Effect of long‐term balanced and imbalanced inorganic fertilizer and FYM application on chemical fraction of DTPA ‐extractable micronutrients and yields under rice–wheat cropping system in mollisols

The imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers under intensive cultivation practices over a period of years leads to various soil‐associated problems particularly nutrient availability. Thus, to examine the effect of long‐term application of balanced and imbalanced inorganic fertilizer and farm yard manure ( FYM ) application on the chemical fraction of DTPA ‐extractable micronutrients under rice–wheat cropping system after 29 years, the observations were recorded from the ongoing field experiment at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. An application of balanced inorganic fertilizer with FYM in rice, while without FYM in wheat significantly improved the DTPA ‐extractable Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu after rice and wheat crops in both the surface and sub‐surface soil layers. Lowest DTPA ‐extractable Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu were recorded, in surface and sub‐surface soil under rice and wheat crops in control. The highest DTPA ‐extractable Zn, in both surface and sub‐surface layers of rice (3.31, 1.62 mg kg −1 , respectively) and wheat (2.96, 0.99 mg kg −1 , respectively) was recorded because of application of N 180 +P 80 +K 40 +Zn(F) + FYM in rice and N 180 +P 80 +K 40 +Zn(F) in wheat. However, the DTPA ‐extractable Fe, Mn and Cu were highest in rice and wheat because of N 120 +P 40 +K 40 + FYM and N 120 +P 40 +K 40 application, respectively. The balanced use of inorganic fertilizer with FYM (N 180 +P 80 +K 40 +Zn(F) + FYM ) in rice and without FYM [N 180 +P 80 +K 40 +Zn(F)] in wheat supported the highest rice (6.74 t ha −1 ) and wheat (3.50 t ha −1 ) grain yields, while lowest in control. Based on the study results, long‐term application of FYM at 5 tonnes ha −1 in rice crop sustained the availability of DTPA ‐extractable cationic micronutrients to rice and wheat in Mollisols.