Sulphur is the fourth most important nutrient after nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc for Indian Agriculture. Large quantities of indigenous S sources such as mined gypsum, pyrite and by-product phosphogypsum are available in the country. Research efforts have been directed to evaluate suitability of these indigenous S sources as sulphur fertilizer in soils and crops of eastern India. The magnitude of S deficiency widely differed in soils of eastern states. Among different crops oilseeds were found more responsive to S application than pulses and cereals. The dose of most of the crops ranged between 20 to 60 kg ha-1 except sugarcane which profitably responded at 80 kg ha-1. Basal soil application of gypsum and phosphogypsum were found to be superior than that of pyrites. However, pyrites resulted in higher crop response on residual sulphur in various cropping systems. In addition to yield, application of S improved the quality of crop produce also. Protein content in cereals and pulses, oil content in oil seeds and sugar content in sugarcane were appreciably increased due to S application. Replenishment of sulphur in soil can be made through the use of indigenous sources of sulphur for achieving higher crops yield and quality in eastern states of India.

Use of indigenous sources of sulphur in soils of eastern India for&nbsp;higher crops yield and quality- A review

A field experiment was conducted to study the performance of wheat crop under acidulated rock phosphate (RP) during rabi season 2009-2010 The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with A total of ten treatments viz., single super phosphate (SSP) alone, RP alone, RP + gypsum, RP + SSP, RP + PSB, RP + FYM, RP + FYM + PSB, RP + pressmud (PM) , RP + PM + PSB and RP + pyrites and crop wheat var. PBW-550 were selected. Crop yield differed significantly due to different treatments. RP + gypsum produced maximum grain yield (49.2 q ha-1), biological yield (120 q ha-1), plant height, shoot population, dry matter accumulation and yield attributes viz., spike length, number of fertile spikelets per spike and number of grain per spike, over other treatments. Rock phosphate acidulated with gypsum, each 300 kg ha-1 found best in terms of recording grain, straw and biological yield and hence, can be use as alternate source of phosphatic fertilizer.

Use of indigenous sources of sulphur in soils of eastern India for higher crops yield and quality- A review

Effect of acidulated rock phosphate on growth yield attributes and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)