Table 1.

Characteristics and initial fertility of the experimental soil and methodologies followed for determination of soil quality.

Particulars	Characters/Value	Status	Methodology	References
Texture	Sandy loam	-	Hydrometer method	[21]
pH	5.65	Acidic	Determined by pH meter in 1:2.5 ratio of soil–water suspension	[22]
Electrical conductivity (EC) (dS m−1)	0.26	-	Solubridge method	[22]
Organic carbon (%)	0.35	Low	Walkley and Black method	[22]
Available nitrogen (kg ha−1)	230.0	Low	Alkaline permanganate method	[23]
Available phosphorous (kg ha−1)	11.2	Low	Bray’s method	[24]
Available potassium (kg ha−1)	125.2	Medium	Flame photometer method	[25]
Zinc (mg kg−1)	0.22	Low	Diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) extractable Zn determination by Atomic Absorption spectroscopy (AAS)	[26]
Sulphur (kg ha−1)	10.5	Low	Turbidimetric Method	[27]