2023-11-10 ARCHIVES OF AGRONOMY AND SOIL SCIENCE 2023 69(卷), 13(期), (2645-2662页)
Biopolymers (BP) are the unexploited eco-friendly microbial derivatives which regulate soil moisture and nutrient mobility. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted for two years (2017-18 and 2018-19) to determine the beneficial effects of BP in reducing nutrient stress and yield enhancement in turmeric. The study was laid out in a split-plot design with each of four levels of nutrients (control, 50%, 75%, and 100% of Recommended Dose of Nutrients; RDN) and BP (0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 kg ha(-1)). Results indicated that BP application (7.5 kg ha(-1)) significantly improved the soil moisture content (40.31%) and microbial colonization (total microbes, N fixers, and P solubilizers). As a result, combined application BP with either 75% or 100% of RDN enhanced the photosynthesis (22.95-24.50 mu mol m(-2) s(-1)) and lowered the canopy temperature (24.47-24.67 degrees C) of turmeric. Thus, higher yield (7.05-7.82 t ha(-1)) and partial factor productivity were achieved. Supplementing BP with 100% RDN enhances the turmeric yield by up to 29-49% over 100% RDN alone. Therefore, biopolymer maintains the equivalent turmeric yield of 100% RDN even at 25-50% less nutrients in the nutrient-poor soils of semi-arid Tropics.