Improvement of Growth, Yield and Soil Fertility in Wheat through Tillage and Nutrient Management Practices

Purpose Minimizing the existing concerned issues about diminishing crop and soil productivity, this particular research experiment was carried out. Methods Two years of the investigation was planned in a split-plot design with two tillage operations allocated in the main plot and seven nutrient management strategies were applied in the subplot and replicated thrice. Experimentation aimed at evaluating the effect of zero tillage (ZT) and nutrient management (NM) strategies on wheat crop performance using ANOVA and soil fertility was assessed by principal component analysis (PCA) and correlational statistics. Results The study revealed that the growth and yield of wheat crop were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by conventional tillage (CT) and NM 7 treatment i.e., 75% RDF (Recommended dose of fertilizer) + NPK biofertilizer + 25 kg ha −1 ZnSO 4 + Seaweed extract (10%). The percentage of variation in grain yield was explained by nutrient uptake, i.e., N (90%), P (73%), K (89%), and Zn uptake (83%) inferred from regression analysis. Besides, soil available macronutrients (N, P 2 O 5 and K 2 O), micronutrients (DTPA-Zn, Fe and Mn), soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC), soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil enzymatic activities (DHA, ALP and BG) were improved with ZT and NM 7 treatment. Also, the ZTNM 7 treatment combination improved the soil biology by increasing the soil microbial population (total bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes). The significant influence of available macronutrients, Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon (SMBC) and enzymes on soil fertility in PC1 (explained 56.9%) was further established by PCA and exhibited a significantly (p < 0.01) positive correlation with these soil variables. Conclusion Findings revealed that CT and NM 7 had proved to be a superior treatment for wheat production while improved soil fertility had been registered on practicing ZT tailored with NM 7 treatment.