To achieve higher crop yields and maintain environmental conservation, it is imperative to adopt novel agricultural methods that improve both the quantity and quality of produce. The following study focused on investigating the effectiveness of integrated use of biogas slurry and inorganic nutrigation on spinach growth and nutrient uptake through drip irrigation. A field experiment was conducted using a split-plot design; spinach was cultivated with seven different treatments: biogas slurry nutrigation (BSN) (T₁), integrated inorganic + organic nutrigation: 40% Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) + BSN (T₂), 60% RDF + BSN (T₃), 80% RDF + BSN (T₄), 100% RDF (T₅), slurry broadcasting (SB) (T₆), and control (T₇). The results showed that spinach grown with (T₄) 80% RDF + BSN exhibited optimum plant height and leaf count compared to spinach under other treatments and was at par with T₅ 100% RDF for crop parameters. T₅ treated plants demonstrated the longest roots, followed by T₄ treated plants. The highest recorded yield of 5.72 tons ha⁻¹ was achieved in treatment T₅ with 100% RDF, followed closely by T₄ with 80% RDF + BSN at 5.52 tons ha⁻¹ and T₃ with 60% RDF + BSN at 5.36 tons ha⁻¹. These three treatments exhibited comparable yields, showcasing the effectiveness of incorporating biogas slurry nutrigation in conjunction with inorganic fertilizer for achieving high spinach yields. In terms of macronutrient content in spinach leaves, significant differences were found for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents. Incorporating biogas slurry into the soil modified microbial enzyme activities, specifically dehydrogenase and phosphatase. Normally, alkaline phosphatase shows greater activity than acidic phosphatase, but the addition of biogas slurry equalized the enzymatic activity of both, establishing a harmonized enzymatic profile. Our results suggest that fertilizing spinach with integrated biogas slurry nutrigation (if properly filtered) + inorganic nutrigation through drip nutrigation is a viable strategy for improving the morphological parameters and productivity of spinach while also contributing to environmental preservation and a reduction in production costs.

To achieve higher crop yields and maintain environmental conservation, it becomes imperative to adopt novel agricultural methods that improve both the quantity and quality of produce. The above study focused on investigating the effectiveness of integrated use of biogas slurry (BS) and inorganic nutrigation on spinach growth and nutrient uptake through drip irrigation. Under field conditions and using a split plot design, spinach was cultivated with seven different treatments: biogas slurry nutrigation (BSN) (T1), integrated inorganic + organic nutrigation: 40% Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) +BSN (T2), 60% RDF +BSN (T3), 80% RDF +BSN(T4), 100% RDF(T5), slurry broadcasting (SB) (T6), and control(T7). The results showed that spinach grown with T4 80% RDF +BSN exhibited optimum plant height and leaf count compared to spinach under other treatments and was at par with T5 100% RDF for crop parameters. T5 treated plants demonstrated the longest roots, followed by T4 treated plants. The biomass produced by T4 was at par with T5 in the first (T4= 4.60 tonha-1, T5 =4.67 tonha-1) and second harvesting(T4= 6.69 tonha-1, T5 =6.89 tonha-1).In terms of macronutrient content in spinach leaves, significant differences were found only for nitrogen (N),potassium (K), while the phosphorus contents were not significantly influenced. Incorporating biogas slurry into the soil modifies microbial enzyme activities, specifically dehydrogenase and phosphatase. Normally, alkaline phosphatase shows greater activity than acidic phosphatase, but the addition of biogas slurry equalized the enzymatic activity of both, establishing a harmonized enzymatic profile. Fertilizing spinach with integrated Biogas slurry nutrigation + inorganic nutrigation not only improves growth and development to a similar extent as inorganic fertilizer but also enhances the nutrient content of the spinach, contributes to environmental preservation, and reduces production costs.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different fodder crops and water conservation practices on rainfall-induced runoff, soil loss, nutrient loss and soil water storage in horti-pasture system of the bael orchard during 2019-20 and 2020-21. Results revealed that rainfall recorded during the study periods was 523.8 mm and 628.6 mm, with 19 and 20 rainy days, respectively. Runoff and soil loss were the highest in fields without crops or conservation practices, reaching 66.8 mm and 7.71 t/ha in 2019-20 and 62.4 mm and 7.74 t/ha in 2020-21, respectively. Implementing water conservation practices significantly reduced these losses by more than 50%. Among crops, sorghum exhibited the lowest nutrient losses and the highest soil water storage (383.3 mm and 424.6 mm in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively) under conservation practices. Conversely, no-crop fields had the lowest water retention. The results demonstrate that integrating water conservation practices reduces runoff, soil and nutrient losses while enhancing soil water storage, supporting sustainable horti-pasture management.