Optimizing Soil Fertility and Tomato Yield Through Different Tillage Intensities and Organic Manure Management

Intensive tillage practices significantly affect both soil health indicators and crop yields. Sound crop management strategies, especially conservation tillage and organic matter management, are crucial for maintaining sustainable soil health and crop production. This study assessed the impacts of various tillage techniques and organic amendments with chemical fertilizers on the soil fertility and productivity of tomatoes. This was a field experiment with the following treatments: (i) tillage intensities ( T ₁  = no tillage, T ₂  = minimum tillage, and T ₃  = conventional tillage) as factor A and (ii) nutrient‐management practices ( F ₁  = Control, F ₂  = Cowdung at 3 t ha ⁻¹  + Recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (RDFs), F ₃  = Poultry manure at 3 t ha ⁻¹  + RDF and F ₄  = Biochar @ 3 t ha ⁻¹  + RDF) as factor B. The findings of this study showed that various tillage methods and nutrient‐management have a significant impact on tomato growth, yield, and physicochemical properties of soil. A remarkably higher number of fruits plant ⁻¹ , fruit plot ⁻¹ and fruit yield was found in the T ₂ F ₃ and T ₂ F ₄ treatments than in the control treatment. Furthermore, T ₂ F ₄ was also found to produce 71.5% greater biomass yield than conventional tillage without organic amendment and RDFs ( T ₃ F ₁ ). Minimum tillage with biochar plus RDF ( T ₂ F ₄ ) resulted in 56.6% higher soil moisture content compared to the control. The T ₂ F ₄ treatment also contributed to increased soil total nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, organic carbon (OC), and organic matter contents (6.06%, 32.9%, 38.1%, 31.72%, and 31.68% respectively higher than control). The findings of this research suggest that minimum tillage incorporating biochar with RDF improves physicochemical characteristics of soil and increases tomato yield.