Enzyme and Microbial Activities in Paddy Soil Amended Continuously with Different Fertilizer Systems

Soil enzyme and microbial activities are affected by fertilizer and compost applications and can be used as sensitive indicators of ecological stability. Microbial population and soil enzymes viz., dehydrogenase, urease, acid phosphatase and aryl-sulphatase were determined in the long-term fertilizer and compost applied paddy soil. Soil samples were collected from the four treatments (control, compost, NPK and compost+NPK). Long-term NPK+compost application significantly increased activities of urease, dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase than all other treatments. The compost application enhanced activities of urease, dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase than the NPK application. However, arylsulfatase activity was not significantly different between compost and fertilizer application. The highest microbial population was recorded in the NPK+compost treatment. The compost application also resulted in higher microbial population than the NPK application. The above results indicate that ecological stability could be maintained by application of compost alone or with NPK.