~ 1549 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(6): 1549-1552 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(6): 1549-1552 Received: 19-09-2019 Accepted: 21-10-2019 C Venkata Madhuri PG Student, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, SV Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India KV Naga Madhuri Principal Scientist, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India Y Reddi Ramu Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, SV Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India V Munaswamy Professor (Retd.), Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, SV Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: C Venkata Madhuri PG Student, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, SV Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India Influence of organic manures on nutrients status of groundnut growing soils C Venkata Madhuri, KV Naga Madhuri, Y Reddi Ramu and V Munaswamy Abstract Organic manures helps to improve soil physical, chemical and biological properties thus improve nutrient availability to crops. The present study was carried out to evaluate the beneficial effects of different sources of organic manures on nutrient status of groundnut growing soils during Kharif, 2016 in an ongoing long-term experiment at RARS, Tirupati since 2007. The results revealed that continuous application of various organic manures favourably improved the soil major nutrients (N, P, K), secondary nutrients (Ca, Mg and S) and micronutrients (Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu) compared to control plots. Among the various organic manures, pressmud cake @ 10 t ha -1 and farm yard manure @ 10 t ha -1 had greater influence on increased soil nutrient status followed by poultry manure @ 4 t ha -1 . Keywords: Groundnut, soil nutrients, organic manures, poultry manure, farm yard manure Introduction Groundnut being a premier oil seed crop is also an important food legume and animal feed, but it is mostly grown under energy starved conditions of low soil fertility and rainfed situations. Continuous use of inorganic fertilizers under intensive cropping system leads to deterioration of soil health and productivity. Healthy soil is a requisite for the integrity of terrestrial ecosystems to remain intact and to recover from disturbances such as drought, climate change, pest infestation, pollution and human exploitation through agriculture. Deterioration of soil, and thereby soil health, is of great concern for human, animal and plant health (Wang and Chao, 1995) [17] . However, rebuilding soil quality and health through appropriate farming practices may take several years, especially in dryland areas, where limited moisture reduces biomass production and soil biological activity. Thus, the challenge is to identify soil management practices that promote soil organic matter formation and moisture retention, and ensure productivity and profitability for the farmers. Organic farming in recent years gaining importance due to realization of inherent advantages it confers in sustaining crop production under aberrant rainfed farming situations and also maintaining dynamic soil nutrient status. The use of manures as organic fertilizer can benefit agriculture and can be potentially an inexpensive way for society to protect the environment and to conserve natural resources. Organic manures acts as nutrient reservoir and upon decomposition produces organic acids, there by adsorbed ions are released slowly for the entire crop growth period leading to higher yields (Kumar et al., 2005) [7] . Hence the present investigation was taken with the objective to study the effect of continuous application of various organic manures on nutrient status of soils. Materials and Methods A long-term experiment was initiated in the year 2007 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tirupati and the same experiment was selected for the present study with prime objective to assess the changes in soil nutrient status as influenced by continuous application of organic manures. Experimental site is geographically situated at 13.5° N latitude and 79.5° E longitude with an altitude of 189.2 meters above mean sea level (MSL) in the Southern Agro-climatic Zone of Andhra Pradesh and according to Troll's classification, it falls under Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT). Groundnut crop is grown in Kharif season consisting of six treatments with four replications. The treatments include T 1 : Control (no manure and fertilizers), T 2 : RDF (20 Kg of N ha -1 , 40 Kg of P 2 O 5 ha -1 , 50 K 2 O Kg ha -1 ), T 3 :Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha -1 , T 4 : Poultry manure @ 4 t ha -1 , T 5 : Farm yard manure @ 10 t ha -1 , T 6 : Pressmud cake @ 10 t ha -1 . The chemical composition of organic manure used in study present in the Table.1.