Effect of Organic Amendments along with Fly Ash on Soil Quality under Vertisol (Typic Haplustert) of India

An incubation study was conducted to characterize soil quality as affected by organic amendments -1-1(FYM, biochar and, poultry manure @ 25 t ha) along with or without fly ash (@ 22.4 t ha) in Vertisol. Physical and chemical parameters of soil quality like pH, EC, bulk density, porosity, moisture content, organic carbon and available N, P, K measured at the end of incubation period i.e.th10week showed that combined application of soil amendments (FYM + fly ash, biochar + fly ash, poultry manure + fly ash) had significantly better results than individual application of the respective soil amendments. Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) and dehydrogenase enzyme thactivity (DHA) increased steadily up to 6weeks of incubation with a marginal decrease during last thphase. At the end of incubation period (10week), SMBC and DHAwas highest in the soil amended -1-1with FYM + fly ash; T(476.6 mg/kg of soil and 10.28 μg TPF gsoil h). The soils treated with 5organic amendments particularly FYM and poultry manure along with fly ash showed best performance in terms of soil quality improvement in Vertisol.