be at par with each other. Nitrogen stress, particularly due to the temporary lock-up of applied N during the initial stage of the crop has been found to decrease the remobilization and contribution to grain yield (Xue et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2013). Meanwhile, because of the stress during post-anthesis, the accumulation and assimilation might have been reduced, as it is demonstrated in the current study, where post-anthesis dry matter accumulation with the treatments B0, N1, S3 decreased by 15 to 29% (Table 6). Hence, more the dry matter and N accumulated before anthesis, higher the rates of dry matter translocation to grain and the risk of net N losses at maturity (Papakosta and Gagianas, 1991).

4.3 Yield components and yields

Application of bio-decomposer caused grain yield benefits of 4.6% over without bio-decomposer application, which could be attributed to hastening the composting process of RS through microbial bioaugmentation (Sharma et al. 2014; Fitriatin et al. 2016) thereby augmenting the nutrients available to the crop and eventually resulting in an improved yield of the crop. In addition, the combined use of RS along with inorganic fertilizers particularly N has been reported to enhance the crop yield under the RWCS (Mahapatra et al., 1991). Previous studies revealed that the application of higher N at 180 kg ha^− 1 over 60 kg ha^− 1 when the RS is incorporated had a lesser reduction in wheat yield (Singh and Singh, 2001). The present study further confirmed that higher N needs to be applied when residue is incorporated to achieve greater yield, as N2 had 9% (two years mean) higher grain yield compared to N1. The higher rate of N application when residue is incorporated is to overcome the temporary immobilization of applied fertilizer and makes it more available to the crop in early growth stages (Mandal et al., 2004). Subsequently, the higher grain yield under N2 and S1 could be attributed to higher nitrogen mineralization and overcoming the stress (N immobilization) at the initial stage of the crop thereby increasing the dry matter accumulation (Suppl. Table 3), and yield components viz., number of grains/spike and grain weight/spike (Table 7). Similar findings were reported by Li et al., 2010; Dordas et al., 2015; Singh et al., 2015. Furthermore, N dose and N split influenced the number of grains/spike significantly during both years. The reason could be better mineralization of inorganic residues in the initial growing period resulted in supplying of available nutrients to the crop and nutrient uptake which might help in the efficient partitioning and allocation of photosynthates from source to sink (Li et al., 2010). Moreover, the increase in grain weight/spike was observed with the higher dose of nitrogen (Kumar et al., 2016). The lower grain yield in the second year as compared to the first year could be due to heavy rain (Suppl. Tables. 1 and 2) during the anthesis of the crop which led to chlorosis, and reduced photosynthetic ability of the crop. Besides, due to water logging leaching and denitrification of N (Jiang et al. 2008) could have occurred and reduced availability of N to crop. The higher straw yield with higher N dose (N2) and 50% N (S1) applied as basal may be ascribed to enhance the growth of the crop, especially the tillers number, which ultimately culminates in straw yield. Increasing the recommended N dose by 30 kg ha^− 1 and increasing the proportion of total N as basal i.e., 50%, helped the crop to off-set the N stress experienced during the initial phase in residue loaded plots (Li et al., 2010; Dotaniya, 2013; Ali et al., 2019). The higher straw yield with N2 and S1 is clearly outlined in this study (Table 8).

4.4 Urease activity and soil microbial biomass

Urease activity in soil was influenced by the application of bio-decomposer, nitrogen doses, and N-splits. Soil urease activity has been reported to increase with conservation tillage and incorporation of residue (Qin et al., 2010). The activity of the urease enzyme is directly proportional to the dose of soil applied urea (Rai and Yadav, 2011; Jat et al., 2020), and therefore, with the higher nitrogen dose more is the activity of the urease enzyme. It is a general observation that the activity of urease increased up to 60–80 DAS and decreases thereafter (Juan et al., 2008). The probable reason might be due to N-splits of nitrogen which had been applied up to 70–80 DAS (i.e., booting stage in this study), and in response to this the activity of urea hydrolyzing microbes increased, thereby increasing the urease enzyme as well (Jingjing et al., 2015).

The functions of an agro-soil ecosystem are driven by interactions between soil organic matter and microbial communities, and the concept of soil microbial biomass can help us comprehend these interactions (Stockdale and Murphy, 2017). Soil microbial biomasses assist in regulating soil fertility through the process of immobilization and mineralization for nutrients like carbon and nitrogen (O'donnell et al., 2001) and are identified as sensitive indicators of crop management practices (Benintende et al., 2008; Gosai et al., 2010). Crop residue acts as a readily available food source and provides a wide range of nutrients and congenial environment to microbes which resulted in higher microbial biomasses (Masto et al., 2007). Thus, resulting in higher microbial biomass carbon (8.9%) in the soil with the application of bio-decomposer compared to without bio-decomposer application. Our result is concurrent with findings reported by Jat et al. (2020). Considering this, bio-decomposer treatment becomes essential for the long-term viability of the soil and ultimately the intensive RWCS, in addition to increasing crop yield.

With the innovative invention of technology, the illicit and treacherous practice of residue burning could be significantly reduced by adopting the alternative eco-friendly and sustainable management of residue through super-seeder without delaying the seeding of the next crop particularly in RWCS. Our study is unique in optimizing both rate of fertilizer N and its scheduling to overcome the limitation of immobilization during initial stage of the crop for higher and sustainable productivity. The results of the field experiments conducted in wheat sown by super-seeder revealed that in combine harvested rice field with residue retention, wheat should be supplied with 180 Kg N ha^-1 and N-splitting as 50%:25%:25% (Basal : CRI : Booting) for improving the dry matter accumulation, yield attributes, grain and straw yields and higher N-mineralization in soil during initial stage of the crop. Besides, use of bio-decomposer could be taken as a new path for efficient use of nitrogen, as it helped in better soil health and early release of nitrogen thereby, improved the grain yield. Further investigations for long-term in nutrients content of soil and plants are necessary.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors report no potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology for providing experimental field and laboratory facilities during the experimentation.

Author contributions

LPR, VPS and SC, led the research work, planned, supervised, and conducted the field experiments along with collection and analysis of soil and plant samples. LPR and RRZ wrote the initial manuscript, LPR and SC statistical analysis, HD, KSR, LD and KR read and edited manuscript and also prepared figures and tables. AS, VKS, NP reviewed and edited the final manuscript. All the authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

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Augmentation of nitrogen management reduce nitrogen stress and enhance productivity of super-seeder sown wheat under rice residue incorporation

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Abstract

Figures

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

2.1 Experimental site description and climatic conditions

2.2 Cultural operation, design, and crop management

2.3 Soil sampling

2.4 Nitrogen content and uptake in plants

2.5 Dry matter accumulation

2.6 Yields and yield components

2.7 Urease activity

2.8 Soil microbial biomass carbon

2.9 Statistical analysis

3. Results

3.1 Weather conditions

3.2 Nitrogen content and uptake

3.3 Post-anthesis N accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain N

3.4 Dry matter accumulation

3.5 Post-anthesis dry matter accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain yield

3.6 Yield components

3.7 Grain and straw yields

3.8 Urease activity and soil microbial biomass carbon

4. Discussion

4.1 Nitrogen content and uptake and post-anthesis accumulation

4.2 Dry matter accumulation and post-anthesis dry matter accumulation, remobilization, and contribution to grain yield

4.3 Yield components and yields

4.4 Urease activity and soil microbial biomass

Conclusion

Declarations

References

Additional Declarations

Supplementary Files

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