Theory
Unit I
Soil fertility and productivity – factors affecting; features of good soil management; problems of supply and availability of nutrients; relation between nutrient supply and crop growth; organic farming – basic concepts and definitions
Unit II
Criteria of essentiality of nutrients; Essential plant nutrients – their functions, nutrient deficiency symptoms; transformation and dynamics of major plant nutrients.
Unit III
Preparation and use of farmyard manure, compost, green manures, vermicompost, biofertilizers and other organic concentrates, their composition, availability and crop responses; recycling of organic wastes and residue management. Soil-less cultivation.
Unit IV
Commercial fertilizers; composition, relative fertilizer value and cost; crop response to different nutrients, residual effects and fertilizer use efficiency (FUE): (agronomic FUE, chemical FUE and physiological FUE), fertilizer mixtures and grades; methods of increasing fertilizer use efficiency; nutrient interactions
Unit V
Time and methods of manures and fertilizers application; foliar application and its concept; relative performance of organic and inorganic nutrients; economics of fertilizer use; integrated nutrient management; use of vermi-compost and residue wastes in crop production.