## 4 Discussion
Under the mentioned conditions, due to the unsuitable physical conditions, water retention capacity in the soil was very low, and a small part of the provided water from rainfall or irrigation could penetrate into the effective depth of the soil, and most of the water was either runoff from the plant surface or temporarily stored in the surface layers and evaporated from the soil immediately. The application of FYM by reducing bulk density, and increasing porosity, water infiltration rate, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and other factors improved the capillary water holding capacity. The improvement of permeability, increased water holding capacity in the soil, and reduced evaporation were among the factors contributing to the improvement of water content in these conditions. The volume of moisture stored in the soil is a function of total precipitation, which was, as a matter of fact, higher in the second year than in the first year. The observed outcome was possibly a result of the cumulative effect of FYM. Moreover, a comparison between the two tillage systems showed significant differences, with the RT system exhibiting the maximum moisture content. These results further confirmed those of Zibilske and Bradford [39]. The subplot subjected to chemical fertilization showed the minimum soil moisture, possibly due to promoted foliage growth and accelerated moisture depletion through transpiration. As another observation, CT was often seen to increase soil temperature. The relatively high soil moisture-OM content correlation coefficient could be explained by these factors (\(r\) = 0.91 and 0.88; Table 3). Also, an increase in soil moisture was recorded for the second year. In this regard, some previous studies also suggested that inorganic fertilization can indirectly increase SOM by improving the root biomass compared to control plots [34; 35]. Irrespective of the applied tillage system, the minimum OM contents were observed either without using any fertilizer or upon using chemical fertilization. Indeed, despite the original presumption that chemical fertilizers can contribute to increased soil OM by promoting root development by extending the population of microorganisms, our results showed the non-sustainability and insignificance of this mentioned assumption in the studied semi-arid region. Hence, taking into account the specific set of dominant conditions across semi-arid areas, such as high temperature, low rainfall, and inadequate straw return, chemical fertilizers may fail to enhance SOM appropriately. For most part, the soil surface exhibits the highest nutrient content, with the content degrading upon moving to further depths. This is because nutrients are commonly applied at the surface where crop residues also decay. Rainfall is thought to accelerate the loss of residual N. However, the gradual release of elements from FYM largely inhibits the losses, such that high levels of N can be preserved by applying FYM. The higher amount of N in plots receiving NPK was due to faster N release from urea, which enabled maximum N availability only up to 30 days, coinciding with the stem elongation stage. In addition to NPK, FYM also supplied appropriate quantities of N, P, K, Mn, Zn, and Fe, thus conferring a distinctive advantage in terms of the continued balanced supply of major and micro-nutrients for a prolonged period, thereby mitigating the chance of nutrient stress. An adequate supply of N and other nutrients through FYM was the main reason for their better performance. The difference in P content between the tillage systems could be attributed to corresponding differences in the physicochemical properties and moisture content of soil. It is advantageous to compare this figure to that presented by [PERSON] et al. [40], who suggested a reduction in P content with soil disturbance in CT. The highest root depth was recorded for CT.