haryana journal of agronomyharyanaagronomists.org/downloads/files/n53d8e46048896.pdf · haryana...

HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMYVolume 24 June & December 2008 No. 1 & 2

CONTENTS

1-3

4-6

7-8

9-11

12-15

16-18

19-22

23-25

26-30

31-33

34-36

37-38

39-41

42-46

47-50

51-54

55-58

59-61

Effect of different sources of nutrients on yield and economics of Chandrasoor (Lepidium sativum L.)–R. K. Sharma and Namrata Jain

Effect of different sources of plant nutrients on productivity of coriander (Coriandrum sativum)–R. K. Sharma and Namrata Jain

Effect of biofertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of ricebean (Vigna umbellate L.)–R. S. Karwasra, Anil Kumar and S. K. Sharma

Effect of sowing dates on chickpea cultivars under irrigated conditions of south-west Haryana–Satish Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Virender Malik and V. S. Kadian

Effect of soil solarization on soil properties, growth and yield of groundnut–P. P. Patel, M. M. Patel, D. M. Patel and Manish M. Patel

Effect of planting geometry and age of seedlings on the performance of inbred and hybrid rice undersystem of rice intensification (SRI)–Alok Jain and V. B. Upadhyay

Nutrient management of hybrid rice during boro season under irrigated mid land situation–K. Das, S. Dutta and P. C. Bhagawati

Economics of direct seeded and transplanted rice under different planting methods–Bhagat Singh, R. K. Malik, Ashok Yadav and D. P. Nandal

Evaluation of bensulfuron-methyl alone and as tank-mix with butachlor for weed control in transplantedrice–Dharam Bir Yadav, S. D. Sharma, Ashok Yadav, Roshan Lal and Anil Mehta

Technological training need and interest of the farm women for rice crop cultivation operations in Haryana–Urmila Devi and Shashi Kanta Verma

Suitable methods of sowing and weed management in direct seeded rice–Bhagat Singh, R. K. Malik, Ashok Yadav and D. P. Nandal

Productivity realisation in chickpea through front line demonstrations in south-west Haryana–Ramesh Kumar, Jai Lal Yadav and Sube Singh Yadav

Soil health management through integrated nitrogen management in grain amaranth (Amaranthushypochondriacus L.)–L. J. Desai, M. M. Patel, Manish M. Patel and B. M. Patel

Credit utilization advancement and overdues of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies in Karnatakastate–A. Ashok Pujari, K. S. Suhag, D. P. Malik and K. K. Kundu

Buying behaviour of the farmers regarding cotton seeds in Haryana–Satyavir Singh Dalal and Vinod Kumar Bishnoi

Integrated nutrient management in wheat under rice-wheat cropping system–D. S. Dahiya, S. S. Dahiya, O. P. Lathwal, Ramesh Sharma and R. S. Sheoran

Comparative study of prilled versus granular urea in pearl millet-wheat cropping system–J. P. Singh, V. Phogat and Anoop Singh

Production potential and economics of different cropping systems in semi-arid zone of Haryana underirrigated situations–Pawan Kumar, S. K. Yadav and Manoj Kumar

Published by Dr. R. S. Balyan, Secretary, Haryana Agronomists Association (HAA), Department of Agronomy,CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. Editor-in-Chief : Dr. Jagdev Singh. Printed at SystematicPrinters, Udaipurian Street, Near Video Market, Hisar, Ph.: (O) 01662-230467, (M) 92552-26559,92551-31387 (31 December, 2008)

Site specific nutrient management in pearl millet-wheat cropping system–J. P. Singh, V. Phogat and Anoop Singh

Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline water for sustaining the productivity of Indian mustard (Brassicajuncea)–Satyavan, V. Phogat, S. K. Sharma and Sanjay Kumar

Assessment of front line demonstrations on mustard in south-western region of Haryana–L. K. Midha, V. S. Rana, A. C. Malik and Ramesh Vasisht

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

Effect of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on yield and nutrient uptake by onion–B. L. Yadav and Rajni Gumber

Weed growth, yield and economics of transplanted rabi rice as influenced by different weed managementpractices–C. Subha Lakshmi, M. Venkata Ramana and M. Srinivasa Raju

Weed management studies in zero-tillage maize (Zea mays)–P. Anapurnamma, A. Pratap Kumar Reddy, G. S. Madhu Bindu and M. Sreenivasa Raju

Effect of integrated nutrient management on herbage yield and nutrient uptake of forage sorghum [Sorghumbicolor (L.) Moench]–Abdhesh Kumar, D. S. Rana and R. S. Sheoran

Weed flora associated with Pennisetum typhoides in southern Haryana and their control measures–Suresh Kumar, Mukta Arora and J. S. Yadav

Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on yield and economics of pearl millet–Narender Singh, L. K. Midha, S. K. Thakral and Ramesh Vashist

Nutrient contents and their uptake in hybrid pearl millet as affected by organic and inorganic fertilizers–Vandana, S. S. Pahuja, S. K. Thakral and Anil Kumar

Agronomic management for sustainable production of maize (Zea mays)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) croppingsystem–N. K. Jain, Hari Singh and L. N. Dashora

Effect of phosphorus, sulphur and thiourea on growth, yield attributes and yield of clusterbean [Cyamopsistetragonoloba (L.) Taub.]–Geeta Roat, R. C. Dadheech, N. S. Solanki and H. K. Sumeriya

Effect of integrated weed management on productivity of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]–V. K. Yadav and A. A. Shaikh

Genetic variability and character association in assembled accession of India, China and Australia ofBrassica napus L.–Dhiraj Singh, Rajesh Kumar Arya, Virender Malik, Ram Niwas Sheokand and Phillip Salisbry

Effect of sowing dates on nutrient uptake of mungbean genotypes–Manoj Kumar, O. P. Lathwal and Satish Kumar

Prospect of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Dunal) through integrated nutrient approach under Haryanaconditions–Anil Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, J. S. Hooda and V. K. Madan

Nutrient uptake, residual soil fertility and yield of forage chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) as influenced byvarious sources and levels of nitrogen–D. M. Patel, B. S. Patel, P. P. Patel, G. N. Patel, B. M. Patel, S. M. Patel and B. J. Patel

62-64

65-70

71-73

74-76

77-79

80-81

82-83

84-85

86-87

88-89

90-91

92-94

95-96

97-99

100-101

102-104

105-107

Effect of different sources of nutrients on yield and economics of Chandrasoor(Lepidium sativum L.)

R. K. SHARMA AND NAMRATA JAINCollege of Agriculture, Kundeshwar, Tikamgarh-472 001, India

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted during 2004-05 and 2005-06 at College of Agriculture, Kundeshwar, Tikamgarhon clay loam soil to study the effect of organic, inorganic and biofertilizer sources of nutrients on growth, yield andeconomics of Chandrasoor. The seed yield was singificantly higher with integrated use of 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha (18.34 q/ha) as compared to recommended dose of fertilizers (NPK 40 :40 : 20 kg/ha) alone or in combination with either Azotobactor or PSB biofertilizers. Net returns were recorded highestunder 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha (Rs. 28,659/ha).

Key words : Azotobactor, FYM, NPK, PSB, yield and yield attributes

INTRODUCTION

Chandrasoor (Lepidium sativum L.) being a rabimedicinal crop known as Chansur, Halim and Asariyabelongs to family Cruciferae. Cinaptic and Cinapic acidsare found in seed. Its seeds are used for pre- and post-partum problems in women, cure eye diseases, anti-asthematic, blood piles, antibiotic, diuretic and increasechild growth. Green leaves are used as salad andvegetables. It is mainly cultivated in U. P., Rajasthan,Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh successfullyat industrial level. It is grown in poor land with lowavailability of irrigation water facilities. Being a medicinalplant, it is imperative to reduce the use of chemicalfertilizers for improving the quality of medicine as wellas environmental security by use of organic sources ofnutrients (Bhatia et al., 2002). Therefore, the presentstudy was carried out to assess optimum level and sourceof nutrients to achieve higher grain yield and economicsof Chandrasoor.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was carried out during rabi seasonsof 2004-05 and 2005-06 under irrigated conditions atCollege of Agriculture, Tikamgarh. The experiment waslaid out in randomized block design replicated three timeswith 10 treatments viz., control (no manures &fertilizers), recommended dose of fertilizers NPK @ 40: 40 : 20 kg/ha, Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha, FYM @ 5 t/ha, PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM@ 5 t/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+Azotobacter @

2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB@ 2.5 kg/ha and 50% NPK through fertilizers+Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha. The cropwas sown using seed rate of 8 kg/ha with row to rowspacing of 30 cm. Two irrigations were applied at 15and 40 DAS. The soil of the experimental field was clayloam in texture, medium in available N (165 kg/ha),available P (12.3 kg/ha) and high in available K (443 kg/ha). The crop was sown on 24 and 26 November during2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively. The economics ofall the treatments taking into account all the componentsof cost of cultivation was calculated on the basis ofpooled data of two years.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Plant height and number of branches weresignificantly influenced by various treatments (Table 1).Significantly higher plant height of 114.4 cm was observedwith 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB@ 2.5 kg/ha followed by 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha (113.7 cm).

The number of branches was significantlyhigher under 50% NPK through fertilizer+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha (11.3) followed by 50% NPKthrough fertilizer+FYM @ 5 t/ha (10.9) and it was at parwith 50% NPK through fertilizer+Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha (10.3). Number of pods per plantand number of seeds per pod also followed the sametrend as plant height and number of branches per plant.The increase in these growth and yield attributes was

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 1-3 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Effe

ct o

f ino

rgan

ic fe

rtiliz

ers,

orga

nic

man

ures

and

bio

ferti

lizer

s on

plan

t gro

wth,

yie

ld a

ttrib

utes

, yie

ld a

nd e

cono

mic

s of C

hand

raso

or

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

No.

of

No.

of

No.

of

Seed

yie

ld (q

/ha)

Gro

ssC

ost o

fN

etB

: C

heig

htbr

anch

es/

caps

ules

/se

eds/

retu

rns

culti

vatio

nre

turn

sra

tio(c

m)

plan

tpl

ant

pod

2004

-05

2005

-06

Mea

n(R

s./ha

)(R

s./ha

)(R

s./ha

)

Con

trol

102.

47.

825

2.5

1.13

11.9

611

.76

11.8

623

755

6000

1775

53.

96R

D @

40

: 40

: 20

kg N

PK/h

a11

0.9

9.3

302.

11.

4715

.06

15.5

115

.29

3057

072

2223

348

4.23

Azot

obac

tor @

2.5

kg/

ha10

2.9

8.0

266.

81.

3313

.03

12.5

612

.80

2559

062

0019

390

4.13

FYM

@ 5

t/ha

113.

39.

130

4.1

1.60

14.8

315

.35

15.0

930

215

7000

2321

54.

32PS

B @

2.5

kg/

ha11

2.1

8.9

286.

71.

5314

.76

14.5

514

.66

2931

062

0023

110

4.73

50%

che

m.+

FYM

5 t/

ha11

3.2

10.9

332.

71.

7316

.50

18.3

417

.42

3484

076

1129

229

4.58

50%

chem

.+Az

otob

acto

r 2.5

kg/

ha11

3.7

9.5

305.

61.

5315

.53

15.8

515

.58

3115

078

1123

339

3.99

50%

chem

.+PS

B 2

.5 k

g/ha

113.

39.

731

0.1

1.53

15.7

816

.09

15.9

431

920

7811

2410

94.

0950

% c

hem

.+FY

M 5

t/ha

+PSB

2.5

kg/

ha11

4.4

11.3

341.

31.

8018

.42

19.4

518

.34

3667

080

1128

659

4.58

50%

chem

.+Az

otob

acto

r 2.5

kg/

ha+

108.

510

.331

1.7

1.60

16.3

816

.45

16.4

232

830

8011

2481

94.

10PS

B 2

.5 k

g/ha

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)5.

80.

713

.00.

220.

901.

21-

--

--

2 Sharma and Jain

the result of continuous supply of nutrients when organicand inorganic sources of nutrients were integrated.

Yield performance of Chandrasoor variedsignificantly with different sources of nutrients (Table1). The higher seed yield was significantly recorded in50% NPK through fertilizer+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB 2.5kg/ha (18.42 and 19.45 q/ha) followed by 50% NPKthrough fertilizer+FYM @ 5 t/ha (16.50 and 18.34 q/ha)over all the treatments during both the years. Increase inyield of Chandrasoor through organic sources of nutrientswas also reported by Sharma and Maheshwari (2003).Recommended dose of fertilizer @ 40 : 40 : 20 kg NPK/ha recorded significantly higher yield (15.06 and 15.51q/ha) over control (11.96 and 11.76 q/ha) and was at parwith the application of 50% NPK through fertilizers incombination with either Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha or PSB@ 2.5 kg/ha during both the years.

The highest gross (Rs. 36670/ha) and netmonetary returns (Rs. 28659/ha) were recorded withthe application of 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha.

REFERENCES

Bhatia, N. L., Jaswal, R. and Bhatia, Priyam (2002). Organicfarming ensures quality food and environmental security.Extended Summary. 2nd International AgronomyCongress, Nov. 26-30, 2002 New Delhi, India. pp. 508.

Sharma, R. K. and Maheshwari, S. K. (2003). To study theeffect of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients onyield and economics of a rabi medicinal crop Chandrasoor(Lepidium sativum L.). Annual report of medicinal andaromatic plants project, COA, Indore. pp. 26.

Haryana Journal of Agronomy 3

Effect of different sources of plant nutrients on productivity of coriander(Coriandrum sativum)

R. K. SHARMA AND NAMRATA JAINCollege of Agriculture, Kundeshwar, Tikamgarh-472 001, India

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted during 2004-05 and 2005-06 on clay loam soil at Tikamgarh to study theeffect of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers on growth, yield and economics of coriander. Amongthe 10 treatments viz., control (no manure & fertilizers), recommended dose of fertilizer NPK @ 40 : 30 : 20 kg/ha,Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha, FYM @ 5 t/ha, PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha, 50% NPKthrough fertilizers+Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha, 50% NPK through fertilizers+Azotobactor @ 2.5 kg/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha applied to coriander crop, the seed yield was significantly higher with integrated use of 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM+PSB (16.09 q/ha) followed by 50% NPK+FYM (14.06 q/ha) as compared to inorganic fertilizersalone or in combination with biofertilizers. The highest gross and net returns were also obtained with the applicationof 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM+PSB.

Key words : Azotobactor, FYM, NPK, PSB, yield and yield attributes

INTRODUCTION

India is the largest producer of coriander in theworld. It occupies an area of 484.5 thousand hectareswith production of 243 thousand tonnes. The crop hasmultiple uses and export value. The area and productionof coriander have increased 2.5 and 3.0 times,respectively, in Madhya Pradesh during last decade butproductivity is still low (Tripathi et al., 2002). Thus, forhigher productivity, it is essential to use the suitablepackage of practices, which includes the use of inorganicand organic nutrient sources. Intensive agriculture andcontinuous exploitation of macronutrients have led toheavy removal of micronutrients resulting in deteriorationof soil health and ultimately reduction in crop yield inspiteof the improvement in crop production technology.Organic manures have great significance in maintainingthe soil health and ultimately the soil productivity. Unlikethe other crops, coriander can grow and produce wellonly when it receives an adequate and balanced supplyof macro and micronutrients integrated with the organics.Hence, the present experiment was planned to asses theeffect of chemical fertilizers, organic manures andbiofertilizers on growth, yield and economics of coriander.


The study was carried out during rabi seasonof 2004-05 and 2005-06 in irrigated conditions on

coriander at College of Agriculture Farm, Tikamgarh.The experiment was laid out in randomized block designreplicated three times with 10 treatments (Table 1).Variety JD-1 was sown with seed rate of 30 kg/ha androw to row spacing of 30 cm. Soil of the experimentalfield was clay loam in texture, medium in available N(165 kg/ha), available P (12.3 kg/ha) and high in availableK (443 kg/ha).

Growth and yield attributes viz., plant height,number of branches per plant, number of umbels perplant and number of seeds per umbel were recorded at60 days after sowing. The plot-wise seed yield wasrecorded at final harvest during both the years. Theeconomics of all the treatments taking into account allthe components of cost of cultivation was calculated onthe basis of pooled data of two years to judge theirprofitability.


Growth and Yield Attributes

Plant height and branches were significantlyinfluenced by various treatments (Table 1). Tallest plantsof 113.7 cm were observed with 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha followed by50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM 5 t/ha (113.3 cm).Significantly higher number of branches was recordedwith the application of 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 4-6 (2008)

Tabl

e 1. E

ffect

of d

iffer

ent s

ourc

es o

f fer

tilize

rs o

n pl

ant g

rowt

h, yi

eld

attri

bute

s, yi

eld

and

econ

omic

s of c

oria

nder

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

No.

of

No.

of

No.

of

Seed

yie

ld (q

/ha)

Gro

ssC

ost o

fN

etB

: C

heig

htbr

anch

es/

umbe

ls/se

eds/

retu

rns

culti

vatio

nre

turn

sra

tio(c

m)

plan

tpl

ant

umbe

l20

04-0

520

05-0

6M

ean

(Rs./

ha)

(Rs./

ha)

(Rs./

ha)

Con

trol (

No

man

ures

& fe

rtiliz

ers)

94.6

3.9

19.7

13.8

7.29

7.33

7.31

21,9

306,

000

15,9

303.

66R

ecom

men

ded

dose

of N

PK @

108.

74.

722

.517

.95.

5610

.17

9.87

29,5

957,

434

22,1

613.

9840

: 30

: 20

kg/

haAz

otob

acto

r @ 2

.5 k

g/ha

102.

74.

420

.914

.77.

777.

937.

8523

,550

6,20

017

,350

3.80

FYM

@ 5

t/ha

107.

14.

721

.617

.39.

449.

729.

5828

,740

7,00

021

,740

4.11

PSB

@ 2

.5 k

g/ha

106.

34.

321

.116

.58.

618.

978.

7926

,295

6,20

020

,095

4.24

50%

NPK

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+FY

M11

3.3

5.5

25.3

18.9

13.5

114

.60

14.0

642

,165

7,71

734

,448

5.46

@ 5

t/ha

50%

NPK

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+10

8.6

4.8

22.9

17.2

11.2

411

.72

11.4

834

,440

7,91

726

,523

4.35

Azot

obac

tor @

2.5

kg/

ha50

% N

PK th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers+

PSB

108.

85.

123

.917

.312

.20

13.5

512

.88

38,6

257,

917

30,7

084.

88@

2.5

kg/

ha50

% N

PK th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers+

FYM

113.

75.

625

.619

.116

.02

16.1

516

.09

48,2

558,

117

40,1

385.

94@

5 t/

ha+P

SB 2

.5 k

g/ha

50%

NPK

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+10

9.2

5.1

24.7

18.5

13.3

913

.77

13.5

840

,740

8,11

732

,623

5.02

Azot

obac

tor @

2.5

kg/

ha+P

SB@

2.5

kg/

haC

. D. (

P=0.

05)

3.9

0.4

1.6

0.9

0.50

0.62

--

--

-


5 t/ha+PSB 2.5 kg/ha (5.6) followed by 50% NPKthrough chemical fertilizers+FYM 5 t/ha (5.5) and it wasat par with 50% NPK through fertilizers+Azotobactor2.5 kg/ha+PSB 2.5 kg/ha (5.1). Number of umbels perplant and number of seeds per umbel also followed thesame trend as plant height and number of branches perplant. The increase in these growth and yield attributeswas the result of continuous supply of nutrients fromconjunctive use of organic and inorganic sources ofnutrients.

Yield

Yield performance of coriander variedsignificantly with different nutrients managementtreatments (Table 1). Significantly higher seed yield wasrecorded with the application of 50% NPK throughfertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha (16.02 and16.15 kg/ha) during both the years. The response of50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha was alsofound superior to the recommended dose of fertilizersand other treatments during both the years. These resultsare in conformity with those of Jain and Sharma (2000)and Deshveer et al. (2000). Lowest seed yield of 7.29and 7.33 kg/ha was recorded in control treatment during2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively.

Economics

The highest gross (Rs. 48,255/ha) and netmonetary returns (Rs. 40,138/ha) were obtained withthe application of 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha. Application of 50% NPKthrough fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha+PSB @ 2.5 kg/ha wasfound more remunerative with higher B : C ratio (5.94)followed by 50% NPK through fertilizers+FYM @ 5 t/ha (5.46).

REFERENCES

Deshveer, C. L., Mali, G. C. and Sharma, G. S. (2000). Effect ofpartial substitution of inorganic fertilizers by organicmanure (FYM) on the productivity of wheat grown invertisols of Kota. Extended Summary. InternationalConference on Managing Natural Resources, February,14-18, 2000, New Delhi, India. pp. 1674-75.

Jain, N. K. and Sharma, P. P. (2000). Integrated nutrientmanagement in mustard. J. Oilseed Res. 17 : 127-29.

Tripathi, M. L., Kushwaha, H. S. and Singh, V. B. (2002).Response of coriander to fertilizers. Extended Summary.2nd International Agronomy Congress, November 26-30, 2002, New Delhi, Inida. pp. 308-09.

6 Sharma and Jain

Effect of biofertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of ricebean(Vigna umbellate L.)

R. S. KARWASRA, ANIL KUMAR AND S. K. SHARMAMA & UUP Section, Department of Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of biofertilizers and chemical fertilizers rhizobium (Rh),phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB), applied alone and in combinations on growth and yield of ricebean (Vignaumbellate L.) variety RBL-6. The results revealed that with 50% of recommended dose of NP coupled with rhizobiumplus phosphate solubilizing bacteria increased the plant height, pod length, pods per plant, grains per pod and seedyield significantly as compared to recommended dose of nutrients applied through chemical fertilizers.

Key words : Ricebean, biofertilizers, yield attributes, yield

INTRODUCTION

Pulse production can be greatly increased to 50-100% by popularizing some non-conventional pulse cropswith improved production technology. Ricebean, a non-conventional grain legume, has high production potential.In India, its cultivation is confined to a limited area. Itsproduction can be increased to a greater extent by usingbalanced nutrient application. Chemical fertilizers besidesbeing costly do not support optimum microbial activities.Beneficial effects due to presence of some micro-organisms make the soils a living and active systemthereby leading to enhanced productivity of crops. Thesemicrobes play a significant role in the life cycle of plantsthrough number of processes such as decomposition,solubilization, fixation and supply of plant nutrients. Inview of the above facts, the present study was plannedto find out the effect of combined use of chemical andbiofertilizers on the growth and yield of ricebean (Vignaumbellate L.).


A field experiment was conducted at ResearchFarm of Medicinal, Aromatic and Under-Utilized PlantsSection of Department of Plant Breeding, ChaudharyCharan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisarduring the kharif seasons of 2006 and 2007. The soil ofthe experimental field was sandy loam in texture with pH8.0, low in available N, P2O5 and K2O with 134, 8.6 and360 kg/ha, respectively. Twelve treatment combinationscomprising control, recommended dose of fertilizers(RDF) (N20P40 kg/ha), Rhizobium culture, phosphorus

solubilizing bacteria (PSB) (3 kg/ha), 50% RDF+Rhizobium, 50% RDF+PSB, 100% RDF+Rhizobium,100% RDF+PSB, Rhizobium+PSB, 50% RDF+Rhizobium+PSB, 75% RDF+Rhizobium+PSB and 100%RDF+Rhizobium+PSB. The experiment was laid out inrandomized block design with three replications havingindividual plot size of 4.5 x 3.0 sq. m. Ricebean varietyRBL-6 with seed rate of 15 kg/ha was sown in the rowsof 30 cm apart. Sowing of crop was done on June 27,2006 and 2007 in kharif season. Five plants wererandomly selected for recording growth observations.


Application of Rhizobium culture andphosphorus solubilizing bacteria in combination with 50%of N and P significantly increased plant height, pod length(cm) over control and chemical fertilizer alone (Table1). This emphasized that at least 50% economy onfertilizer use could be affected through conjunctive useof biofertilizer alongwith half recommended level offertilizer nutrients. Similar work on the influence ofbiofertilizers on different crops has been reported byShroff et al. (1995) and Patel et al. (1998). As regardsthe yield and its contributory characters, the applicationof Rhizobium+phosphorus solubilizing bacteria incombination with 50% N and P boosted number of podsper plant, number of seeds per pod and ultimately seedyield/ha over control as well as recommended dose ofchemical fertilizers (N20 : P40 kg/ha). This may be due tothe fact that Rhizobium inoculation is very effective inharnessing atmospheric nitrogen for improving nitrogenstatus of the soil. The higher seed yield obtained due to

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 7-8 (2008)

application of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria withRhizobium over control by solubilizing the unavailablenutrients to the plants favourably increased the yield andits contributing characters. The results are in conformitywith the findings of Dubey and Shrivastava (1991). Itwas concluded that combined use of biofertilizers(Rhizobium and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria) andchemical fertilizers increased production of ricebean andsaved 50% of chemical fertilizers i. e. N and P.

REFERENCES

Dubey, S. K. and Shrivastava, S. K. (1991). Response of soybean

to microbial inoculants. Bhartiya Krishi AnusandhanPatrica 6 : 202-06.

Patel, T. S., Katare, D. S., Khosla, H. K. and Dubey, S. (1998).Effect of biofertilizers and chemical fertilizers on growthand yield of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.). Crop Res.15 : 54-56.

Shroff, V. N., Khosla, H. K., Roy, N. and Dabholkar, A. R.(1995). Integrated plant nutrient management and use ofbiofertilizers for coarse millets, pulse and oilseeds. Paperpresented in the Workshop on Crop ProductionManagement Coarse Cereals Based Cropping System.Organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation,Government of India, New Delhi on 22 February, 1995.

Table 1. Growth, yield and yield attributes of ricebean crop as affected by different bio and chemical fertilizers (Pooled data of two years)

Treatment Plant height Pod length No. of pods/ No. of seeds/ Seed yield(cm) (cm) plant pod (q/ha)

Control 103.8 6.9 72.0 7.1 11.8Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) (N20 : P40 kg/ha) 113.6 7.9 85.3 7.5 17.4Rhizobium culture 108.1 7.4 83.5 7.4 14.9Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) 107.2 7.3 82.3 7.3 14.150% RDF+Rhizobium 112.0 7.5 85.0 7.6 16.850% RDF+PSB 110.6 7.5 84.7 7.5 16.1100% RDF+Rhizobium 118.3 7.9 92.2 7.8 17.4100% RDF+PSB 118.2 7.8 91.8 7.7 17.2PSB+Rhizobium 110.2 7.5 85.0 7.6 15.650% RDF+PSB+Rhizobium 117.8 7.6 91.0 7.8 19.375% RDF+PSB+Rhizobium 117.7 7.8 90.3 7.6 19.4100% RDF+PSB+Rhizobium 119.1 8.0 92.2 7.8 20.7C. D. (P=0.05) 3.9 0.4 5.4 0.3 1.8

8 Karwasra, Kumar and Sharma

Effect of sowing dates on chickpea cultivars under irrigated conditions ofsouth-west Haryana

SATISH KUMAR, RAKESH KUMAR, VIRENDER MALIK AND V. S. KADIANDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

A field study was carried out during rabi 2005-06 and 2006-07 in Pulses Research Area of CCSHAU, Hisarto find out the production potential of chickpea genotypes viz., HC-1, HC-3, HC-5, PBG-1 and BG-372 underdifferent dates of sowing in late sown conditions i. e. November 25, December 2, December 9 and December 16.Results showed that sowing beyond December 2 reduced the grain yield and yield attributes drastically. The decreasewas to the tune of 6.11 and 15.41% during 2005-06 and 15.67 and 31.73% during 2006-07 in December 9 andDecember 16 sowing compared to December 2 sowing, respectively. Chickpea variety HC-1 recorded significantlyhigher grain yield as compared to HC-3 and PBG-1 during both the years of study but it was found statistically at parwith HC-5 and BG-372.

Key words : Chickpea, sowing dates, genotypes

INTRODUCTION

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an important rabiseason pulse crop of Haryana. Most of the area ofchickpea is confined to rainfed conditions but with thedevelopment of high yielding input responsive varietiesthe crop can be cultivated under irrigated conditions also.In North West Plain Zone, the sowing of chickpea incotton-chickpea and rice-chickpea crop rotationsbecomes late due to delay in harvesting of precedingcrop. Under such situation, sowing time, which is a non-monetary input, plays an important role in deciding theproductivity of chickpea. The late sowing leads toreduction in the yield; however, this variation can beminimized by sowing a genotype which has relativelyless reduction under late sown condition. The reductionin yield with delayed sowing has been reported by Siag(2003) and Sheoran et al. (2008). Therefore, theexperiment was carried out to study the relativeperformance of different chickpea genotypes underdifferent sowing dates in late sown condition.


The experiment was laid out during rabi 2005-06 and 2006-07 in Pulses Research Area of CCSHAU,Hisar to find out the production potential of chickpeagenotypes to dates of sowing. The experiment was laidout in split plot design having sowing dates (November25, December 2, December 9 and December16) in main

plot and genotypes (HC-1, HC-3, HC-5, PBG-1 and BG-372) in sub-plots. Genotype BG-372 was included in thesecond year to study due to non-availability of seed duringfirst year. The crop was sown at 25 cm row spacingafter pre-sowing irrigation. The crop was fertilized with20 kg N+40 kg P2O5/ha as a basal dose. The soil of theexperimental field was sandy loam in texture having pH8.2. The soil was low in available nitrogen, medium inavailable phosphorus and high in available potash. Therainfall received during the crop season was 181.3 and142 mm during 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively.


Effect of Sowing Dates

In general, there was reduction in the plantheight, pods/plant, grains/pod and 100-grain weight withthe delay in sowing from November 25 to December 16(Table 1). Based on the two years’ average, crop sownon November 25 and December 2 produced the yieldstatistically at par with each other. The non-significantdifference in the grain yield may be due to the non-significant difference in the number of pods, grains perpod and 100-grain weight in these sowing dates. Sowingof chickpea beyond December 2 resulted in significantdecrease in the yield of chickpea. The decrease was tothe tune of 6.11 and 15.41% during 2005-06 and 15.67and 31.73% during 2006-07 in December 9 and 16sowings, respectively (Table 2). The decrease in yield

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 9-11 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Effe

ct o

f sow

ing

date

s on

yiel

d an

d yi

eld

attri

bute

s of c

hick

pea

varie

ties

Trea

tmen

tPo

ds/p

lant

Gra

ins/

pod

100-

grai

n w

eigh

t (g)

Gra

in y

ield

(kg/

ha)

2005

2006

Mea

n20

0520

06M

ean

2005

2006

Mea

n20

0520

06M

ean

Sow

ing

date

sN

ovem

ber 2

532

.50

42.8

637

.68

1.48

1.44

1.46

17.7

916

.87

17.3

315

1819

8317

50D

ecem

ber 2

35.0

640

.00

37.5

31.

431.

421.

4317

.51

16.5

517

.03

1570

1818

1694

Dec

embe

r 930

.92

36.9

333

.92

1.45

1.46

1.46

16.7

115

.21

15.9

614

7415

3315

03D

ecem

ber 1

630

.01

34.5

832

.29

1.36

1.35

1.36

16.4

414

.67

15.5

513

3812

4112

89C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

2.11

3.67

2.89

NS

NS

NS

0.98

0.77

0.87

136

152

144

Vari

etie

sH

C 1

32.1

642

.22

37.1

91.

421.

371.

4013

.08

12.9

213

.00

1822

1764

1793

HC

319

.94

30.6

325

.28

1.20

1.13

1.17

27.8

327

.54

27.6

812

1714

9913

58H

C 5

35.5

639

.82

37.6

91.

271.

171.

2215

.71

15.5

615

.63

1819

1653

1736

PBG

140

.82

34.7

237

.77

1.85

1.63

1.74

11.8

311

.37

11.6

010

4215

7313

08B

G 3

72-

45.5

545

.55

-1.

801.

80-

11.4

711

.47

-17

3017

30C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

1.88

4.09

2.98

0.18

0.19

0.19

0.93

0.51

0.72

114

145

130

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.

10 Kumar, Kumar, Malik and Kadian

was attributed to the significant decrease in yield attributesviz., pods/plant, grains/pod and 100-grain weight.December 16 sown crop produced the shortest plantsand lower values of yield attributes which ultimatelycontributed to the lowest grain yield in this sowing date.These findings are in conformity with those ofShrivastava et. al. (1990) and Kumar et al. (2003).

Performance of Varieties

Chickpea variety HC-1 recorded significantlyhigher grain yield as compared to HC-3 and PBG-1 duringboth the years of study but it was found statistically atpar with HC-5 and BG-372 (Table 1). Due to seasonalvariation, PBG-1 produced statistically similar grain yieldduring 2006, whereas it produced significantly lowergrain yield during 2005. The lower grain yield of PBG-1during 2005 was due to the more incidence of wilt inthis variety as compared to rest of the varieties.Significantly higher 100-seed weight of HC-3 indicatingthe bolder seed size failed to compensate the grain yieldlosses being the lower number of pods per plant. Singhand Singh (1988) also observed less number of pods perplant in bold seeded chickpea than small seeded cultivars.

The chickpea varieties, HC-3 and HC-5 producedthe taller plants as compared to HC-1, PBG-1 and BG-372 (Table 1). Varietal variation in the yield attributeswas also recorded. During 2005, PBG-1 produced thehighest number of pods/plant, whereas during 2006-07

BG-372 produced the higher number of pods/plantfollowed by HC-1. HC-3 and HC-5 produced significantlylower number of grains per pod. PBG-1 and BG-372produced the smaller grains as compared to rest of thevarieties. HC-3 produced significantly bolder seeds amongall the varieties as is evident from significantly higher100-grain weight.

REFERENCES

Kumar, M., Singh, R. C., Kumar, Rakesh and Singh, Sanjiv(2003). Effect of date of sowing and row spacing on theperformance of chickpea genotypes. Haryana J. Agron.19 : 140-41.

Sheoran, P., Sardana, V. and Singh, Sukhvinder (2008). Effectof sowing dates and seed rates on productivity of chickpeacultivars under dryland conditions in Shiwalik foot hillsof Punjab. J. Food Legume 21 : 43-45.

Shrivastava, S. K., Singh, R. and Chandrawanshi, B. R. (1990).Response of chickpea cultivars under different dates ofsowing in Chhattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh. Int.Chickpea Newsl. 23 : 26-27.

Siag, R. K. (2003). Effect of planting dates and row spacings ongrowth and yield of late sown chickpea cultivars.Haryana J. Agron. 19 : 145-47.

Singh, R. C. and Singh, M. (1988). Studies on the spacing andseed rate of small and bold seeded gram varieties underrainfed conditions. Haryana J. Agron. 4 : 28-30.


Effect of soil solarization on soil properties, growth and yield of groundnutP. P. PATEL, M. M. PATEL, D. M. PATEL AND MANISH M. PATEL

Department of Agronomy, S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar-385 506, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at Agronomy Instructional Farm, C. P. College of Agriculture,Sardarkrushinagar to study the effect of soil solarization on soil properties, growth and yield of groundnut duringsummer/kharif seasons of 2003-04 and 2004-05. Soil solarization with TPE 0.025 mm for 45 days raised soiltemperature to an extent of 10.6 0C and 8.6 0C over non-solarized treatment at 5 and 10 cm depth of soil,respectively. This treatment also improved the content of available N, P2O5 and K2O, whereas organic carbon andsulphur was decreased. A decrease in fungal, bacterial and actinomycetes population was observed under all soilsolarization but more reduction was noted under just after soil solarization under TPE 0.025 mm for 45 days.Maximum plant height, number of branches, number of pods per plant, total dry matter accumulation and testweight as well as pod and haulm yields were registered where TPE 0.025 mm was kept for 45 days.

Key words : Groundnut, soil solarization, transparent polyethylene, microbes, N, P and K

INTRODUCTION

Soil solarization (SS) is a mulching techniquedeveloped in the seventies by Katan and associates inIsrael, where moist soil is covered by thin transparentpolyethylene film during summer months to trap the heatand disinfest the soil. This hydro-thermal process resultsin elevation of temperature (3 to18°C) to levels that arelethal to many soil-borne pests and often result inincreased plant growth response, even when no majorplant pathogens or pests can be isolated from soil orplant roots (Chen and Katan, 1980). Changes inconcentration of available soil mineral nutrients are oftenobserved following soil disinfestations. Hence, to testthe efficiency and usefulness of this method undertropical condition of India, an experiment was conductedto know the effect of SS on release of mineral nutrientsas well as on growth and yield of groundnut.


Field experiment was conducted at AgronomyInstructional Farm, C. P. College of Agriculture, S. D.Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar duringsummer/kharif seasons of 2003-04 and 2004-05. Theinvestigation comprising two treatments of thicknessesof transparent polyethylene (0.025 and 0.050 mm) andthree durations (15, 30 and 45 days) with weedy check(control) was carried out in randomized block designwith four replications. Plots were irrigated before

spreading of polyethylene sheets to increase thermalconductivity. The TPE sheets were spread on therespective plots as per treatment during summer. Theborders of all solarized plots were heaped carefully withmoist soil to prevent blowing of sheet and also to createair tight condition. Soil temperature record wasmaintained by installing digital thermometer in 5 and 10cm soil depths, observing at 2.40 p. m. once at fivedays interval after spreading TPE sheets. The SS plotswere inspected daily to check the tear up of sheet due tohigh temperature, if any. Soil samples were takenimmediately after removal of TPE upto 15 cm depth atrandom, from each plot with screw auger. Groundnutseeds were sown on June 24, 2003 and July 6, 2004.Soil available nutrients were determined using standardprocedures. Microbial population counts were madefrom all solarized and control plots just after completionof SS.


Effect on Soil Temperature

The soil temperature was 56.6° and 53.3°C with0.025 mm TPE solarized for 35 days, whereas in control(bare) soil it was 46.0°C and 44.7°C at 5 and 10 cmdepth of soil, respectively. It indicates that soil solarizationusing 0.025 mm TPE for a period of 35 days significantlyincreased soil temperature by 10.6° and 8.6°C over thatof bare soil at 5 and 10 cm depth of soil, respectively.

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 12-15 (2008)

Higher soil temperature under the TPEs could beattributed to the ability of transparent sheet to transmitthe short wave solar radiation across the polyethylenefilm and generating heat waves, thus raising soilstemperature eventually. Higher soil temperature underTPEs was also reported by Singh and Yaduraju (2004).

The TPE of 0.025 mm recorded mean soiltemperature of 51.0° and 48.6°C, while in TPE of 0.050mm it was 49.5° and 47.8°C, respectively, at 5 and 10cm soil depth. The higher soil temperature under 0.025mm TPE sheet might be due to favourable properties suchas better radiation transmittance as well as low reflectionand absorption of solar radiation. Higher efficiency ofthin TPE over thick TPE to increase soil temperature wasalso reported by Chen and Katan (1980).

Effect on Soil Properties and Soil Nutrients

A significant change in the status of organiccarbon and in the availability of N, P2O5, K2O and Swas observed in soil due to the thickness of TPEs andduration of soil solarization. An increase of 43.7 kg N,10.8 kg P2O5 and 58.1 kg K2O /ha was observed, which

was to the tune of 29.8, 24.7 and 30.6% over non-solarized control, respectively. The increase in contentof above nutrients could be mainly attributed to the effectof higher soil temperature observed under TPE resultedin faster degradation of organic matter which releaseorganic acids and ultimately increases the solubility ofnutrients. Under plastic film, higher soil moisture (Table1) resulted in solubilizing the nutrients that might havemoved upwards by capillary movement and increase inpH might have made the nutrients available (Haynes,1987). These results are akin to those reported by Chenand Katan (1980). Significant reduction was noted inthe content of organic carbon and sulphur. Soilsolarization for a period of 45 days with 0.025 mmTPE sheet showed significantly lower mean organiccarbon (0.13 %) and sulphur (6.28 ppm) as comparedto control, which was to the tune of 52.0 and 42.6%,respectively. The decrease in organic carbon and S mighthave liberated during the decomposition of organic matterand subjected to transformation process. Further, thelight textured soil might have relatively higher downwardmovement of the nutrients including sulpher towardslower profile leading to less available content as a resultof soil solarization process.

Table 1. Effect of soil solarization on soil properties (Pooled data of two years)

Treatment Soil nutrients content Microbial population per gram of soil

Organic Available Available Available Available Total Bacteria Actinomycetescarbon nitrogen phosphorus potash sulphur fungi (106) (105)

(%) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (ppm) (104)

TPE 0.025 mm 15 days 0.22 166.3 46.3 197.9 8.43 9.50 16.59 6.85TPE 0.025 mm 30 days 0.19 178.3 51.4 211.8 7.49 8.00 16.65 6.65TPE 0.025 mm 45 days 0.13 190.4 54.5 240.0 6.28 7.00 15.65 6.53TPE 0.050 mm 15 days 0.23 164.8 45.9 195.1 10.04 9.59 16.64 6.55TPE 0.050 mm 30 days 0.21 169.6 49.9 210.3 8.98 9.55 16.54 6.30TPE 0.050 mm 45 days 0.18 180.7 51.5 214.5 7.93 7.66 16.73 6.10Weedy check (control) 0.25 146.7 43.7 181.9 10.95 10.25 18.21 7.80LSD (P=0.05) 0.02 11.6 2.3 18.9 0.49 0.48 0.68 0.36

Effect on Microbial Population

Soil solarization under different treatmentsresulted in significant reduction in the population offungal, bacterial and actinomycetes. The reduction inthe case of SS with 0.025 mm TPE was noted to thetune of 31.7, 14.1 and 16.3%, for fungal, bacterial andactinomycetes population, respectively, when assessedjust after SS as compared to control. This was obviouslydue to inactivation of this micro flora as they could not

tolerate the impact of increased soil temperature (Table2). Reduction in fungal population was reported byMudalagiriyappa et al. (1999) and Desai and Dange(2003) to the tune of 68.57, 80.0 and 67.25%,respectively.

Effect on Growth and Yield of Groundnut

SS for longer duration (45 days) recordedsignificantly taller plants, more number of branches per


Tabl

e 3.

Eff

ect o

f soi

l sol

ariz

atio

n on

gro

wth

and

yie

ld o

f gro

undn

ut (P

oole

d da

ta o

f tw

o ye

ars)

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

No.

of

Dry

mat

ter

No.

of

Pod

Test

Roo

t nod

ules

at 9

0 D

AS

Pod

yiel

dH

aulm

heig

htbr

anch

es/

accu

mul

atio

npo

ds/

wei

ght

wei

ght

(q/h

a)yi

eld

(cm

)pl

ant

at h

arve

stpl

ant

(g/p

lant

)(g

)N

umbe

rs/

Dry

wei

ght

(q/h

a)at

har

vest

at h

arve

st(g

/pla

nt)

plan

t(g

/pla

nt)

TPE

0.02

5 m

m 1

5 da

ys45

.25

4.81

32.8

214

.53

13.0

544

.68

113.

80.

1214

.63

25.7

2TP

E 0.

025

mm

30

days

47.9

05.

3037

.87

15.8

814

.20

46.2

511

6.1

0.15

20.2

330

.19

TPE

0.02

5 m

m 4

5 da

ys57

.50

6.36

51.3

322

.24

20.2

355

.00

129.

40.

2427

.68

48.3

9TP

E 0.

050

mm

15

days

44.6

14.

8531

.43

14.6

113

.61

44.0

011

0.2

0.12

14.1

924

.47

TPE

0.05

0 m

m 3

0 da

ys49

.06

5.18

36.0

016

.78

14.2

845

.25

115.

00.

1517

.68

31.6

7TP

E 0.

050

mm

45

days

52.0

35.

7040

.18

17.2

715

.25

48.7

511

9.6

0.18

22.5

239

.47

Wee

dy c

heck

(con

trol)

38.4

63.

8324

.86

10.4

69.

2439

.19

92.9

0.10

10.2

621

.20

LSD

(P=0

.05)

6.51

0.67

4.20

2.50

1.68

3.63

10.7

10.

033.

005.

33

Tabl

e 2.

Soi

l tem

pera

ture

(°C

) at 5

and

10

cm so

il de

pth

as in

fluen

ced

by so

il so

lari

zatio

n tr

eatm

ents

(Poo

led

data

of t

wo

year

s)

Trea

tmen

tSo

il te

mpe

ratu

re (°

C)

5 D

APS

10 D

APS

15 D

APS

20 D

APS

25 D

APS

30 D

APS

35 D

APS

40 D

APS

45 D

APS

Mea

n

510

510

510

510

510

510

510

510

510

510

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

cmcm

TPE

0.02

5 m

m 1

5 da

ys48

.345

.148

.945

.751

.146

.2-

--

--

--

--

--

-49

.445

.7TP

E 0.

025

mm

30

days

49.1

46.4

49.7

46.9

51.3

46.9

51.5

50.6

51.4

51.0

52.9

51.0

--

--

--

50.0

48.8

TPE

0.02

5 m

m 4

5 da

ys49

.748

.150

.248

.552

.348

.753

.651

.653

.252

.855

.253

.156

.653

.355

.153

.155

.852

.653

.551

.3TP

E 0.

050

mm

15

days

46.3

44.7

46.8

45.5

49.8

45.8

--

--

--

--

--

--

47.6

45.3

TPE

0.05

0 m

m 3

0 da

ys46

.645

.946

.746

.650

.346

.850

.149

.550

.850

.451

.950

.7-

--

--

-49

.448

.5TP

E 0.

050

mm

45

days

47.5

46.6

48.2

46.9

50.9

47.3

52.1

50.8

52.0

50.8

52.7

51.4

54.6

52.0

52.7

51.3

53.8

51.1

51.6

49.8

Wee

dy c

heck

(con

trol)

40.8

40.3

39.4

38.5

42.7

38.5

40.9

40.7

42.4

41.9

44.6

42.0

46.0

44.7

42.7

42.0

45.5

42.8

43.1

41.0

LSD

(P=0

.05)

1.1

0.9

1.1

0.8

1.1

0.9

1.2

0.9

1.4

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.4

0.9

1.3

1.0

1.2

1.0

--

DA

PS=D

ays

afte

r po

lyet

hyle

ne s

prea

ding

.TP

E=Tr

ansp

aren

t po

lyet

hyle

ne.

14 Patel, Patel, Patel and Patel

plant and total dry matter accumulation at harvest whichwere 49.5, 66.1 and 106.5% under TPE 0.025 mm for45 days, respectively, over control. This was an additiveeffect of higher dry matter accumulation in leaves, stemand pods as observed in groundnut. These findings arein accordance with those reported by Mudalagiriyappaet al. (1999) and Nanjappa et al. (2005). Significantimprovement in the number and dry weight of rootnodules per plant at 90 DAS was observed under TPE0.025 mm for 45 days compared to control (Table 3),which was to the tune of 39.3 and 140.0%, respectively.An increase in number and weight of root nodules perplant might be due to improvement in plant rootenvironment under solarized plots. Mudalagiriyappa etal. (1999) also reported more weight of root nodules ingroundnut due to soil solarization. Soil solarization hasaltered the plant root environment, which results in bettercrop response in terms of increased growth (Chen andKatan, 1980).

Significantly higher pod and haulm yields ofgroundnut were recorded under soil solarization withTPE 0.025 mm for 45 days (27.68 and 48.49 q/ha) overcontrol (10.26 and 21.20 q/ha), respectively. Thisincrease in pod and haulm yield was 169.8 and 128.2%,respectively. It might be due to an increase in the numberof pods (22.24), pod weight (20.23) and test weight(55.0) which was to the tune of 112.6, 118.9 and 40.3%higher over control (Table 3). This higher yield couldalso be attributed to higher dry matter accumulation as

well as improvement in the availability of plant nutrientsunder soil solarization treatments, which contributedtowards growth and development of plant. Yield increasein TPE for 45 days was also observed byMudalagiriyappa et al. (1999) and Nanjappa et al. (2005).

REFERENCES

Chen, Y. and Katan, J. (1980). Effect of solar heating of soil bytransparent polyethylene mulching on their chemicalproperties. Soil Sci. 130 : 271-77.

Desai, A. G. and Dange, S. R. S. (2003). Effect of soilsolarization on fusariun wilt of castor. Agric. Sci. Digest23 : 20-22.

Haynes, R. J. (1987). The use of polyethylene mulches to change5011 micronutrients as revealed by enzyme activityand biomass N, S and P. Biol. Fertil. Soils 5 : 235-40.

Mudalagiriyappa, Nanjappa, H. V. and Ramachandrappa, B.K. (1999). Effect of soil solarization on certain soilproperties, growth and yield of groundnut. J. OilseedsRes. 16 : 250-52.

Nanjappa, H. V., Ramchandrappa, B. K., Soumya, T. M. andSanjay, M. T. (2005). Repetitive use of transparentpolyethylene for soil solarization in groundnut. NationalBi-Conf., ISWS, P. A. U., Ludhiana, April 6-9. pp. 129-30.

Singh, V. P. and Yaduraju, N. T. (2004). Soil solarization : Anovel technique of weed management. pp. 1-23.


Effect of planting geometry and age of seedlings on the performance of inbredand hybrid rice under system of rice intensification (SRI)

ALOK JAIN AND V. B. UPADHYAYDepartment of Agronomy, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur-482 004, India

ABSTRACT

Field experiments were conducted during kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 on sandy clay loam soils at theResearch Farm, JNKVV, Jabalpur. Results revealed that hybrid rice produced significantly higher yield attributingcharacters and 50% higher grain yield over inbred rice. 10-day old seedling showed its superiority and produced 9and 11.2% higher grain yield over 14 and 18 days old seedling, respectively. Spacing of 25 x 25 cm gave significantlyhigher grain yield (66.3 q/ha) over 30 x 30 cm (64.2 q/ha) and 20 x 20 cm (63.8 q/ha). Pro. Agro 6201 gave the highestnet monetary returns (Rs. 21457/ha) and B : C ratio (2.43). However, planting of 10 days old seedlings and plantgeometry of 25 x 25 cm spacing recorded the maximum net monetary advantages and B : C ratio. The minimum netprofit and B : C ratio were recorded under IR-36, 18 days old seedlings and transplanted under 20 x 20 cm plantspacing.

Key words : SRI, inbred and hybrid rice, age of seedling, planting geometry

INTRODUCTION

The low productivity of rice in the country andstate is a burning issue before planners and researchers.Looking the pressure of ever growing population in thecountry, it is essential to make the pace of food grainproduction with it. The low production may be due toinavailability of improved and suitable varieties,inadequate supply of nutrients and their time ofapplication, poor water and ineffective weedmanagement, etc. Keeping the above facts in view, thepresent investigation was undertaken to explore thepossibilities of SRI in Madhya Pradesh.


The field experiments were carried out duringthe kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 at Research Farm,JNKVV, Jabalpur, M. P. The soil was sandy clay loam intexture, having 7.7 pH, and low in available nitrogen(266 kg/ha), low in available phosphorus (9.2 kg/ha)and high in available potassium (300 kg/ha) with 0.68%organic carbon. The experiment comprising 18 treatmentcombinations i. e. two varieties, inbred (IR-36) andhybrid (Pro. Agro. 6201) and three age of seedlings (10,14 and 18 days) in main plots and three plantinggeometries (20 x 20 cm, 25 x 25 cm and 30 x 30 cm) insub-plot was laid out in split plot design with threereplications. FYM 12 t+50 kg P2O5+30 kg K2O/ha was

applied just prior to puddling and 80 kg N was applied inthree split doses i. e. 30% nitrogen was applied sevendays after transplanting, 50% N at 20-25 days aftertransplanting and the remaining 20% N was applied 50-55 days after transplanting. Pre-treated 12 kg seed/haof each variety for each age of seedlings was sown inthe nursery in such a manner so that desirable age groupof seedlings became available on the day of transplanting.The agronomic practices were followed as per localrecommendations.


Effect of Varieties

Growth parameters viz., number of tillers/hill,leaf area index, number of primary roots and length ofroots were influenced by inbred and hybrid rice varieties.Hybrid rice (Pro. Agro. 6201) recorded higher growthparameters and were significantly superior to inbred rice(IR-36). This improvement in growth characters couldbe assigned to early vigour character of hybrid rice(Table 1). The yield attributing characters viz., effectivetillers/hill, healthy grains/hill and test weight weresignificantly higher under hybrid rice (Pro. Agro. 6201).Hybrid rice brought about a significant improvement ingrain yield over inbred rice (Table 1). Maximum grainyield (78.2 q/ha) was recorded with Pro. Agro. 6201,being 50% more over IR-36. The higher yield obtained

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 16-18 (2008)

under hybrid rice might be owing to cumulative effectof higher yield attributing characters under this variety.These results corroborate the findings of Stoop et al.(2002).

Effect of Age of Seedlings

Growth attributes viz., number of tillers/hill, leafarea index and number of primary roots increasedsignificantly with 10 days old seedlings than the 18 and14 days old seedlings (Table 1). It might be due to thefact that younger seedlings were shorter, thinner andthereby established faster leading to maximum rootproliferation with utilization of maximum availableresources. Similar views were also reported by Thakuret al. (1996).

The yield attributing characters viz., effectivetillers/hill, healthy grains/hill and the test weight weresignificantly higher under 10 days old seedlings than 14and 18 days. Seedlings of 10 days old brought about asignificant improvement in effective tillers/hill (19.4),healthy grains/hill (945.7) and the test weight (21.3 g)over 14 and 18 days old seedlings (Table 1). Significantlymaximum grain yield (69.8 q/ha) was recorded under 10days old seedlings and being 9 and 11.2% more grainyield over 14 and 18 days old seedlings, respectively (Table1). Similar results were also reported by Barison (2002).

Effect of Planting Geometry

Growth attributes of inbred and hybrid rice viz.,

LAI, number of tillers/hill, number of primary root andlength of roots were influenced by different plantinggeometries. Planting geometry of 25 x 25 cm recordedthe maximum improvement in growth parameters, whichwere significantly superior over 20 x 20 cm and 30 x 30cm plant spacings. This improvement in growthcharacters could be assigned to most utilization ofavailable resources because optimum spaced plantsusually have circular root distribution as againstinterpenetrated root growth at high densities, whichresulted in maximum use of available resources (Table1). These results are in close conformity with the findingsobtained by Padmaja and Reddy (1998).

Planting geometry of 25 x 25 cm producedsignificantly higher number of effective tillers/hill (18.4),healthy grains/hill (957.5) and the test weight (21.2 g).Significantly higher grain yield was recorded under 25 x25 cm (66.3 q/ha) and being 3 and 5% more grain yieldover 30 x 30 cm and 20 x 20 cm planting geometry,respectively. It may be due to the fact that though theindividual plant characters did not favour high yield underdenser planting, but when all taken together as a unit theoptimum spacing specially in square planting reducedthe inter specific competition for resources whichultimately led to higher grain yield (Table 1). These resultsare in agreement with the findings obtained by Uphoff(2002).

Interactions

Interaction between inbred and hybrid rice with

Table 1. Growth parameters as influenced by inbred and hybrid rice, age of seedlings and planting geometry at 90 DAT (Mean dataof two years)

Treatment No. of LAI No. of Length of Effective Healthy Test Graintillers/hill primary roots tillers/hill grains/ weight yield

roots (cm) hill (g) (q/ha)

VarietyInbred (IR-36) 31.0 4.41 29.5 16.7 12.7 915.4 19.4 51.3Hybrid (Pro. Agro. 6201) 43.4 6.24 43.7 19.1 22.8 946.5 22.6 78.2C. D. (P=0.05) 0.7 0.20 1.3 0.7 1.2 24.8 0.2 3.5Age of seedlings (days)10 38.6 5.41 45.0 23.1 19.4 945.7 21.3 69.814 37.3 5.31 34.7 15.5 17.6 945.6 21.1 63.618 36.4 5.29 29.8 15.1 16.3 910.3 20.7 60.9C. D. (P=0.05) 0.6 0.04 1.5 0.5 0.4 26.5 0.3 2.2Planting geometry (cm)20 x 20 36.7 5.29 35.0 17.7 17.2 905.2 20.8 63.825 x 25 39.2 5.36 38.4 18.2 18.4 957.5 21.2 66.330 x 30 36.4 5.32 36.1 17.8 17.6 928.3 21.0 64.2C. D. (P=0.05) 0.5 0.03 1.2 0.2 0.5 31.8 0.3 1.4


age of seedlings revealed that the Pro. Agro. 6201recorded higher yield under all age of seedlings ascompared with IR-36 (Table 2). The highest grain yieldwas obtained by Pro. Agro. 6201 planted with 10 daysold seedlings (80.52 q/ha). While the lowest grain yieldwas recorded by IR-36 planted with 14 days oldseedlings (50.85 q/ha).

Interaction between age of seedlings and plantinggeometry revealed that the 10 days old seedlings producedthe higher grain yield at all the planting geometries. Highestgrain yield was obtained (71.06 q/ha) with 10 days oldseedlings planted at 25 x 25 cm spacing, while minimumgrain yield (60.06 q/ha) was recorded with 18 days old

Table 2. Interaction between age of seedling x varieties and age of seedling x plant geometry on grain yield (q/ha) (Mean data of two years)

Age of seedling Varieties Planting geometry(days)

IR-36 Pro. Agro. 6210 20 x 20 cm 25 x 25 cm 30 x 30 cm

10 52.06 80.52 68.86 71.06 69.6814 50.85 77.36 62.59 65.45 62.6218 50.94 76.78 60.36 62.37 60.06

V x A at same V V x A at same A A x S at same A A x S at same SC. D. (P=0.05) 3.02 4.07 1.96 3.63

Table 3. Economics of treatments (Mean data of two years)

Treatment Cost of Gross monetary Net monetary B : Ccultivation returns returns ratio

(Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha)

VarietyInbred (IR-36) 14390 28270 13880 1.96Hybrid (Pro. Agro. 6201) 14970 36427 21457 2.43Age of seedlings (days)10 14568 34654 20086 2.3814 14675 31852 17177 2.1718 14805 30549 15744 2.06Planting geometry (cm)20 x 20 14825 31771 16946 2.1425 x 25 14680 33148 18468 2.2630 x 30 14535 32136 17601 2.21

seedlings planted at 30 x 30 cm spacing (Table 2).

Economic Viability

Net monetary returns and the B : C ratio werelowest with 18 days old seedlings (Rs. 15744/ha and2.06) and the maximum net profit and B : C ratio wererecorded under 10 days old seedlings (Rs. 20086/ha and2.38). Among different planting geometries themaximum NMR and B : C ratio were recorded with 25 x25 cm (Rs. 18468/ha and 2.26), whereas the minimumNMR and B : C ratio were recorded (Table 3) under 20x 20 cm spacing (Rs. 16946/ha and 2.14).

REFERENCES

Barison, Joili (2002). Nutrient use efficiency and uptake viz.,conventional and intensive (SRI) rice cultivation systemviz., Madagaskar. M. Sc. (Agri.) thesis, Department ofCrops and Soil Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NewYork.

Padmaja, K. and Reddy, B. B. (1998). Effect of seedling density innursery, age of seedlings and crop geometry on growth andyield of hybrid rice during wet season. Oryza 35 : 380-81.

Stoop, W., Uphoff, N. and Kassam, A. (2002). A review of

agricultural research issues raised by the system of riceintensification (SRI) from Madagaskar. Opportunitiesfor improving farming systems for resource-poorfarmers. Agric. Systems 71 : 249-74.

Thakur, R. B., Pandeya, S. B. and Dwivedi, P. K. (1996). Effectof time of transplanting on performance of rice. Oryza33 : 107-09.

Uphoff, N. (2002). Opportunities for raising yields by changingmanagement practices. The system of rice intensificationin Medagaskar. In : Agro-ecological Innovations, N.Uphoff (ed.). London, Earth Scan.

18 Jain and Upadhyay

Nutrient management of hybrid rice during boro season under irrigated mid landsituation

K. DAS, S. DUTTA AND P. C. BHAGAWATIA. A. U. Regional Agricultural Research Station, Shillongani, Nagaon-782 002, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during 2003-04 and 2004-05 to find out an optimum fertilizer dose andsplit application of nitrogen at different growth stages of hybrid rice under irrigated mid land situations. Thetreatments comprised four fertilizer doses viz. 60 : 30 : 30, 80 : 45 : 45, 100 : 60 : 60 and 120 : 75 : 75 kg/ha N, P2O5and K2O, respectively, and three split applications of nitrogen at different growth stages viz., 1/3 as basal + 1/3 attillering + 1/3 at PI stage, 1/2 as basal + 1/4 at tillering + 1/4 at PI stage and 1/4 as basal + 1/4 at tillering + 1/4 at PI stage+ ¼ at booting stage. The N, P2O5 and K2O as 100 : 60 : 60 kg/ha was the optimum dose which recorded higher grainyield and economic return. Split application of nitrogen did not show any significant variation in grain yield,however, N application in four equal splits i. e. as basal, at tillering, at PI stage and at booting stage gave highereconomic return.

Key words : Hybrid rice, nitrogen application, split application

INTRODUCTION

High yielding variety of rice has played a majorrole to meet the food demand of growing population.However, there is still a need to further enhance theproductivity to feed the ever increasing population(Dwivedi et al., 2006). In Assam, rice hybrid is generallygrown in kharif season. There is a potentiality of hybridrice during boro season in Assam as there is assuredirrigation facilities due to installation of shallow tube wellin the state. The higher yield of hybrid can be obtainedwith proper fertilizer management. Hybrid rice has thelonger panicle, more tillers due to higher nutrient demandmainly nitrogen and phosphorus thus expression ofhigher grain yield (Virmani, 1996). Inadequate applicationof nitrogen adversely affects the grain production andcreates favourable condition for pest and diseases (Ohmet al., 1996). Thus, the present study was undertakento find optimum fertilizer dose and number of splitapplication of nitrogen at different growth stages of hybridrice during boro season.


The field experiment was conducted during2003-04 and 2004-05 at the Regional AgriculturalResearch Station, Shillongani, Nagaon, Assam to findout an optimum fertilizer dose and split application ofnitrogen at different growth stages of hybrid rice in boro

season under irrigated mid land situations. The treatmentscomprised four fertilizer doses viz., 60 : 30 : 30, 80 : 45: 45, 100 : 60 : 60 and 120 : 75 : 75 kg/ha N, P2O5 andK2O, respectively, and three split applications of nitrogenat different growth stages viz., 1/3 as basal+1/3 attillering+1/3 at PI stage, 1/2 as basal+1/4 at tillering+1/4 atPI stage and 1/4 as basal+1/4 at tillering+1/4 at PI stage+¼at booting stages. Altogether 12 treatments werereplicated thrice in a randomized block design. The soilof the experimental site was clay loam in texture withavailable N, P, K and pH of 305.3, 15.8, 126.1 kg/ha and5.6, respectively. The hybrid rice variety ‘DRRH 1’ wassown in the nursery bed on 30 November and 45 daysold seedling were transplanted in the main field with thespacing 20 x 15 cm in both the years. Ten irrigationswere applied including two as pre-sowing. The totalrainfall during the crop season was 416.11 and 539.11mm in 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively. Themaximum and minimum temperature was 27.2° and16.1°C and 26.7° and 16.2°C in 2003-04 and 2004-05,respectively.


Growth and Yield Attributing Characters

Experimental results revealed that increasinglevel of fertilizer doses increased the growth and yieldattributing characters of hybrid rice. Maximum and

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 19-22 (2008)

Tabl

e 1. G

rowt

h, yi

eld

attri

bute

s, yi

eld

and

econ

omic

s of h

ybrid

rice

as a

ffect

ed b

y diff

eren

t fer

tilize

r dos

es a

nd sp

lit a

pplic

atio

n of

N in

bor

o se

ason

(Poo

led

data

of 2

003-

04 a

nd 2

004-

05)

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

Pani

cle

Effe

ctiv

eFi

lled

grai

ns/

1000

-see

dG

rain

yie

ldSt

raw

yie

ldH

arve

stN

et r

etur

nB

: C

heig

htle

ngth

tille

rs/h

illpa

nicl

ew

eigh

t(q

/ha)

(q/h

a) in

dex

(Rs./

ha)

ratio

(cm

)(c

m)

(g)

(%)

Fert

ilize

r do

se60

: 30

: 30

89.6

22.9

13.1

157.

624

.17

68.8

364

.30

51.3

326

,917

2.36

80 :

45 :

4590

.223

.613

.916

1.2

24.3

272

.12

66.9

651

.83

28,2

562.

3710

0 : 6

0 : 6

095

.825

.417

.116

6.3

24.5

179

.67

72.6

952

.26

32,4

572.

5112

0 : 7

5 : 7

596

.125

.517

.516

9.4

24.5

879

.91

70.7

352

.95

31,6

752.

42LS

D (P

=0.0

5)3.

20.

61.

14.

1N

S4.

264.

45N

S-

-Sp

lit a

pplic

atio

n of

NN

191

.923

.915

.016

3.3

24.4

073

.77

66.9

352

.45

28,9

352.

30N

293

.224

.415

.516

4.1

24.4

174

.82

69.4

951

.78

29,6

982.

41N

394

.124

.715

.716

4.3

24.4

876

.45

69.5

852

.40

30,7

822.

45LS

D (P

=0.0

5)N

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

S-

-

N1 : 1 / 3 a

s bas

al +

1 / 3 at

tille

ring

+1 / 3 at P

I sta

ge, N

2 : 1 / 2 a

s bas

al +

1 / 4 at t

iller

ing+

1 / 4 at P

I sta

ge, N

3 : 1

/ 4 as

bas

al+1 / 4 a

t till

erin

g+1 / 4

at P

I sta

ge+¼

at b

ootin

g st

age.

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.

20 Das, Dutta and Bhagawati

Tabl

e 2.

Nut

rien

t upt

ake

by h

ybri

d ri

ce a

nd p

ost-h

arve

st s

oil n

utri

ent s

tatu

s afte

r tw

o ye

ars a

s affe

cted

by

diffe

rent

fert

ilize

r dos

es a

nd sp

lit a

pplic

atio

n of

N in

bor

ose

ason

(Poo

led

data

of

2003

-04

and

2004

-05)

Trea

tmen

tN

upt

ake

(kg/

ha)

P u

ptak

e (k

g/ha

)K

upt

ake

(kg/

ha)

Avai

labl

e NAv

aila

ble P

Avai

labl

e K(k

g/ha

)(k

g/ha

)(k

g/ha

)G

rain

Stra

wG

rain

Stra

wG

rain

Stra

w

Fert

ilize

r do

se60

: 30

: 30

82.2

434

.08

26.1

53.

8924

.78

115.

7329

2.2

14.0

108.

880

: 45

: 45

86.1

635

.49

27.4

14.

0225

.96

120.

5229

2.3

14.2

109.

310

0 : 6

0 : 6

095

.18

38.5

330

.28

4.36

28.6

813

0.83

276.

612

.310

2.5

120

: 75

: 75

94.4

737

.49

30.3

64.

2428

.77

127.

3128

1.0

12.6

106.

5LS

D (P

=0.0

5)5.

092.

361.

620.

271.

548.

022.

340.

370.

92Sp

lit a

pplic

atio

n of

NN

188

.14

35.4

728

.04

4.02

26.5

612

0.47

285.

113

.310

7.6

N2

89.4

036

.83

28.4

34.

1726

.94

125.

0828

6.0

13.3

107.

1N

391

.64

36.8

829

.15

4.18

27.6

112

5.24

284.

213

.210

5.7

LSD

(P=0

.05)

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

N1 : 1 / 3 a

s bas

al +

1 / 3 at

tille

ring

+1 / 3 at P

I sta

ge, N

2 : 1 / 2 a

s bas

al +

1 / 4 at t

iller

ing+

1 / 4 at P

I sta

ge, N

3 : 1

/ 4 as

bas

al+1 / 4 a

t till

erin

g+1 / 4

at P

I sta

ge+¼

at b

ootin

g st

age.

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.


minimum values of plant height, panicle length, effectivetillers/hill and filled grains/panicle were found in thefertilizer dose of 120 : 75 : 75 and 60 : 30 : 30 in both theyears, respectively (Table 1). Ohm (1995) also recordedsimilar observation. 1000-seed weight was notsignificant due to different fertilizer doses. Splitapplication of nitrogen at different growth stages didnot show any significant variation in growth and yieldattributing characters of hybrid rice. However, bettervalues were obtained with 1/4 as basal+1/4 at tillering+1/4at PI stage+¼ at booting stage followed by 1/2 as basal+1/4 at tillering+1/4 at PI stage treatment. The highest valuesof all growth and yield attributing characters in foursplit applications of nitrogen might be due to uniformuptake of nitrogen during long boro season.

Yield and Economics

Grain and straw yields differed significantly dueto different doses of fertilizers (Table 1). Maximum grainyield was recorded in the fertilizer dose of 120 : 75 : 75which was at par with 100 : 60 : 60 and lowest wasrecorded in the fertilizer dose of 60 : 30 : 30. Straw yieldwas the highest in the treatment 100 : 60 : 60 but was atpar with the treatment of 120 : 75 : 75. Harvest indexwas not altered significantly due to different fertilizerdoses. Ramaiah et al. (1986) also reported that yield ofhybrid rice increased with increasing levels of fertilizerdoses. Grain, straw yield and harvest index were alsonot affected significantly due to split application ofnitrogen at different growth stages. However, maximumgrain and straw yield was obtained with split applicationof nitrogen ‘1/4 as basal +1/4 at tillering+1/4 at PI stage+¼at booting stage’. The highest grain and straw yield mightbe due to higher growth and yield attributing characters.

The highest net returns of Rs. 32457 and B : Cratio of 2.51 were recorded in the fertilizer dose of 100: 60 : 60 followed by 120 : 75 : 75, 80 : 45 : 45 and 60 :30 : 30 (Table 1). Among different split applications ofnitrogen at different growth stages, the treatment ‘1/4 asbasal+1/4 at tillering+1/4 at PI stage+¼ at booting stage’gave the more net returns and B : C ratio followed by‘1/2 as basal+1/4 at tillering+1/4 at PI stage’ treatment and‘1/3 as basal+1/3 at tillering+1/3 at PI stage’ treatment. Thehigher economic returns might be due to higher grainyield of hybrid rice.

Nutrient Uptake and Nutrient Status in Soil

Significantly the highest nutrient uptake by grainand straw was recorded in the higher dose of fertilizersof 120 : 75 : 75 followed closely by 100 : 60 : 60 (Table2). At lower fertilizer dose of 60 : 30 : 30 the nutrientuptake was lower. The higher nutrient uptake might bedue to higher grain and straw yield in association withhigher nutrient content in grain and straw. There wasno significant variation in uptake due to split applicationof N at different growth stages.

Available N, P and K in soil after two years ofexperimentation were decreased than initial soil values.100 : 60 : 60 fertilizer dose showed significantly loweravailable N, P and K in soil but available P at par with120 : 75 : 75 fertilizer dose. All the available nutrientspresent in the soil were higher in the fertilizer dose of 80: 45 : 45. Lower available nutrients (N, P and K) aftertwo years of experimentation as compared to initial valuesmight be due to higher uptake of nutrients by grain andstraw and also long duration of hybrid rice during boroseason. The findings confirmed the observations madeby Dwivedi et al. (2006).

REFERENCES

Dwivedi, A. P., Dixit, R. S. and Singh, G. R. (2006). Effect ofnitrogen, phosphorus and potassium level on growth,yield and quality of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.). Oryza43 : 64-66.

Ohm, H. (1995). Effect of seeding density in nursery, time oftransplanting and nitrogen level on growth and yield ofhybrid rice. Ph. D thesis, CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar.

Ohm, H., Katyal S. K. and Dhiman S. D. (1996). Response ofrice hybrids PMS 2 A/IR 31802 to seeding vigour andnitrogen levels in Haryana, India. Int. Rice Res. Notes 21: 47-48.

Ramaiah, N. V., Prasad, M. M., Reddy, T. M. M. and Reddy, B.B. (1986). Effect of planting method, nitrogen andphosphorus levels on accumulation of dry matter anduptake of N and P in 32541 rice culture. PVl Res. J. 10: 154-56.

Virmani, S. S. (1996). Hybrid rice. Adv. Agron. 57 : 377-62.

22 Das, Dutta and Bhagawati

Economics of direct seeded and transplanted rice under different plantingmethods

BHAGAT SINGH, R. K. MALIK, ASHOK YADAV AND D. P. NANDALDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Kaul (Haryana) to compare economics of differentmethods of sowing/planting in direct seeded rice vs. transplanted rice during 2005 and 2006. The number of effectivetillers, filled grains and grain yield of rice were higher in transplanted rice than direct seeded rice. Intercropping ofSesbania aculeate showed beneficial effects in terms of grain yield compared to sole crop of rice. The maximumreturn was recorded in zero-tillage transplant and lowest B : C ratio was recorded in puddled-transplant. The B : Cratio was highest in direct seeded rice under zero-tillage.

Key words : Direct seeded rice, tranplanted rice, sowing/planting methods, economics

INTRODUCTION

In South Asia, the most common practice ofestablishing rice is puddling followed by manualtransplanting. It is practised mainly to minimizepercolation of water and control weeds. However, it isan energy intensive practice requiring large amount ofwater and human labour. Labour requirement fortransplanting is 50% higher than direct seeding of rice.Non-availability of labour for transplanting when requiredis also a major problem. In addition, destruction of soilstructure by pudding that adversely affects growth andyield of succeeding crop, without offering any additionalyield advantage over unpuddled condition, is a majordisadvantage of puddling. Therefore, there is a need fordoing away with the practice of transplanting of rice inpuddled fields and alternate crop establishment methodsneed to be explored. Direct seeding of rice, incombination with different resource conservationtechnologies such as zero tillage, could be a potentialalternate.


A field experiment was conducted during rainyseasons (July to October) of 2005 and 2006 at CCSHAUCollege of Agriculture Farm, Kaul, Haryana to assessthe effect of different crop establishment methods onrice. The experiment was laid out in randomized blockdesign with three replications and included seventreatments viz., puddled-transplant, unpuddled-transplant, zero-till transplant, zero-till direct-seeded rice

with Sesbania, zero-till direct-seeded rice withoutSesbania, unpuddled direct-seeded rice with Sesbaniaand unpuddled direct-seeded rice without Sesbania.Cultivar HKR-126 was used, and weed management andplant protection measures were followed as perrequirement. Fertilizer was applied at the rate of 166, 60and 45 kg/ha, N, P and K, respectively. Sesbania wassown within line at the time of sowing rice and killed byspraying with 2, 4-D (0.5 kg a. i./ha) after 30 days ofsowing.


The number of effective tillers was higher indirect seeded rice (DSR) but the filled grains per paniclewere found higher under transplanted rice (TPR). Directseeded rice produced 10.0 and 9.5% higher number ofeffective tillers than transplanted crop during 2005 and2006, respectively. The higher number of effective tillersin DSR was found mainly due to higher plant populationin DSR as compared to TPR. Similar results were alsoreported by Gupta et al. (2002). Among direct seedingmethods, wet seeded rice produced 3.2 and 3.9% greaternumber of filled grains per panicle as compared to zerotill drill sown rice during 2005 and 2006, respectively.The number of effective tillers and filled grains per paniclewere similar within different methods of direct seedingand transplanting. Whereas the number of unfilled grainsper panicle was 48.1 and 54.5% higher under directseeding as compared to transplanting during 2005 and2006, respectively. Among different direct seedingmethods, the sole crop of rice produced 5.7 (2005) and

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 23-25 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Effe

ct o

f diff

eren

t cro

p es

tabl

ishm

ent t

echn

ique

s on

crop

gro

wth

, yie

ld a

ttrib

utes

, yie

ld a

nd e

cono

mic

s

Trea

tmen

tEf

fect

ive

Fille

dU

nfill

edG

rain

yie

ldN

et r

etur

nB

: C

tille

rs/m

2gr

ains

/pan

icle

grai

ns/p

anic

le(k

g/ha

)(R

s./ha

)ra

tio

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

UP-

DSR

274

266

100.

010

5.1

8.2

11.1

6734

6548

1545

915

608

1.65

1.65

UP-

DSR

+Ses

bani

a27

326

310

1.3

104.

97.

69.

267

8265

6215

132

1509

11.

621.

61ZT

-DSR

+Ses

bani

a27

625

798

.010

1.3

8.0

9.6

6696

6416

1616

715

754

1.70

1.68

ZT-D

SR26

926

097

.010

0.8

8.3

11.0

6649

6379

1649

916

136

1.74

1.72

ZT-T

PR24

423

811

1.0

112.

25.

77.

071

3468

8317

528

1737

41.

731.

72U

P-TP

R24

923

611

2.0

114.

65.

36.

671

6569

0816

455

1627

21.

651.

64P-

TPR

253

242

112.

311

4.8

5.3

6.2

7217

7023

1575

215

951

1.60

1.60

LSD

(P=0

.05)

1418

7.7

5.9

0.9

0.6

341

366

--

--

UP-

DSR

–Unp

uddl

ed d

irect

see

ded

rice,

ZT-

DSR

–Zer

o-til

l di

rect

see

ded

rice,

UP-

TPR

–Unp

uddl

ed t

rans

plan

ted

rice,

ZT-

TPR

–Zer

o-til

l tra

nspl

ante

d ric

e, P

-TPR

–Pu

ddle

d tra

nspl

ante

d ric

e.

24 Singh, Malik, Yadav and Nandal

22.3% (2006) more unfilled grains per panicle than whenit was co-cultured with Sesbania. The number of unfilledgrains appeared to be the major cause of concern forestablishing the superiority of direct seeded rice overtransplanted rice.

Transplanting methods produced significantlyhigher grain yield than direct seeded methods (Table 1).As compared to transplanting methods, the reduction ingrain yield due to direct seeding was 6.3 and 6.6% in2005 and 2006, respectively. The higher grain yieldobtained by transplanting than wet seeding and zero-tilldrill sowing was also reported by Singh et al. (2005).Among direct seeding methods, wet direct seedingproduced higher grain yield than zero-till drill sown rice.These results confirm the findings of Bohra et al. (2006).Intercropping of Sesbania with rice and then killing by2, 4-D (brown manuring) showed beneficial effect ongrain yield over sole crop of rice. However, thedifferences in terms of grain yield among differentmethods of direct seeding as well as transplanting werenon-significant. Bajpai and Tripathi (2000) reported thatpuddling did not give any extra yield benefits overunpuddled conditions.

The maximum net returns of Rs. 17528 in 2005and 17374 in 2006 were recorded under zero-tilltransplant. The zero-tillage treatments both under directseeding as well as under transplanting achieved moreprofit than other treatments which were mainly due tosaving in tillage cost. The B : C ratio was also higherunder zero-tillage treatments and lowest B : C ratio wasrecorded under puddled transplant. Awan et al. (2006)also reported that although paddy yield in case of ZT-drilling was the lowest but B : C ratio was better thanthe other methods due to less cultivation cost, and thelowest benefit was obtained in case of conventionaltransplanting method. Zero-tillage transplant and zero-

tillage direct seeding even with similar yield levelscompared to puddled transplant or unpuddled directseeding fit well in the criteria of better rate of returns.

REFERENCES

Awan, T. H., Ahmad, M., Anwar, M. and Akhter, M. (2006).Effect of different planting methods on yield and qualitycharacteristics of basmati rice. Abstracts. InternationalRice Congress, held at New Delhi, India, Oct. 9-13,2006. p. 477.

Bajpai, R. K. and Tripathi, R. P. (2000). Evaluation of non-puddling under shallow water tables and alternativetillage methods on soil and crop parameters in rice-wheat system in Uttar Pradesh. Soil & Tillage Res. 55 :99-106.

Bohra, S. S., Verma, K. R., Singh, R. P., Singh, J. P. andSingh, Y. (2006). Crop establishment options in rice(Oryza sativa)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) system underirrigated conditions of Varanasi. Extended Summaries.Golden Jubilee National Symposium on ConservationAgriculture and Environment, Oct. 26-28, 2006. IndianSociety of Agronomy, BHU, Varanasi, India. pp. 48-49.

Gupta, R. K., Naresh, R. K., Hobbs, P. R. and Ladha, J. K.(2002). Adopting conservation agriculture in the rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plains : Newopportunities for saving water. In : Water-wise RiceProduction, B. A. M. Bouman (ed.). IRRI. p. 212.

Singh, R. K., Bhardwaj, A. K., Singh, Y., Pandey, D. S., Misra,R. D. and Thakur, T. C. (2005). Agro-technical aspectsof direct-seeded rice in north-western Uttar Pradeshand Uttaranchal. In : Accelerating the Adoption ofResource Conservation Techniques in Rice-wheatSystems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, Malik et al. (eds.).Project Workshop Proc., June 1-2, 2005, CCSHAU,Hisar, India. pp. 193-201.


Evaluation of bensulfuron-methyl alone and as tank-mix with butachlor forweed control in transplanted rice

DHARAM BIR YADAV, S. D. SHARMA, ASHOK YADAV1, ROSHAN LAL AND ANIL MEHTA2

CCS Haryana Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Karnal-132 001, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment to evaluate the efficacy of bensulfuron-methyl for weed control in transplanted ricewas conducted during kharif 2004 and 2005 at CCS Haryana Agricultural University Regional Research Station,Karnal, India. The treatments included bensulfuron-methyl 40, 50, 60, 100 and 120 g/ha at 3 DAT, bensulfuron-methyl 30, 40, 50, 60, 100 and 120 g/ha at 20 DAT, tank mixture of bensulfuron 40, 50 or 60 g/ha with butachlor 938g/ha at 3 DAT in comparison to butachlor 1500 g/ha at 3 DAT, metsulfuron+chlorimuron 4 g/ha at 20 DATalongwith weed free and weedy checks. During 2005, fenoxaprop+safener 56 g/ha was sprayed at 25 DAT in thetreatments consisting of bensulfuron alone or metsulfuron+chlorimuron for control of grassy weeds in thesetreatments. Bensulfuron is effective against broadleaf weeds and sedges when applied alone as pre-emergence (3DAT) and post-emergence (20 DAT), however, its efficacy was lower than metsulfuron+chlorimuron particularlyagainst broadleaf weeds. Efficacy of bensulfuron was better against sedges, in addition to some effect on the grassesas well. Tank mix application of bensulfuron 40-60 g/ha with butachlor 938 g/ha has been quite effective incontrolling most of the weeds even better than butachlor alone 1500 g/ha with satisfactory improvement in grainyield of transplanted rice. There was no phytotoxicity of bensulfuron upto 120 g/ha on rice crop and no residualtoxicity on the succeeding wheat crop.

Key words : Bensulfuron-methyl, butachlor, tank mix, transplanted rice

1Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India.2Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sirsa (Haryana), India.

INTRODUCTION

Rice is grown in about 45 million hectares withproduction of 96 million tonnes contributing 45% to thetotal food grain production of India. Pre-emergenceherbicides are most commonly used against grassy weedsin transplanted rice. Transplanted rice encounters withproblem of compex weed flora in different regions of thecountry resulting in 15-76% reduction in grain yield(Mishra, 1997; Singh et al., 2004). Broadleaf weeds andsedges are coming up as a problem in the transplanted ricewhich are not controlled effectively by the traditional pre-emergence herbicides like pretilachlor, butachlor, anilophos,etc. Bensulfuron-methyl (α-[(4, 6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-ylcarbamoyl) sulfamoyl]-o-toluic acid), is a newpyrimidinylsulfonylurea herbicide for weed control intransplanted rice. it controls many problem broadleaf weedsand sedges in rice (Beyer et al., 1988). Hence, this herbicidewas evaluated against weeds in transplanted rice as pre-emergence application alone and as tank-mix withconventional herbicide butachlor, and as post-emergenceapplication for finding the viable alternatives for control ofweed complex in transplanted rice.


A field experiment to evaluate the efficacy ofbensulfuron-methyl for weed control in transplanted ricewas conducted during kharif 2004 and 2005 at CCSHaryana Agricultural University Regional ResearchStation, Karnal, India. The soil of the experimental fieldwas clay loam in texture, low in organic carbon (0.35%),medium in phosphorus and high in potash with slightlyalkaline in reaction (pH 8.1). Thirty-five days oldseedlings of rice cultivar HKR-47 were transplanted on26 June 2004 and 5 July 2005, at a spacing of 20 x 15cm in a plot size of 5.40 x 2.40 m. The treatmentsincluded bensulfuron-methyl 40, 50, 60, 100 and 120 g/ha at 3 DAT, bensulfuron-methyl 30, 40, 50, 60, 100and 120 g/ha at 20 DAT, tank mixture of bensulfuron40, 50 or 60 g/ha with butachlor 938 g/ha at 3 DAT incomparison to butachlor 1500 g/ha at 3 DAT,metsulfuron+chlorimuron 4 g/ha at 20 DAT alongwithweed free and weedy checks. During 2005,fenoxaprop+safener 56 g/ha was sprayed at 25 DAT inthe treatments consisting of bensulfuron alone ormetsulfuron+chlorimuron for control of grassy weeds

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 26-30 (2008)

in these treatments. The experiment was laid out inrandomized block design with three replications. Post-emergence herbicides were sprayed by knapsack sprayerfitted with flat fan nozzle using 300 litres of water perhectare. Pre-emergence application (3 DAT) ofherbicides was done by broadcasting after mixing in150 kg sand/ha. Crop was raised as per therecommendation of the State University. Weed densityand dry weight were recorded at 60 DAT, and rice grainyield and yield attributes at maturity. Crop phyto-toxicitywas recorded at 15 and 30 days after spray using 0-100scale (where, 0=no mortality and 100=completemortality). The crop was harvested on 16 October duringboth the years.


Effect on Weeds

Density and dry weight of grassy weeds undertank mix application of butachlor 938 g/ha withbensulfuron 40-60 g/ha were at par with butachlor 1500g/ha alone during both the years (Table 1). However,bensulfuron alone 40-120 g/ha at 3 or 20 DAT resultedin lower density and dry weight of Echinochloa crus-galli as compared to weedy check during 2004, but thecontrol was not satisfactory. Bensulfuron was slightlybetter when applied at 20 DAT in comparison to 3 DAT.During 2005, density and dry weight of grassy weedsunder bensulfuron 40-120 g/ha at 3 or 20 DAT were atpar with weed free check and butachlor alone, however,it was cumulative effect of fenoxaprop+safener appliedin these plots. Metsulfuron+clorimuron was not effectiveagainst Echinochloa crus-galli.

Density and dry weight of broadleaf weedsunder bensulfuron 40-120 g/ha at 3 DAT and 30-120 g/ha at 20 DAT were lower than weedy check during 2004,but inferior to metsulfuron+chlorimuron and weed freecheck (Table 1). During 2005, bensulfuron 60-120 g/haat 3 DAT and all doses of bensulfuron at 20 DAT resultedin density and dry weight of broadleaf weeds at parwith butachlor 1500 g/ha. All the treatments ofbensulfuron alone were inferior to metsulfuron+chlorimuron in respect of density and dry weight ofbroadleaf weeds, except 120 g/ha at 20 DAT being atpar in respect of weed density. In tank mix treatmentsof bensulfuron+butachlor density and dry weight ofbroadleaf weeds were lower than butachlor 1500 g/haalone during 2004 but at par during 2005. In general,

density of broadleaf weeds decreased with increase indose of bensulfuron and its efficacy was more at 20DAT than 3 DAT.

During 2004, bensulfuron alone at all the dosesand at both the stages of application resulted in lowerdensity and dry weight of sedges as compared to weedycheck (Table 1). The density and dry weight of sedgesdecreased with increase in doses of bensulfuron at boththe stages of application. Density and dry weight ofsedges under all the treatments of bensulfuron alone oras tank mixture were significantly lower thanmetsulfuron+chlorimuron 4 g/ha. Whereas these wereat par with metsulfuron+chlorimuron during 2005. Tankmix treatments of bensulfuron 40-60 g/ha+butachlor 938g/ha were as good as weed free checks in respect ofdensity and dry weight of sedges during both the years.Bensulfuron 30-120 g/ha at 20 DAT was at par withtank mix treatments in respect of density and dry weightof sedges during 2005. Efficacy of bensulfuron againstbroadleaf weeds and sedges in rice has been reportedearlier as well (Beyer et al., 1988; Puniya et al., 2007).

Effect on Crop

Plant height of rice under all the herbicidaltreatments except metsulfuron+chlorimuron 4 g/ha wasat par with weed free and superior to weedy check during2004 (Table 2). Whereas the differences due to differenttreatments were non-significant during 2005. Theeffective tillers under bensulfuron 40-60 g/ha+butachlor938 g/ha were similar to butachlor 1500 g/ha and weedfree check during both the years. However, effectivetillers were less under all the treatments of bensulfuronalone at 3 or 20 DAT as compared to weed free orbutachlor 1500 g/ha. Among herbicidal treatmentsmetsulfuron+chlorimuron 4 g/ha resulted in lowestnumber of tillers during 2004. All the herbicidal treatmentsexcept metsulfuron+chlorimuron during 2004 were atpar with each other and superior to weedy check inrespect of panicle length during both the years.

Grain yield of rice under tank mix applicationof butachlor 938 g/ha+bensulfuron 40-60 g/ha resultedin grain yields at par with weed free check and butachlor1500 g/ha during both the years (Table 2). Tank mixapplication of bensulfuron+butachlor resulted in grainyield more than alone application of bensulfuron at 3 or20 DAT particularly during 2004. However, thedifferences during 2005 were less pronounced due toapplication of grass herbicide fenoxaprop+safener in


Tabl

e 1.

Eff

ect o

f ben

sulfu

ron-

met

hyl a

lone

and

as t

ank-

mix

ture

with

but

achl

or o

n w

eed

dens

ity a

nd d

ry w

eigh

t of w

eeds

in tr

anpl

ante

d ri

ce

Trea

tmen

tD

ose

Tim

eW

eed

dens

ity*

(No.

/m2 )

Wee

d dr

y w

eigh

t (g/

m2 )

(g/h

a)(D

AT)

Gra

ssy

BLW

Sedg

esG

rass

yBL

WSe

dges

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

Ben

sulfu

ron

403

6.4

(40)

1.0

(0.0

)4.

8 (2

2)9.

1 (8

8.0)

4.9

(23)

6.7

(51.

3)53

.70.

06.

616

.96.

819

.8B

ensu

lfuro

n50

35.

7 (3

2)1.

0 (0

.0)

4.6

(20)

8.6

(82.

0)4.

4 (1

8)5.

9 (3

6.0)

48.5

0.0

5.7

16.1

6.5

18.4

Ben

sulfu

ron

603

6.0

(35)

1.2

(0.7

)4.

4 (1

8)6.

9 (5

2.7)

3.6

(12)

3.8

(14.

0)55

.12.

04.

915

.03.

915

.2B

ensu

lfuro

n10

03

6.2

(37)

1.4

(1.3

)4.

5 (2

0)7.

5 (6

2.0)

2.9

(7)

2.6

(10.

7)58

.89.

75.

814

.61.

97.

7B

ensu

lfuro

n12

03

6.0

(35)

1.2

(0.7

)3.

8 (1

3)7.

4 (5

5.3)

2.3

(4)

4.1

(16.

7)55

.02.

23.

813

.91.

115

.6B

ensu

lfuro

n+B

utac

hlor

40+9

383

1.0

(0)

2.5

(6.7

)5.

2 (2

6)6.

0 (3

7.3)

1.4

(1)

2.9

(10.

0)0.

022

.77.

314

.10.

08.

0B

ensu

lfuro

n+B

utac

hlor

50+9

383

1.0

(0)

2.2

(4.7

)5.

0 (2

4)4.

8 (2

3.3)

1.2

(1)

3.4

(11.

3)0.

015

.76.

713

.60.

09.

9B

ensu

lfuro

n+B

utac

hlor

60+9

383

1.4

(1)

3.4

(11.

3)4.

8 (2

2)4.

3 (1

8.0)

1.1

(0)

2.8

(7.3

)1.

319

.16.

613

.70.

05.

3B

ensu

lfuro

n30

206.

1 (3

7)1.

0 (0

.0)

5.7

(32)

5.1

(26.

0)3.

8 (1

3)2.

3 (7

.3)

54.9

0.0

8.8

13.7

3.8

6.4

Ben

sulfu

ron

4020

5.6

(30)

1.2

(0.7

)5.

8 (3

3)5.

6 (3

0.7)

3.3

(10)

2.7

(8.0

)45

.35.

59.

014

.62.

812

.3B

ensu

lfuro

n50

205.

6 (3

1)1.

4 (1

.3)

5.0

(24)

5.3

(27.

3)3.

5 (1

1)2.

5 (6

.7)

50.8

6.5

6.5

13.5

3.0

11.2

Ben

sulfu

ron

6020

5.7

(31)

1.9

(3.3

)4.

9 (2

3)5.

5 (2

9.3)

3.0

(8)

2.4

(4.7

)50

.311

.16.

014

.11.

89.

6B

ensu

lfuro

n10

020

5.6

(31)

1.6

(2.0

)5.

1 (2

5)5.

1 (2

5.3)

2.7

(6)

1.4

(1.3

)50

.25.

86.

613

.51.

45.

4B

ensu

lfuro

n12

020

5.3

(27)

2.9

(10.

7)6.

2 (3

8)3.

9 (1

4.7)

1.8

(2)

2.1

(4.7

)44

.717

.99.

713

.50.

46.

9B

utac

hlor

1500

31.

1 (0

)2.

1 (4

.0)

6.4

(40)

5.1

(24.

7)6.

0 (3

5)2.

3 (4

.7)

0.0

12.7

11.5

13.6

8.7

9.7

Met

sulfu

ron+

Chl

orim

uron

420

8.5

(72)

1.0

(0.0

)1.

1 (0

)2.

1 (4

.0)

6.3

(39)

2.0

(4.0

)89

.20.

00.

09.

29.

111

.1W

eed

free

--

1.0

(0)

1.0

(0.0

)1.

0 (0

)1.

0 (0

.0)

1.0

(0)

1.0

(0.0

)0.

00.

00.

00.

00.

00.

0W

eedy

chec

k-

-8.

6 (7

3)7.

1 (5

2.0)

7.3

(52)

5.2

(28.

0)6.

6 (4

3)2.

5 (9

.3)

94.1

201.

912

.214

.09.

16.

4C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

0.5

1.7

0.5

2.9

0.5

2.6

4.3

35.6

1.0

4.1

0.6

12.4

*Orig

inal

figu

res i

n pa

rent

hese

s wer

e su

bjec

ted

to sq

uare

root

tran

sfor

mat

ion

(√X+1

) bef

ore

stat

istic

al a

naly

sis,

DAT

–Day

s afte

r tra

nspl

antin

g, B

LW–B

road

leaf

wee

ds.

28 Yadav, Sharma, Yadav, Lal and Mehta

Tabl

e 2.

Effe

ct o

f ben

sulfu

ron-

met

hyl a

lone

and

as t

ank-

mix

ture

with

but

achl

or o

n yi

eld

and

yiel

d at

trib

utes

of t

ranp

lant

ed ri

ce

Trea

tmen

tD

ose

Tim

ePl

ant h

eigh

tPa

nicl

e len

gth

Effe

ctiv

eG

rain

yie

ld(g

/ha)

(DAT

)(c

m)

(cm

)til

lers

/mrl

(kg/

ha)

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

2004

2005

Ben

sulfu

ron

403

99.0

93.1

21.7

21.4

60.0

56.5

6310

5349

Ben

sulfu

ron

503

97.7

92.6

22.1

21.5

60.0

52.2

6109

5401

Ben

sulfu

ron

603

97.8

94.5

21.8

21.6

63.3

50.5

5983

5684

Ben

sulfu

ron

100

397

.494

.921

.321

.862

.354

.858

2557

09B

ensu

lfuro

n12

03

98.2

92.7

21.7

22.1

61.3

53.0

5896

5478

Ben

sulfu

ron+

But

achl

or40

+938

398

.394

.522

.622

.279

.060

.267

7359

41B

ensu

lfuro

n+B

utac

hlor

50+9

383

99.1

94.0

22.5

21.9

77.7

54.5

6873

6173

Ben

sulfu

ron+

But

achl

or60

+938

399

.893

.722

.321

.978

.357

.568

0563

01B

ensu

lfuro

n30

2098

.693

.321

.921

.860

.051

.550

1652

47B

ensu

lfuro

n40

2097

.994

.221

.721

.662

.751

.352

5551

95B

ensu

lfuro

n50

2098

.595

.521

.921

.164

.356

.056

5455

81B

ensu

lfuro

n60

2098

.593

.921

.422

.362

.751

.058

9755

55B

ensu

lfuro

n10

020

98.5

92.9

21.9

21.9

63.7

53.0

5612

5375

Ben

sulfu

ron

120

2098

.094

.321

.921

.766

.051

.062

3754

01B

utac

hlor

1500

399

.794

.122

.321

.879

.761

.266

6358

90M

etsu

lfuro

n+C

hlor

imur

on4

2090

.294

.019

.921

.950

.051

.849

1757

98W

eedy

free

--

99.9

94.9

22.3

22.0

78.3

59.2

6827

6121

Wee

dy ch

eck

--

90.0

90.0

19.8

20.6

49.7

39.7

4440

2314

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)-

-2.

2N

S1.

10.

774.

58.

747

394

4

DAT

–Day

s afte

r tra

nspl

antin

g, m

rl–m

etre

row

leng

th. N

S–N

ot S

igni

fican

t.


plots of bensulfuron alone treatments.There was no phytotoxicity of bensulfuron at

any of the doses on the rice crop. Also there was noresidual toxicity of bensulfuron on the succeeding wheatcrop, the data in these respects have not been includedherein.

REFERENCES

Beyer, E. M. Jr., Duffy, M. L., Hay, J. V. and Schlueter, D. D.(1988). Sulfonylureas. In : Herbicides–Chemistry,Degradation and Mode of Action, Vol. 3., P. C. Kearneyand D. D. Kaufman (eds.). Marcel Dekker, New York.

pp. 117-89.

Mishra, J. S. (1997). Critical period of weed competition andlosses due to weeds in major field crops. Farmer &Parliament 23 : 19-20.

Puniya, R., Pandey, P. C. and Bisht, P. S. (2007). Performanceof trisulfuron, trisulfuron+pretilachlor and bensulfuron-methyl in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.). Indian J.Weed Sci. 39 : 120-22.

Singh, B. P., Singh, G. and Singh, M. (2004). Effect offenoxaprop-P-ethyl on transplanted rice and associatedweeds. Indian J. Weed Sci. 36 : 190-92.

30 Yadav, Sharma, Yadav, Lal and Mehta

Technological training need and interest of the farm women for rice cropcultivation operations in Haryana

URMILA DEVI AND SHASHI KANTA VERMADepartment of Home Science Extension Education, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to assess the training need and interest of the farm women for rice cultivation infour villages, two from Ladwa block (Kurukshetra) and two from Indri block (Karnal) of Haryana during 2004-05 and2005-06. A purposive proportionate sample of 170 farm women, who were actively involved in farming, was selectedfor the present study. The data were collected with the help of structured interview schedule. Most of the farm womenwere in young age group belonging to backward castes, illiterate, having low family education status, negligible socialparticipation, belonging to nuclear family with agriculture as their main occupation and low innovative proneness.Regarding information about input sources, use of localite sources was of high extent, while low cosmopolite and massmedia exposure. It is concluded that the storage and harvesting were found the most needed and interested trainingareas by farm women with the highest rank of 2.58 and 2.34 mean square, respectively, while the medium rank wasfound for weeding, transplanting, nursery raising, insect-pest management and manure and fertilizer application. Thelowest rank of 1.50 average square was found for land preparation and irrigation. Farm women reported their need andinterest for farming in rice cultivation. Therefore, need-based trainings for farm women should be organized in order toupdate their knowledge and skills thereby changing their attitude for cultivation of rice crop more effectively. Theseexperiences can also be utilized for other similar areas at global level for farm women.

Key words : Training need and interest, farm women, rice

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is the mainstay of nation’s economyespecially rural community of Haryana state. In ruralareas, women are equally the bread earners of the familyand work as much as men in various agriculturaloperations. A large number of farm women are engagedin farming operations, either as cultivators or helpers tocultivators or agricultural labourers. Women participatein most of the agricultural operations like manuring, landpreparation, sowing of seeds, transplanting, weeding,applying fertilizers, taking care of standing crops,harvesting, threshing, carrying the produce from farmto home, storage of food grains, cattle care andpreparation of manure pit. The success or failure of afarm depends mainly on the contribution made by farmwomen (Rani et al., 2001). Farm women are associateddirectly/indirectly with the agricultural operations. Sincewomen are exposed a little bit to formal education,imparting training to them on the agricultural work theyperform would help in improving quality of their work.

In view of the importance the women farmerdirect access to technological information sources, thepresent study was undertaken to make the profile offarm women and to assess the training need of thefarm women.


The study was conducted in Karnal andKurukshetra districts of Haryana state. Majra Rodan andKoyar villages were selected from Indri block, whereasBan and Sonti villages were selected from Ladwa blockwhich are situated in Karnal and Kurukshetra districts,respectively. From four selected villages, a proportionatesample of 170 farm women who were actively involvedin farming, was selected randomly.

Selected respondents were interviewedpersonally with the help of specially structured interviewschedule. Personal, social, economic, communicationand psychological variables were taken as independentvariables. The different areas in which women neededtraining were identified and categorized as landpreparation, sowing, nursery raising, transplanting,irrigation, manure and fertilizer application, weeding,insect-pest control, harvesting, threshing and storage,etc. Responses of women regarding their training needand interest were collected on a three-point continuum,namely, most needed and interested, somewhat neededand interested and least needed and interested with score3, 2 and 1, respectively. The aggregate score for eachitem and most preferred field of training were identified.The scores were tabulated and frequencies were

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 31-33 (2008)

calculated to know the percentage of respondents’requirement for training. The data were collected througha structured pre-tested interview schedule, tabulated andanalysed by using frequency, percentage, weighted meanscore and rank, etc.


Profile of the Farm Women

Background profile of the respondents in termsof age, caste, education of the respondents, familyeducation, social participation, family type, mainoccupation, localite source, cosmopolite, mass mediaand innovative proneness is presented in Table 1. Thedata indicated that 44.7% respondents were in youngage group followed by middle (38.2%) and old age group(17.1%). Less than half of respondents (41.5%) belongedto backward castes followed by general (30.3) andscheduled caste (28.2) categories. Less than 50%(41.1%) of the Karnal and Kurukshetra districtsrespondents were found illiterate and about one tenth ofthe respondents i. e. 12.9,11.8 and 10.6% were foundeducated upto middle level, can read only and can readand write, respectively. However, less than one tenth ofthe farm women i. e. 7.1, 6.5, 5.3 and 4.2% respondentswere found educated upto primary, high school, 10+2level and graduate level, respectively. A very meagerpercentage (0.6%) of the respondents was foundpostgraduate. A majority of the respondents’ family waspossessing low education level (60.6%) followed bymedium (30.6%) and high (8.8%) education level.

A majority of the respondents (84.7%) of farmwomen was not member of any social organization. Oncontrary to this 15.3% of them were members of onlyone social organization. The surprising results were foundin both the districts that none of the respondents waseither office-bearer, public leader or member of morethan one social organization. An overwhelming majority(89.4%) was belonging to nuclear families, whereasabout an equal percentage of the respondents i. e. 5.9and 4.8% was having joint and extended families,respectively. An overwhelming majority of therespondents (92.4%) had farming as their mainoccupation, whereas only 5.9% were found in serviceand no respondent was an agricultural labourer. A verysmall percentage of the respondents (1.8%) was havingbusiness as its main occupation.More than 70% of therespondents (72.4%) had high localite source of

Table 1. Background profile of the farm women

Variables Karnal and Kurukshetra (N=170)

Rice

Frequency Percentage

AgeYoung (Below 28 years) 76 44.7Middle (28-41 years) 65 38.2Old (Above 41 years) 29 17.1CasteGeneral 52 30.3Backward 70 41.5Scheduled 48 28.2Education of respondentIlliterate 70 41.0Can read only 20 11.8Can read and write 18 10.6Primary 12 7.1Middle 21 12.9High school 11 6.510+2 9 5.3Graduation 8 4.2Post-graduation 1 0.6Education of the familyLow 103 60.6Medium 52 30.6High 15 8.8Social participationMember of no organization 144 84.7Member of one organization 26 15.3Member of >1 organization - -Office bearer/holder - -Public leader - -Family typeNuclear 152 89.4Joint 10 5.9Extended 8 4.8Main occupationFarming 157 92.3Service 10 5.9Business 3 1.8Agricultural labour - -Localite source of informationLow 7 4.1Medium 40 23.5High 123 72.4Cosmopolite source of informationLow 107 63.0Medium 51 30.0High 12 7.0Mass mediaLow 93 54.7Medium 65 38.2High 12 7.1Innovative pronenessLow 94 55.3Medium 50 29.4High 26 15.3

32 Urmila Devi and Verma

information followed by medium (23.5%) and low(4.1%). Sixty per cent of the respondents in rice growingarea were having low cosmopolite source of information,whereas 30.0% of the farm women were having mediumand 7.1% women were having high cosmopolite sourceof information. About half of the respondents (54.7%)of rice growing area had low mass media exposure.Less than 40% (38.2%) of the respondents were havingmedium followed by only 7.1% with high mass mediaexposure. It was found that 55.3% of farm women werefound to have low innovative proneness, whereas 29.4%of the respondents had medium and 15.3% farmingwomen were having high innovative proneness.

Table 2. Technological training need and interest of the respondents for rice cultivationN=170

Practices Extent of need and interest Weighted Rankmean score

Most needed Somewhat Least needed Weightedand interested needed and and interested score

F (%) interested F (%)F (%)

Land preparation 26 (15.29) 34 (20.00) 110 (64.71) 256 1.51 IXSowing 78 (45.88) 49 (28.82) 43 (25.30) 375 2.21 IIINursery raising 66 (38.83) 54 (31.76) 50 (29.41) 356 2.09 VITransplanting 69 (40.59) 50 (29.41) 51 (30.00) 358 2.10 VIrrigation 23 (13.53) 38 (22.35) 109 (64.12) 254 1.49 XManure & fertilizer application 63 (37.06) 51 (30.00) 56 (32.94) 347 2.04 VIIIWeeding 75 (44.12) 56 (32.94) 39 (22.94) 376 2.21 IIIInsect-pest control 60 (35.29) 60 (35.29) 50 (29.42) 350 2.05 VIIHarvesting 91 (53.53) 46 (27.06) 33 (19.41) 398 2.34 IIThreshing 78 (45.88) 46 (27.06) 46 (27.06) 372 2.19 IVStorage 117 (68.82) 34 (20.00) 19 (11.18) 438 2.58 I

Maximum score is 3.Least needed and interested (low) 1-1.66Somewhat needed and interested (medium) 1.67-2.32Most needed and interested (high) 2.33-3.00

Technological Training Need and Interest ofRespondents for Rice Cultivation

The data regarding training need and interest offarm women for rice cultivation practices are presentedin Table 2. The highest rank was obtained by storage (I,MS 2.58), followed by harvesting (II, MS 2.34), whichwere also adjudged the most needed and interested trainingareas by farm women. The medium rank was assignedto weeding and sowing (III, MS 2.21), threshing (IV, MS2.19), transplanting (V, MS 2.10), nursery raising (VI,MS 2.09), insect pest control (VII, MS 2.05) and manureand fertilizer application (VIII, MS 2.04). The lowest rank

was assigned to only two practices, namely, landpreparation (IX, MS 1.51) and irrigation (X, MS 1.49).Similar findings were also arrived at by Ghuman andRandhawa (2000) and Ravichandran et al. (2000).

REFERENCES

Ghuman, P. and Randhawa, A. (2000). Training needs of farmwomen in agriculture in the selected agro-climatic zones

in Punjab. J. Res. Punjab agric. Univ. 37 : 239-45.

Rani, S., Devi, P. and Tandon, C. (2001). Characteristics ofrural women influencing their participation in majorcash crop production and homestead activities. All IndiaCo-ordinated Research Project.

Ravichandran, V., Muthammal, K. and Krishana, J. (2000).Training need of the farm women in rice cultivation. J.Ext. Edu. II : 2662-65.


Suitable methods of sowing and weed management in direct seeded riceBHAGAT SINGH, R. K. MALIK, ASHOK YADAV AND D. P. NANDAL

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Kaul (Haryana) to evaluate methods of sowingand weed management in direct seeded rice during 2005 and 2006. Planting methods in direct seeded rice did notinfluence the dry weight of total weeds. Pendimethalin 1.5 kg/ha (Pre-emergence) followed by one hand weeding 30DAS and Sesbania aculeate fb 2, 4-D resulted in significantly lower dry weight of weeds consequently resulting insuperior yield and yield attributes.

Key words : Direct seeded rice, sowing methods, weed management

INTRODUCTION

In most of South Asia, common practice ofestablishing rice in the rice-wheat rotation is transplantingafter puddling. It is practised mainly to check percolationlosses of water and control weeds effectively; however,destruction of soil structure adversely affects growthand yield of succeeding crops. Apart from this, it is anenergy intensive practice. Non-availability of labour fortransplanting, generally delays crop establishment leadingto considerable yield reduction. All these factors demanda change in rice production system. Direct seeding maybe another option for rice cultivation which eliminatesthe need for nursery raising and transplanting, reduceslabour cost by about 30% in addition to substantialreduction in total amount of water used as compared totransplanting of rice. However, a shift from transplantingto direct seeding of rice may aggravate the weed problem.Aerobic soil conditions and dry-tillage practices besidesalternate wetting and drying conditions are conducivefor germination and growth of highly competitive weeds,which cause grain yield losses of 50-91% (Singh et al.,2006). Herbicides are considered to be an alternative/supplement to hand weeding. Hence, it was planned toevaluate different pre- and post-emergence herbicidesto provide wider options to farmers for weedmanagement.


A field experiment was conducted at CCSHAUCollege of Agriculture Farm, Kaul, Haryana duringkharif 2005 and 2006. The experiment comprising sevenweed control treatments viz., weedy check, weed free

check, pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha (pre-emergence),cyhalofop at 90 g/ha (15-20 DAS) pretilachlor+safenerat 0.5 kg/ha (pre-emergence), pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha (pre-emergennce) fb one hand weeding at 30 DASand dhaincha (Sesbania aculeate) fb 2, 4-D at 0.5 kg/ha(30 DAS) in sub-plots and crop establishment methodspuddled, unpuddled, zero-tillage and dry seeding as mainplot treatments was laid out in a split plot design. VarietyHKR-126 was used with seed rate of 30 kg/ha. Cropwas raised with recommended package of practices.The field was dominanted by Echinochloa and Cyperusspp.


The dry weight of total weeds was notinfluenced significantly by planting methods throughoutthe crop period during 2005 and 2006 (Table 1). Amongweed control treatments averaged over planting methods,the maximum dry weight of total weeds was recordedin weedy check, which was significantly higher than allother weed control treatments. At 90 DAS, pendimethalinat 1.5 kg/ha (PE) fb one hand weeding at 30 DAS andSesbania fb 2, 4-D resulted in significantly lower dryweight of weeds as compared to other treatments. Amongdifferent herbicidal treatments, cyhalofop-butyl at 90 g/ha resulted in minimum dry weight of total weedsfollowed by pretilachlor+safener at 0.5 kg/ha andpendimethalin alone at 1.5 kg/ha (PE).

Among different herbicidal treatments,pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha (PE) fb hand weeding (30DAS) produced singificantly higher number of effectivetillers, grains per panicle and 1000-grain weightcompared to other weed control treatments, which was

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 34-36 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Eff

ect o

f diff

eren

t pla

ntin

g m

etho

ds a

nd w

eed

cont

rol t

reat

men

ts on

dry

wei

ght o

f tot

al w

eeds

, yie

ld a

ttrib

utes

and

yie

ld o

f dir

ect s

eede

d ri

ce

Trea

tmen

tD

ry w

eigh

t of

Effe

ctiv

e till

ers

Gra

ins/

1000

-gra

inG

rain

yie

ldSt

raw

yie

ldto

tal w

eeds

(No.

/m2 )

pani

cle

wei

ght (

g)(k

g/ha

)(k

g/ha

)(9

0 D

AS)

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

2005

2006

Plan

ting

met

hods

Unp

uddl

ed41

6.7

514.

621

0.2

208.

876

.073

.525

.224

.935

8033

0653

0748

78Pu

ddle

d37

5.0

419.

622

6.7

219.

977

.877

.025

.625

.339

4735

2658

0351

54Ze

ro-ti

llage

423.

154

6.3

236.

320

5.8

71.6

69.7

25.4

25.1

3834

3249

5571

4907

Red

uced

tilla

ge45

6.0

550.

321

6.9

199.

070

.768

.625

.124

.837

0831

6754

9347

31LS

D (P

=0.0

5)N

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

SW

eed

cont

rol t

reat

men

tsW

eed

free

chec

k0.

00.

031

9.1

290.

989

.986

.926

.225

.961

8655

1184

3177

41W

eedy

chec

k86

4.2

942.

011

0.0

100.

655

.353

.424

.424

.112

5210

9825

2422

41Se

sban

ia fb

2, 4

-D (3

5 D

AS)

321.

044

9.0

240.

623

8.1

86.5

83.6

25.5

25.2

4836

4263

7042

6125

Pend

imet

halin

at 1

.5 k

g/ha

(PE)

+HW

(30

DA

S)27

1.8

370.

030

0.7

278.

688

.485

.526

.025

.757

7651

0582

3573

33Pe

ndim

etha

lin a

t 1.5

kg/

ha (P

E)55

7.0

672.

021

7.0

195.

867

.167

.425

.024

.730

9524

8144

4935

78Pr

etila

chlo

r+sa

fene

r at 0

.5 k

g/ha

(PE)

499.

857

9.0

190.

018

8.5

62.3

59.3

24.8

24.5

2490

2277

4057

3672

Cyh

alof

op-b

utyl

at 9

0 g/

ha (1

5-20

DA

S)41

0.2

511.

818

0.4

166.

271

.569

.225

.325

.027

3524

5040

7037

32LS

D (P

=0.0

5)67

.379

.218

.616

.85.

85.

80.

30.

333

424

939

654

1


closely followed by Sesbania fb spray of 2, 4-D.Different herbicides applied alone produced statisticallysimilar yield attributes. Similar results were reported bySingh et al. (2006). The rice yields due to herbicidaltreatments were more than the weedy check but lowerthan weed-free conditions during both the years. Amongweed control treatments, the grain yield of rice followedthe treatment of pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha fb one handweeding at 30 DAS was almost 36% more than weedycheck and about 7% lower than weed free plots. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin at 1.0 kg/ha onthe 3rd DAS followed by hand weeding at 25 DASresulted in significantly higher grain yield of direct seededrice (Vairavan et al., 2000). Interculture of Sesbania fb2, 4-D also resulted in significantly higher yield thanother herbicidal treatments. The grain yield under thisintercropping system was comparable with two handweedings and better than recommended practices ofherbicides (Dubey and Varshney, 2006). However, whenherbicides applied alone were found at par amongthemselves. Among the herbicides, the treatment ofpendimethalin recorded the highest grain yield whichwas at par with pretilachlor (Selvam et al., 2001).

REFERENCES

Dubey, R. P. and Varshney, J. G. (2006). Integrated weed

management in direct-seeded upland rice in India.Abstracts. International Rice Congress, held at NewDelhi, India, Oct. 9-13, 2006. pp. 454.

Selvam, V., Boopathi, S. N. M. R., Al, N., Poonguzhalen, R.and Narayanan, A. (2001). Effect of time of sowingand weed management practices in semi-dry rice.Madras agric. J. 88 : 12-16.

Singh, Pratap V., Singh, S. P., Kumar, A. and Singh, M. K.(2006). Resource conservation through direct-seedingof rice (Oryza sativa) and zero-tillage of wheat (Triticumaestivum) in Indo-Gangetic plains of India. ExtendedSummaries. Golden Jubilee National Symposium onConservation Agriculture and Environment, Oct. 26-28, 2006. Indian Society of Agronomy, BHU, Varanasi,India. pp. 63-64.

Singh, U. P., Singh, Y., Singh, H. P. and Gupta, R. K. (2006).Farmers’ participatory on-farm evaluation of resourceconserving technologies in rice (Oryza sativa)-wheat(Triticum aestivum) cropping system. ExtendedSummaries. Golden Jubilee National Symposium onConservation Agriculture and Environment, Oct. 26-28, 2006. Indian Society of Agronomy, BHU, Varanasi,India. pp. 71-72.

Vairavan, K., Marimuthu, R. and Dhanakodi, C. V. (2000).Studies on the time of herbicide application underdifferent moisture regimes in upland rice. Madras agric.J. 86 : 266-68.

36 Singh, Malik, Yadav and Nandal

Productivity realisation in chickpea through front line demonstrations in south-west Haryana

RAMESH KUMAR, JAI LAL YADAV AND SUBE SINGH YADAVCCSHAU Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mahendergarh, India

ABSTRACT

Front line demonstrations on chickpea crop were conducted at farmers’ field for four years from 2004-05to 2007-08 in Mahendergarh district of Haryana state. Cultivation of chickpea by adopting improved technologyresulted in 28.8% yield increase over farmers’ practice. The additional returns, net effective gain and incrementalbenefit cost ratio (IBCR) with improved technology came out to be Rs. 5516/ha, Rs. 4268/ha and 4.41, respectively.The average extension and technology gaps were recorded as 309 and 975 kg/ha, respectively. The technology indexof 42.4% strongly indicated the technological inadequacies in chickpea cultivation in the district and productivity atfarmers’ field can be increased to sustainable level by adopting improved technology.

Key words : Front line demonstrations, chickpea, extension gap, technology gap, technology index

INTRODUCTION

Chickpea is an important rabi season pulse cropof Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar andHaryana states. Its productivity at national level is verylow (782 kg/ha). In Haryana, it is grown over 108thousand ha and 75% of it is in south-west part of thestate. Productivity of crop (843 kg/ha) at state level isvery low owing to its cultivation on marginal lands, non-availabilityof quality seed of improved varieties, poor orno use of phosphorus and bio-fertilizer, pod borerincidence, etc. These factors if managed properly cancontribute to rise in productivity of the crop. To exhibitthe importance of these factors in enhancing chickpeayield, front line demonstrations were conducted atfarmers’ fields.


The front line demonstrations on chickpea wereconducted at farmers’ fields in adopted villages viz.,Dhadhot, Mandola, Pali, Saidpur and Dalanwas ofMahendergarh district from 2004-05 to 2007-08. Thedistrict is located in southern part of the state. The soilsof these villages were low in nitrogen and phosphorusand medium to high in potash. The demonstrations wereconducted to demonstrate the effect of integratedresource management and enhance production potentialof pulses at farmers’ fields by using improved practicesand protection technologies. Improved practices of

chickpea production were followed in demonstrationplots. The improved practices included use of qualityseed, proper seed rate, seed treatment, recommendedfertilizer dose, weed control, timely irrigation and plantprotection measures. The plot size for demonstrationwas kept as 0.4 ha. High yielding variety of chickpeaviz., HC-1 with a seed rate of 40 kg/ha was sown indemonstration plots during all the years of study. Thedemonstration crop was sown at optimum time andperiod of sowing in different years ranging between 18and 25 October. Rainfall (50-70 mm) received inSeptember and October months permitted sowing ofcrop without pre-sowing irrigation except in 2005-06season when the crop was sown by applying pre-sowingirrigation. The demonstration yield of improved practiceswas compared with local check yield of farmers’practices. The yield gap, cost and returns were calculatedin the way suggested by Prasad et al. (1993) and Yadavet al. (1999). The following formulae were used :

(a) Extension gap=Improved practice yield–Farmers’practice yield

(b) Technology gap=Potential yield–Improved practice yield

(c) Potential yield–Improved practice yield

Technology index=___________________x 100 Potential yield

(d) Additional returns=Extension gap x Sale price

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 37-38 (2008)

(e) Incremental benefit Additional returnscost ratio (IBCR)=________________________

Additional cost of cash inputs(f) Effective gain=Additional returns–Additional cost


Use of improved practices including quality seed,proper seed rate, seed treatment, weed control,recommended fertiliser dose and plant protectionmeasures in demonstration plots increased crop yield overfarmers’ practice yield at all locations. The increase in

crop yield ranged from 27.3 to 31.7% in different yearswith an average increase of 28.8% (Table 1). The increasedyield was achieved with additional expenditure of Rs. 1249/ha under improved management over farmers’ practice(Table 2). Though additional cost was incurred, yet itresulted in average additional returns of Rs. 5516/ha andnet effective gain of Rs. 4268/ha (Table 2). The incrementalbenefit cost ratio (IBCR) was found to be ranging from3.85 to 5.26 in different years with an average of 4.41(Table 2) indicating that investments made on improvedpractices were quite useful in chickpea.

The average extension gap indicating yieldTable 1. Performance and gap analysis of front line demonstrations on chickpea at farmers’ fields in Mahendergarh district

Year No. of Yield (kg/ha) Per cent Extension Technology Technologydemonstrations increase gap gap index

Potential Improved Farmers’ (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (%)practice practice

2004-05 13 2300 1300 1000 30.0 300 1000 43.52005-06 10 2300 1350 1025 31.7 325 950 41.32006-07 10 2300 1250 990 26.3 260 1050 45.72007-08 10 2300 1400 1100 27.3 350 900 39.1Average - 2300 1325 1029 28.8 309 975 42.4

Table 2. Economic analysis of front line demonstrations on chickpea at farmers’ field in Mahendergarh district

Year Cost of cash inputs Additional Additional Effective IBCR(Rs./ha) cost returns gain

(Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha)Improved Farmers’practice practice

2004-05 2540 1425 1115 4500 3385 4.042005-06 2540 1340 1200 5365 4165 4.472006-07 3160 1810 1350 5200 3850 3.852007-08 2730 1400 1330 7000 5670 5.26Average 2742 1494 1249 5516 4268 4.41

difference was 309 kg/ha (Table 1) which could be attributedto poor or no management of key production and protectionfactors such as quality seed, application of phosphorus,bio-fertiliser, pod borer control, etc. The extension gap andadditional yield obtained speak about scope of managementof these factors. Although the front line demonstrations(FLD) were conducted under the supervision of scientistsand with recommended technology, a wide gap (900-1050kg/ha) between the potential yield and demonstration yieldwith improved practices was noticed in various years withaverage technology gap of 975 kg/ha (Table 1).

The technology gap indicates that potential effectof technology was not obtained in real farming situation.The technology index shows the feasibility of improvedtechnology on farmers’ field. The lower the value of thetechnology index, more is the feasibility of thetechnology. The average technology index was 42.4%(Table 1). The results of the demonstrations corroborate

with the findings of Prasad et al. (1993) and Sidhu etal. (2003) with respect to pulses and oilseeds.

REFERENCES

Prasad, Y., Rao, E., Manchar, M. and Vijay Bhinanda, R.(1993). Analysis of on-farm trials and levels oftechnology on oilseeds and pulse crops in NorthernTelangana Zone of Andhra Pradesh. Ind. J. agric. Econ.48 : 351-56.

Sidhu, B. S., Singh, T. P. and Sharma, K. (2003). Productivityrealization and diversification through front linedemonstrations (oilseeds and pulses). Bulletin.K. V. K., Ferozpur, P. A. U., Ludhiana. pp. 20.

Yadav, Y. P., Singh, B. and Kumar, A. (1999). Evaluation offront line demonstration trials on mustard in south-western region of Haryana. Haryana agric. Univ. J.Res. 29 : 39-42.

38 Kumar, Yadav and Yadav

Soil health management through integrated nitrogen management in grainamaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.)

L. J. DESAI, M. M. PATEL, MANISH M. PATEL AND B. M. PATELDepartment of Agronomy,, S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar-385 506, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during rabi seasons of 2004-05 and 2005-06 to study the integratednitrogen management in grain amaranth (GA-2) (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.). Application of 100% RDN(50% N vermicompost and 50% N urea) recorded an increase of 21.4 kg/ha in available N, 2.47 kg/ ha in available Pand 10.5 kg/ha in available K status of soil after harvest of second crop over the initial values. There was a positivebalance of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium over initial status under treatments where100% RDN wasapplied either 50% through vermicompost+50% through urea or 75% through vermicompost+25% through urea.Seed inoculation with Azotobacter and Azospirillum increased available nitrogen to the tune of 11.3 and 9.0% andavailable phosphorus by 6.5 and 5.8% after harvest of second crop over control, respectively. The bacterial countswere also observed higher under treatment where 100% RDN was applied (50% through vermicompost and 50%through urea) (8.93 x 104 cuf/g) followed by treatment when 100% RDN was applied (75% through vermicompostand 25% through urea) (8.71 x 104 cuf/g).

Key words : Vermicompost, urea, soil fertility, bacterial counts, grain amaranth

INTRODUCTION

Increased usage of chemical fertilizers withoutadequate organic recycling has not only aggravated multi-nutrient deficiencies in soil-plant system, but alsodeteriorated soil health and created environmentalpollution. The use of vermicompost facilitates andactivates incorporation of earthworms in the field.Microbial population was increased more than five timesover control by application of vermicompost (Rout etal., 2001). Bio-fertilizer acts as complimentary andsupplementary source of plant nutrients. Application oforganic manure alongwith Azospirillum enhances Nfixation to the tune of 10-20 kg/ha/year (Shroff, 1990).The proper use of bio-fertilizer to crops not only provideseconomic benefit to the farmers, but also improves andmaintains the soil fertility and sustainability in naturalecosystem. For increasing crop production, use ofchemical fertilizer alone is not sustainable on long termbasis since it may lead to nutrient imbalance. On theother hand, total N requirement of the crop is too largeto meet through organic manure and/or bio-fertilizerwhich is not possible. It is being increasingly realisedthat combined application of organic manure, chemicalfertilizer and bio-fertilizer is essential to maintain andimprove the soil fertility and productivity. Besides this,with the escalating cost of energy based fertilizermaterials, integrated nutrient supply approach,

combining organic and biological sources alongwithchemical fertilizer would be more remunerative for gettinghigher returns with considerable fertilizer economy.Therefore, the study on integrated nitrogen managementin grain amaranth was carried out.


A field experiment was conducted during rabiseasons of 2004-05 and 2005-06 at Regional ResearchStation, S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagarto study the integrated nitrogen management in grainamaranth (GA-2) (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) onloamy sand soils. The soil was very low in organic carbon(0.12%) and available nitrogen (166.2 kg/ha) and mediumin available phosphorus (31.33 kg/ha) and available potash(233 kg/ha). The experiment comprising 10 nitrogenmanagement treatments viz., N1 : control, N2 : 100% RDN(60 kg N/ha through urea), N3 : 75% RDN (urea), N4 :50% RDN (urea), N5 : 100% RDN (50% throughvermicompost+50% through urea), N6 : 100% RDN (75%through vermicompost+25% through urea), N7 : 75%RDN (50% through vermicompost+50% through urea),N8 : 75% RDN (75% through vermicompost+25%through urea), N9 : 50% RDN (50% throughvermicompost+50% through urea) and N10 : 50% RDN(75% through vermicompost+25% through urea) andthree bio-fertilizer treatments viz., B1 : no bio-fertilizer, B2

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 39-41 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Soi

l hea

lth m

anag

emen

t thr

ough

inte

grat

ed n

itrog

en m

anag

emen

t in

grai

n am

aran

th (A

mar

anth

us h

ypoc

hond

riac

us L

.)

Trea

tmen

tAv

aila

ble n

utrie

nts (

kg /h

a)B

acte

rial

coun

tsN

P 2O5

K2O

(cuf

x 1

04 /

g so

il)In

itial

Afte

rA

fter

Bala

nce

Initi

alA

fter

Afte

rBa

lanc

eIn

itial

Afte

rA

fter

Bal

ance

valu

efir

stse

cond

(+ o

r -)

valu

efir

stse

cond

(+ o

r -)

valu

efir

stse

cond

(+ o

r -)

Afte

rA

fter

crop

crop

crop

crop

crop

crop

first

seco

ndcr

opcr

op

Nitr

ogen

man

agem

ent

N1

166.

213

5.9

125.

5- 4

0.5

31.3

328

.426

.6- 4

.33

233.

021

0.6

208.

7- 2

4.3

6.61

7.43

N2

166.

216

8.0

158.

4 -

7.8

31.3

332

.130

.8- 0

.53

233.

022

8.8

225.

5 -

7.5

7.35

8.47

N3

166.

215

7.9

151.

1- 1

5.1

31.3

330

.429

.8- 1

.53

233.

022

6.6

224.

9 -

8.1

7.29

7.96

N4

166.

214

6.0

141.

8- 2

4.4

31.3

329

.828

.0- 3

.33

233.

022

2.4

219.

3- 1

3.7

6.80

7.50

N5

166.

217

3.3

187.

9+

21.4

31.3

332

.633

.8+

2.47

233.

023

9.7

243.

5+

10.5

7.81

8.93

N6

166.

216

7.8

180.

0+

13.8

31.3

331

.732

.2+

0.87

233.

023

7.9

240.

2 +

7.2

7.72

8.71

N7

166.

216

2.3

174.

1 +

7.9

31.3

330

.331

.0- 0

.33

233.

023

4.0

234.

8 +

1.8

7.40

8.22

N8

166.

215

8.4

172.

4 +

6.2

31.3

330

.130

.7- 0

.63

233.

023

2.7

230.

9 -

2.1

7.31

7.97

N9

166.

214

8.2

157.

1 -

9.1

31.3

329

.930

.6- 0

.73

233.

022

7.2

225.

5 -

7.5

6.94

7.59

N10

166.

214

5.5

152.

4- 1

3.8

31.3

329

.529

.7- 1

.63

233.

022

0.7

218.

8-1

4.2

7.01

7.49

LSD

(P=0

.05)

12.7

13

.12.

1

1.7

NS

17

.30.

660.

71B

io-f

erti

lizer

B1

166.

214

9.1

149.

9- 1

6.3

31.3

328

.829

.1- 2

.23

233.

022

4.8

225.

9- 7

.15.

726.

46B

216

6.2

160.

216

6.8

+ 0.

631

.33

31.4

31.0

- 0.3

323

3.0

229.

722

7.4

- 5.6

8.02

8.91

B3

166.

215

9.0

163.

4- 2

.831

.33

31.2

30.

8

- 0.5

323

3.0

229.

722

8.3

- 4.7

7.93

8.72

LSD

(P=0

.05)

7.0

7

.21.

10.

9N

S

NS

0.36

0.39

40 Desai, Patel, Patel and Patel

: Azotobacter and B3 : Azospirillum was laid out in factorialrandomized block design with three replications. The cropwas fertilized with 60 kg N and 40 kg P2O5/ha. Fornitrogen application, nitrogen was applied as per thetreatment through urea and vermicompost, half quantityof nitrogen and required quantity of vermicompost asbasal application and remaining half N at the time of secondirrigation as per treatment. For phosphorus application,phosphorus obtained from vermicompost was deductedfrom the total phosphorus required to crop and remainingphosphorus through single super phosphate (SSP) wasapplied as a basal dose in ploughed furrows before sowing.


Effect of Nitrogen Management

Available N, P2O5 and K2O in soil after harvestof crop was increased significantly with 100% RDNthrough integrated source (N5 and N6) during both theyears (Table 1). The application of fertilizer at 100%RDN (50% N through vermicompost and 50% N throughurea) i. e. N5 recorded an increase of 21.4 kg/ha inavailable N, 2.47 kg/ha in available P2O5 and 10.5 kg/hain available K2O status of soil over the initial values afterharvest of second crop. Looking to the balance ofavailable nitrogen, there was a positive balance of availablenitrogen 21.4, 13.8, 7.9 and 6.2 kg/ha over initial statusunder treatments N5, N6, N7 and N8, respectively. Statusof available P2O5 was also improved over initial statusunder 100% RDN through integrated nitrogenmanagement, whereas it was slightly decreased in 100%RDN through inorganic sources after second year. Themaximum build-up of available P2O5 was with N5 and itwas to the tune of 7.9% after the harvest of secondcrop over initial value. There was an increase in availabilityof K2O under N5 to the tune of 4.5% after harvest ofsecond crop over initial value. The build-up in availableN, P2O5 and K2O status of the soil under integratedsources is attributed to the residual effect of combinedapplication of vermicompost and urea and to themineralization of the nutrients from the native sourceduring the process of decomposition. The work carriedout by Bhandari et al. (1992) is also supported by thepresent findings.

Effect of Bio-fertilizers

The available nitrogen and phosphorus were

significantly influenced by bio-fertilizers, while K statusremained unchanged. Seed inoculation with Azotobacterand Azospirillum increased available nitrogen status ofsoil to the tune of 11.3 and 9.0% and available phosphorusvalue in soil by 6.5 and 5.8% over control, respectively,after harvest of second crop. The bacterial count inspecific medium in post-harvest rhizosphere soil of grainamaranth crop showed maximum count under 100%RDN from integrated sources (N5) during both the years.As the nitrogen level was higher in the form of inorganic(N2), the bacterial counts fell from 8.93 x 104 cuf/g under(N5) to 8.47 x 104 cuf/g under N2 after harvest of secondcrop, whereas the bacterial counts 8.71 x 104 cuf/g underN6. The increase in bacterial count under N5 was to thetune of 20.2 and 5.4% over control and N2, respectively,after harvest of second crop. Among the bio-fertilizers,Azotobacter and Azospirillum seed inoculation treatmentsrecorded 37.9 and 35.0% higher bacterial count overcontrol after harvest of second crop. This finding isalso supported by earlier work of Prasad (1984),Subbarao et al. (1984) and Ganguly et al. (1997).

REFERENCES

Bhandari, A. L., Sood, A., Sharma, K. N. and Rana, D. S.(1992). Integrated nutrient management in rice-wheatsystem. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 40 : 742-47.

Ganguly, T. K., Jana, A. K. and Moitra, D. N. (1997). Possiblecontribution of Azospirillum to the nutritional status ofjute-maize system grown in clay loam of AericHaplaquept. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 45 : 197-98.

Prasad, N. N. (1984). Effect of certain organic amendments andpotassium on the bacterization of rice with Azotobacterchroococcum. Proc. Working Group Meeting held atICRISAT Centre, India, 9-12 October, pp. 107-09.

Rout, D., Satapathy, M. R. and Mohpatra, B. K. (2001). Effectof biofertilizers on nitrogen economy in maize (Zeamays). Madras agric. J. 88 : 530-32.

Shroff, V. N. (1990). Role of bio-fertilizers in crop production inIndian agriculture. Farmers and Parliament 25 : 7-10.

Subbarao, N. S., Tilak, K. V. B. R., Singh, C. S. and Nair, P.V. (1984). Yield and nitrogen gains of sorghum asinfluenced by Azospirillum brasilense. Proc. WorkingGroup Meeting held at ICRISAT Centre, India, 9-12October. pp. 69-70.


Credit utilization advancement and overdues of Primary AgriculturalCooperative Societies in Karnataka state

A. ASHOK PUJARI, K. S. SUHAG, D. P. MALIK AND K. K. KUNDUDepartment of Agricultural Economics, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

The present study was undertaken on the cooperative institutions network in Karnataka state to studypattern of credit advancement of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), to examine recovery performanceof societies and to work out credit delinquency rate of PACS. Based on 10 years (1996-97 to 2005-06) publishedsecondary data, the investigation revealed that the share of agricultural credit covered more than 69.71% of totalcredit advanced. Among the total amount of agricultural credit advanced, short term credit constituted about 81.70to 91.00%. In purpose-wise classification of agricultural credit advanced by PACS, the share of APS credit washighest in total credit advanced. Out of the APS credit, CPGS occupied maximum share of 86.67 to 96.19% of totalamount of credit advanced. The mounting amount of overdues indicated the weakness of PACS in the state. Thepositive values of delinquency rate indicated that the amount of credit recovered was less than the credit outstanding.The majority of credit overdues were within one year or less from the due date. The PACS should initiate concretesteps to convince the rural people for deposit mobilization. Suitable measures should be adopted for timelyrecovery of credit and reduce amount of overdues. Credit should be properly utilized for productive purpose.

Key words : Karnataka, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, credit studies

INTRODUCTION

Majority of farmers do not have sufficient ownedfunds to utilize intensive new farm technology. The lackof credit with farm services and supplies compels farmersto approach various financial agencies. The institutionalsources of finance for agriculture play an important rolein enhancing agricultural production. Cooperative creditinstitutions are solely designed for promoting the interestsof borrowers themselves mutually on the basis of equalityand equity. The main objective of liberalization ofcooperative credit is to increase farm income throughjudicious use of their inputs, besides to save them fromexploitation by non-institutional credit agencies.

The performance of cooperatives is far fromstatisfactory both spatially and temporally as evidencedfrom mounting overdues. For designing the appropriatefinancial polices, it is extremely essential to assess thepattern of credit advancement and overdues ofcooperative credit societies in the state. The present studywas undertaken to study pattern of credit disbursementof Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, to examinerecovery performance of societies and to work out creditdelinquency rate of PACS.


Karnataka was purposively selected for this

study on the basis of well established cooperativeinstitutions network. The study was undertaken basedon secondary data pertaining to number of societies,credit advancement, credit outstanding, credit recoveryand overdues, etc. of Karnataka state for the period of10 years (1996-97 to 2005-06) from published sources.

The functional structure of credit/pattern ofcredit disbursement has been studied in terms (a) thecredit extended to increase the demand for investmentgoods by farmers (termed as credit to agriculturalproduction sub-system, i. e. APS), (b) the credit toinduce the distribution of these goods (termed as creditto agricultural inputs distribution sub-system i. e. AIS)and (c) the credit for farm produce marketing andprocessing sub-system i. e. AMPS. The AMPS includedcredit advanced for marketing and processing activitiesof different societies including weaver’s societies, smallscale industries, agro-processing industries, etc. Theanalysis on APS credit has been carried out for threedifferent types of such credit; these are (a) the creditthat encourages current production growth and stability(CPGS), (b) the credit for current production,diversification and growth (CPGS) and (c) the creditfor current production, diversification and growth(CPDG) and (c) the credit for current production lossminimization (CPLM).

The CPGS credit included crop credit and short

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 42-46 (2008)

term credit for sinking or repair of wells and tanks, dieselengines and electric motors, other lift irrigation devices,agricultural implements and machineries, bullocks,camels and carts, purchase of storage bins andimprovements to land. The CPDG credit includedpurchase of milch cattle, poultry birds, sheep, goat, pig,bio-gas units, pisciculture and CPLM credit was forconversion, rephasement and rescheduling of past creditand for debt redemption. Delinquency rate was measuredas hundred minus credit recovered to those outstanding.

The conventional statistical techniques likeaverage, percentage and compound growth rate (CGR)were computed to draw meaningful inferences.

The CGR for selected variables was computedas under :

Y=ABx

Where,Y=Variable for which the growth rate was calculated.A=ConstantB=I+r, r being the growth rateX=Time period in years (taking 1996-97 as a base year)CGR (%) has been calculated by the formula

given below :

CGR=[Anti log (Long B)-1] x 100The delinquency rate was calculated using the

formula given below :

Loans recoveredDelinquency rate=100- _______________x 100

Loans outstanding


Credit-Deposit Ratio

The working capital increased more than doubleover a period of 10 years as result of increase inborrowings, owned funds and share of Govt. Theamount of credit advanced by PACS was mainly coveredby borrowings which were obtained from apex financialinstitutions. C-D ratio did not exhibit any trend and inthe range of 1.80 to 2.61% in study period (Table 1).The credit and deposit showed greater increasing trendexcept for the years 2003-04 and 2004-05. Thesignificant increase in credit and deposit was noticed in

the study period as a result of increase in membership.The finding was consistent with that of Yadav (1999).The higher value of C-D ratio showed the inefficiencyof PACS to attract enough deposits. The PACS shouldinitiate concrete steps to convince the rural people fordeposit mobilization.

Pattern of Credit Disbursement

The amount of credit extended by PACSincreased from Rs. 1048.51 crores in 1996-97 toRs. 2308.66 crores in 2005-06 showing an increasingtrend (Table 1). The societies advanced both short(expenditure on current agricultural operations likepurchase of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, payments tohired labourers, payments for hired machinery charges,etc.) and medium term credit (digging or repair of wells,purchase of cattle, reclamation of land, etc.). The shareof agricultural credit (69.71 to 92.31%) covered mostof total credit advanced. It stood to Rs. 967.80 croresin 1996-97 and reached to Rs. 1684.32 crores in 2005-06. Among the total amount of agricultural creditadvanced, short term credit played dominant role andits share ranged between 81.70 to 91.00% with irregulartrend. In case of medium term credit, it was Rs. 103.54crores in 1996-97 and reached to Rs. 264.40 crores in2005-06. Non-agricultural credit accounted for 7.72 to27.01% of total credit advanced during this period butout of which short-term non-agricultural credit (64.88to 84.45%) covered most part of it. The credit foragricultural purposes was the major portion of total creditadvanced by PACS. The crop credit enabled thecultivators to employ modern inputs in cultivation ofcrops for higher productivity.

Purpose-wise Pattern of Credit Advanced

In purpose-wise classification of agriculturalcredit advanced by PACS, the share of APS credit washighest in total credit advanced i. e. 92.03 to 98.40%thereby inducing the demand for investment goods bythe cultivators (Table 2). The AMPS credit occupiedsecond place in the total credit advanced and AIS remainedmeager. Out of the APS credit, CPGS occupied maximumshare of 86.67 to 96.19% of total amount of creditadvanced followed by CPDG and lastly CPLM. The mostof the credit was extended to encourage CPGS whichinvolved short term credit advanced for purchase of inputs,term credit for sinking or repair of wells and tanks, diesel


Tabl

e 1.

Wor

king

cap

ital,

depo

sit

and

cred

it ad

vanc

emen

t by

PA

CS

(Rs.

cro

res)

Year

Wor

king

Cre

dit

Dep

osit

C-D

Agr

icul

tura

l cre

dit

Non

-agr

icul

tura

l cre

dit

capi

tal

ratio

STM

TTo

tal

%ag

e sha

reST

MT

Tota

l%

age s

hare

of to

tal

of to

tal

cred

itcr

edit

1996

-97

2018

.81

1048

.51

508.

812.

0686

4.26

103.

5496

7.80

92.3

166

.35

14.3

680

.71

7.72

(89.

30)

(10.

70)

(100

.00)

(82.

21)

(17.

79)

(100

.00)

1997

-98

2196

.30

1106

.73

490.

202.

2687

1.19

129.

2310

00.4

290

.42

89.7

816

.53

106.

319.

58(8

7.08

)(1

2.92

)(1

00.0

0)(8

4.45

)(1

5.55

)(1

00.0

0)19

98-9

922

42.7

411

65.7

456

3.26

2.07

970.

1995

.93

1066

.12

91.5

174

.82

24.8

099

.62

8.54

(91.

00)

(9.0

0)(1

00.0

0)(7

5.11

)(2

4.89

)(1

00.0

0)19

99-2

000

2569

.81

1348

.54

665.

102.

0310

07.8

214

6.60

1154

.42

85.6

014

0.61

53.5

119

4.12

14.3

9(8

7.30

)(1

2.70

)(1

00.0

0)(7

2.43

)(2

7.57

)(1

00.0

0)20

00-0

127

13.4

017

43.9

471

7.60

2.43

1174

.92

227.

1814

02.1

080

.42

238.

5210

3.32

34.1

819

.57

(83.

80)

(16.

20)

(100

.00)

(69.

78)

(30.

22)

(100

.00)

2001

-02

2921

.53

1840

.52

704.

072.

6110

87.2

324

3.58

1330

.81

72.3

133

7.81

171.

9050

9.71

27.6

8(8

1.70

)(1

8.30

)(1

00.0

0)(6

6.27

)(3

3.73

)(1

00.0

0)20

02-0

335

56.4

519

48.9

410

82.1

31.

8011

22.0

423

6.28

1358

.32

69.7

138

9.21

201.

4159

0.62

30.2

7(8

2.60

)(1

7.40

)(1

00.0

0)(6

5.90

)(3

4.10

)(1

00.0

0)20

03-0

430

38.6

315

50.2

277

4.75

2.00

1064

.50

185.

0012

49.5

080

.61

195.

1210

5.60

300.

7219

.38

(85.

19)

(14.

81)

(100

.00)

(64.

88)

(35.

12)

(100

.00)

2004

-05

3177

.83

1609

.03

771.

872.

0811

42.4

218

7.59

1330

.01

82.6

218

1.61

97.4

127

9.02

17.3

9(8

5.90

)(1

4.10

)(1

00.0

0)(6

5.09

)(3

4.91

)(1

00.0

0)20

05-0

647

03.9

323

08.6

610

26.8

52.

2514

19.9

126

4.41

1684

.32

73.0

141

6.82

207.

5262

4.34

27.0

1(8

4.30

)(1

5.70

)(1

00.0

0)(6

6.76

)(3

3.24

)(1

00.0

0)C

GR

(%

)8.

047.

747.

894.

3810

.06

5.10

19.7

033

.90

24.9

3

Figu

res i

n pa

rent

hese

s ind

icat

e th

e pe

r cen

t sha

re o

f sho

rt an

d m

ediu

m te

rm c

redi

t to

tota

l cre

dit.

44 Pujari, Suhag, Malik and Kundu

engines and electric motors, other lift irrigation devices,agricultural implements & machinery, bullocks, camels,carts, purchase of storage bins and improvement to land.

Recovery Performance

The credit outstanding, recovered and overduesof PACS in the state were Rs. 1172.88, 879.34 and 293.54crores in 1996-97 and reached to Rs. 2620.30, 1647.38and 972.92 crores in 2005-06 with an annual growth rateof 7.76, 3.34 and 17.38%, respectively (Table 3).Percentage of overdues to credit outstanding rangedbetween 20.54 and 46.47%, whereas in case of overduesto credit recovered it was between 53.39 and 79.43%.The mounting amount of overdues indicated the weaknessof PACS in the state. The finding is consistent with thoseof Khatkar et al. (1994) and Reddy and Chengappa(1995). The PACS should adopt suitable measures fortimely recovery of credit and reduce amount of overdues.Attention should be given for proper utilization of credit.

Extent of Credit Overdues

The majority of overdues were within one year

or less from the due date. Its share out of total overduesranged between 39.25% in 1996-97 and reached to46.12% in 2005-06. Moderate overdues (credit non-repayment stood within three years from the due date)stood to 86.95% in 1996-97 and reached to 88.73% in2005-06 (Table 3). Chronic overdues or bad anddoubtful debts (non-repayment > 3 years from due date)were 13.05% in 1996-97 but in 2005-06 declinedmarginally to 11.27%. During the entire period of study,the overdues for different periods showed irregulartrends.

Sometimes, cultivators were not able to repaythe credit amount as a result of low production due tooccurrence of insect-pests and incidence of naturalcalamities. These findings were also supported by Prasad(2005). To minimize the amount of overdues, a wellplanned recovery campaign should be launched wellahead of due dates. The borrowers should be convincedto avoid increasing burden as result of increasing amountof interest for non-repayment of credit.

Delinquency Rate

The delinquency rate did not indicate any

Table 2. Purpose-wise classification of loans advanced (Rs. crores)

Year Total APS Total % of APS AMPS AISloans APS loans over

advanced CPGS CPDG CPLM total loans

1996-97 1048.51 948.06 52.22 17.44 1017.72 97.06 26.43 4.36(93.15) (5.13) (1.72) (100.00)

1997-98 1106.73 1026.49 50.97 11.54 1089.00 98.40 14.20 3.53(94.26) (4.68) (1.06) (100.00)

1998-99 1165.74 1069.55 27.80 23.64 1120.99 96.16 37.41 7.34(95.41) (2.48) (2.11) (100.00)

1999-2000 1348.54 1176.88 17.89 46.71 1241.48 92.06 69.01 38.05(94.80) (1.44) (3.76) (100.00)

2000-01 1743.94 1485.51 87.36 34.05 1606.92 92.14 114.14 22.84(92.44) (5.44) (2.12) (100.00)

2001-02 1840.52 1516.03 192.94 40.24 1749.21 95.04 75.66 15.65(86.67) (11.03) (2.30) (100.00)

2002-03 1948.94 1782.83 50.58 55.95 1889.36 96.94 47.88 11.70(94.37) (2.67) (2.96) (100.00)

2003-04 1550.22 1317.83 50.75 109.81 1478.39 95.37 57.74 14.09(89.14) (3.43) (7.43) (100.00)

2004-05 1609.03 1433.19 41.05 27.28 1501.52 93.32 90.16 17.35(95.45) (2.73) (1.82) (100.00)

2005-06 2308.66 2120.77 51.37 32.72 2204.86 95.50 85.29 18.49(96.19) (2.33) (1.48) (100.00)

CGR (%) 7.74 7.47 3.06 12.82 7.50 14.83 15.29

Figures in parentheses represent over total APS loans.


Table 3. Credit outstanding, credit recovery and period-wise classification of overdues (Rs. crores)

Year Loans Loans Overdues Overdues Delinquencyoutstanding recovered rate (%)

1 year & 1 to 2 2 to 3 3 years Over 3less years years or less years

(Moderate) (Chronic)

1996-97 1172.88 879.34 293.54 115.21 84.15 55.87 255.23 38.31 -7.02(24.91) (75.08) (39.25) (28.67) (19.03) (86.95) (13.05)

1997-98 1354.72 1056.11 298.61 123.34 82.21 55.92 261.47 37.14 -2.34(22.07) (77.03) (41.30) (27.53) (18.73) (87.56) (12.44)

1998-99 1568.12 1245.48 322.64 146.17 83.82 66.92 285.89 36.75 4.04(20.54) (79.43) (45.30) (25.98) (20.73) (88.61) (11.39)

1999-2000 1872.34 1456.84 435.50 196.60 112.20 80.01 388.81 46.69 10.13(23.04) (77.04) (45.14) (25.76) (18.38) (89.28) (10.72)

2000-01 2077.68 1350.13 727.55 324.94 191.27 129.43 645.64 81.91 21.32(35.07) (65.07) (44.66) (26.29) (17.79) (88.74) (11.26)

2001-02 2186.62 1440.48 746.14 324.21 216.82 119.17 660.20 85.94 43.31(34.15) (65.75) (43.45) (29.06) (15.97) (88.48) (11.52)

2002-03 2248.35 1202.09 1046.26 447.75 309.64 140.21 897.60 148.66 48.63(46.47) (53.39) (42.80) (29.59) (13.40) (85.79) (14.21)

2003-04 1953.02 1065.52 887.50 368.50 254.02 131.43 753.95 133.55 47.92(45.43) (54.54) (41.52) (28.62) (14.81) (84.95) (15.05)

2004-05 2210.26 1258.60 951.66 424.61 251.34 148.52 824.47 127.19 42.97(43.12) (56.87) (44.62) (26.40) (15.61) (86.63) (13.37)

2005-06 2620.30 1647.38 972.92 448.69 246.23 168.37 863.29 109.63 39.33(37.09) (62.75) (46.12) (25.30) (17.31) (88.73) (11.27)

CGR (%) 7.76 3.34 17.38 18.48 17.21 14.08 17.19 18.50

Figures in parentheses in column 2 represent percentage of overdues to loan advanced; in column 3 percentages of overdues to loansrecovered and in columns 5 to 9 represent relative percentages.

uniform trend over the period. The highest delinquencyrate registered was 48.63% (Table 3). The positive valuesof delinquency rate were attained in most of the yearsindicating that the amount of credit recovered was lessthan the credit outstanding.

REFERENCES

Khatkar, R. K., Hasija, R. C. and Pardeep Kumar (1994).Trend of agricultural credit and overdues in Haryana.Agric. Banker 18 : 27-28.

Prasad, A. (2005). Recovery performance and overdues of selected

primary agricultural cooperative societies in westGodavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Indian CooperativeRev. 43 : 711-18.

Reddy, Babu and Chengappa, P. G. (1995). Operational growthof primary cooperative agricultural and ruraldevelopment banks in Karnataka : An analysis. IndianCooperative Rev. 33 : 129-37.

Yadav, Dinesh Singh (1999). Performance and prospects ofagricultural cooperative credit societies in block Bilhaurdistrict Kanpur-Dehat (U. P.). Indian Cooperative Rev.37 : 74-78.

46 Pujari, Suhag, Malik and Kundu

Buying behaviour of the farmers regarding cotton seeds in HaryanaSATYAVIR SINGH DALAL AND VINOD KUMAR BISHNOI

Haryana School of Business, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar-125 001, India

ABSTRACT

The present study ascertained the buying behaviour of the farmers towards cotton seeds in Haryana.The counts, percentage and chi-square have been used to examine farmers’ awareness level regarding differentvarieties of cotton seeds, usage, point of purchase, mode of purchase and sources of information. A largenumber of the farmers were aware of majority of the varieties available in the market. It was found that withthe increasing level of education and land ownership, the farmers were using multiple varieties of seeds. Amajority of the farmers buy seeds in anticipation of good yield but largely depend upon private shops and buyon credit.

Key words : Buying behaviour, cotton seeds, yield

INTRODUCTION

India is the third largest cotton producer in theworld after China and the United States (Mohanty etal., 2003). China with half the area under cottonproduction compared to India produces 1½ times theamount of cotton (Choudhary and Laroia, 2001). Thefarmers in India generally perceive that cotton yield isaffected by insects and pests. However, with theintroduction of advance hybrid and Bt cotton seeds,this perception may change. With several seedcompanies entering the private sector in recent times,the supply of cotton seeds has not remained themonopoly of the government and the seeds suppliedby the public sector companies were reasonably pricedthan the seeds of private companies (Patil et al., 2006).Seed marketing is more complex and specializedprocess as compared to marketing of other inputs andagricultural products. Thus, production of good qualityseed is of no value if it does not reach the farmers wellin time (Acharya and Agarwal, 2004). In other words,seed marketing is the supply of quality seeds to needyfarmers through a network of distribution agencies(Gowda et al., 1996). During early 1990s – a periodmarked by a rapid rise in R & D spending by privateseed firms, the market structure has become morecompetitive (Pray et al., 2001). The rise of the privatesector coupled with modern production technologywould bring success in gaining high yield of varietiesunder cultivation. However, if potential of a variety ispoor, then other inputs cannot help in increasing theyield. Therefore, selection of a good variety of seedbecomes the vital issue. But, this aspect is dependent

upon the awareness level of the farmers, their sourcesof information, perception regarding the productassortment offered by different companies, and theinfluence of retailers, co-farmers and relatives, etc.

A number of research studies have beenconducted on the different aspects of seed marketingin India. But, majority of the studies are inclinedtowards production and distribution issues and a littleattempt has been made on the buying behaviouraspects of the farmers in India. To fill up this gap,this study on buying behaviour of the farmersregarding cotton seeds in Haryana has beenundertaken.


In Haryana, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districtsare known as cotton producing belt. In the presentstudy, Fatehabad district has been selected purposelyas this district touches the boundaries of the other twodistricts and it represents the entire cotton producingarea in Haryana. Two blocks of Fatehabad district i. e.Fatehabad and Ratia were selected randomly and outof each block two villages were also selected at random.One hundred farmers from each village were selectedin such a manner that each of them grew both kinds ofcrops i. e. desi and American cotton. This resulted in atotal sample size of 400 farmers. The information wascollected from the farmers with the help of well-structured questionnaire to examine the buyingbehaviour of the farmers towards cotton seeds. Thedata have been analysed with the help of counts,percentage and chi-square methods.

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 47-50 (2008)


Personal Profile of the Respondents (Farmers)

Table 1 presents the distribution ofrespondents on the basis of their education level andland holding. A majority of the respondents were eitherilliterate (39.25%) or qualified upto primary standard(32.00%) irrespective of their place of residence.21.50% of the respondents were qualified uptomatriculation level and a small number of respondents(7.25%) possessed the qualification of graduation level

or above. As far as their land possession wasconcerned, a majority of the respondents (44.75%)owned the land between 11 to 25 acres and 24.75%of the respondents possessed upto 10 acres of land.Farmers from Ratia block were having slightly morepossession of land in comparison to the farmers fromFatehabad block when it came to the range of 26 to50 acres of land. The table reflects the same kind ofpattern in all the villages as far as the possession of51 to 100 acres of land is concerned, whereas ameager number of respondents possessed more than100 acres of land in this area.

Table 1. Profile of 400 respondents from Fatehabad and Ratia blocks

Variable Fatehabad

Fatehabad Ratia

Driyapur Bighar Hizrawan Khurd Ahli Sadar Total

Education levelIlliterate 38 39 43 37 157 (39.25)Primary 30 31 33 34 128 (32.00)Matric 25 22 19 20 86 (21.50)Graduate or above 07 08 05 09 29 (7.25)Land holding (acres)Upto 10 35 21 22 21 99 (24.75)11-25 41 47 49 42 179 (44.75)26-50 14 22 18 29 83 (20.75)51-100 08 09 09 08 34 (8.50)Above 100 02 01 02 00 5 (1.25)

Source : Primary data.Figures in parentheses denote percentage.

Table 2. Awareness regarding varieties of cotton seeds No. of Desi cotton seed American cotton seedvarieties

Conventional Hybrid Conventional Hybrid Bt cotton

0 - 4 215 (53.75) 213 (53.25) 247 (61.75) 188 (47.00) 112 (28.00)5 - 8 148 (37.00) 162 (40.50) 131 (32.75) 168 (42.00) 160 (40.00)9 - 12 37 (9.25) 25 (6.25) 22 (5.50) 44 (11.00) 80 (20.00)More than 12 - - - - 48 (12.00)Total 400 (100) 400 (100) 400 (100) 400 (100) 400 (100)

Figures in parentheses denote percentage.

Awareness Regarding Varieties of Cotton Seeds

Table 2 describes the awareness of farmers in

respect of number of varieties of cotton seeds knownby the farmers. Farmers were well aware of variousvarieties of both kinds of cotton seeds. Their awareness

48 Dalal and Bishnoi

level for American Bt cotton was the highest as theyknew more than 12 varieties (12%) of such cotton seeds,whereas in other types of seeds they were aware of 12varieties. This shows that farmers were adequately awareabout various varieties of desi cotton as well as Americancotton seeds.

Table 3. Usage of varieties of cotton seeds

Village Single variety Multiple variety

Dariyapur 73 27Bighar 52 48Hizrawan Khurd 66 34Ahli Sadar 59 41Total 250 (62.50) 150 (37.50)


Usage of Varieties of Cotton Seeds

Table 3 shows the number of varieties of cottonseeds being used by the farmers in the villages understudy. A majority of farmers (62.50%) preferred to sowsingle variety in their fields, whereas a considerable

number of farmers (37.50%) used multiple varieties ofcotton seeds.

Table 4 depicts the association between usageof cotton varieties and the education level/landownership. The results revealed that as the educationlevel of the respondents increased they tended to shiftfrom single variety to multiple varieties of seeds. It clearlyshowed that use of single variety of seed was decreasingwith increasing education level, whereas the use ofmultiple varieties went up. Further, it revealed that thefarmers, who possessed small land holding, were foundusing mainly the single variety, whereas on the otherhand, the farmers with relatively larger land holding werefound using multiple varieties of cotton seeds. Theassociation between the two variables was also subjectedto the chi-square values which were found significantat 1% level.

Mode of Payment and Sources/Channels of Purchase

Table 5 depicts the mode of payment adoptedby the farmers and their sources of purchase. A largenumber of respondents i. e. 63.75% made the payment

Table 4. Chi-square analysis of education level and land ownership of farmers and the usage of cotton varieties

Education Single variety Multiple variety Land ownership Single variety Multiple variety

Illiterate 110 (70.06) 47 (29.94) Upto 10 acres 93 (93.94) 6 (6.06)Primary 78 (60.94) 50 (39.06) Upto 25 acres 137 (76.54) 42 (23.46)Matric 52 (60.46) 34 (39.54) Upto 50 acres 20 (24.09) 63 (75.91)Graduate or above 10 (34.48) 19 (65.52) Upto 100 acres 0 (0) 34 (100)Total 250 (62.50) 150 (37.50) Above 100 acres 0 (0) 5 (100)

Total 250 (62.50) 150 (37.50)

Chi-square value 13.830. Significant at P=0.01 level. Chi-square value 174.027. Significant at P=0.01 level.Figures in parentheses denote percentage.

Table 5. Mode of payment and sources/channels of purchase

Source/Channel Cash Credit

Company’s own retail 4 (1.00) -Krishi mela 39 (9.75) -Government shop 22 (5.50) -Agricultural university 55 (13.75) -Krishi Gyan Kendra 25 (6.25) -Private Shop/Agency - 193 (48.25)District Co-operative Society - 24 (6.00)Fellow farmer - 38 (9.50)Total 145 (36.25) 255 (63.75)


at the time of crop, while 36.25% of the respondentsmade the payment at source. It was further revealedthat when it came to purchase on credit basis, majorityof the farmers were heavily dependent upon privateshopkeepers, whereas in case of buying in the form ofcash, they preferred agricultural university, krishi melaand government owned shops.

REFERENCES

Acharya, S. and Agarwal, N. L. (2004). Agricultural Marketingin India, 4th edn. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt.


Ltd., New Delhi.

Choudhary, Bhagirath and Laroia, Gaurav (2001).Technological developments and cotton production inIndia and China. Curr. Sci. 80 : 925-32.

Gowda, Basave, Shekargouda, M. and Hegde, R.T. (1996).Seed demand forecasting. Seed Tech. News 26 : 4-5.

Mohanty, S., Cheng Fang and Chaudhary, Jagadanand(2003). Assessing the competitiveness of Indian cottonproduction : A policy analysis matrix approach.

Economics and Marketing J. Cotton Sci. 7 : 65-74.

Patil, Prasad, Mahajana Shetti, S. B., Basavaraj, H. andVijayakumar, H. S. (2006). A conjoint analysis offarmers preferences towards public and private sectorseeds in Karnataka. Karnataka J. agric. Sci, 19 : 574-80.

Pray, C. E., Ramaswami, Bharat and Kelley, T. (2001). Theimpact of economic reforms on R & D by the Indianseed industry. Food Policy 26 : 587-98.

50 Dalal and Bishnoi

Integrated nutrient management in wheat under rice-wheat cropping systemD. S. DAHIYA, S. S. DAHIYA, O. P. LATHWAL, RAMESH SHARMA AND R. S. SHEORAN

Department of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

A field investigation was carried out during winter seasons of 2002-03 and 2003-04 at the Research Farmof Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sonipat to assess the performance of wheat under different nutrient combinations oforganic and inorganic sources. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with four replications insandy loam soil of poor to medium fertility with slightly alkaline reaction. The application of NPK and zinc @ 120,60, 30 and 25 kg/ha produced maximum number of effective tillers, more spike length, higher number of grains perspike, higher 1000-grain weight and enhanced grain and straw yield over different nutrient combinations appliedirrespective of source. Replacement of 25% N through vermicompost or farm yard manure brought appreciableimprovement in yield attributes and yield over chemical source of nutrients at different doses except at recommendeddose. Integration of vermicompost or farm yard manure with chemical fertilizers exhibited beneficial effect on yieldattributes and yield by improving the nutrient availability to plants and increasing water holding capacity of soil forbetter growth of plants.

Key words : Wheat, nutrient management, yield attributes, yield, vermicompost, FYM

INTRODUCTION

The production of wheat has played animportant role in increasing and stabilizing the foodproduction of the country. With the adoption of highyielding rice and wheat varieties, the soil fertility reduceddrastically which adversely affected the cropproductivity. Since the nutrient turn over in soil-plantsystem is considerably high in rice-wheat croppingsystem, neither the chemical fertilizers nor the organicor biological sources alone can provide sustainability.The concept of integrating the various sources ofsupplying plant nutrients to get maximum economicyield without impairing the physico-chemical andbiological properties of the soil is gaining impetus forfood security. Thus the present investigation wasplanned to assess the effect of different nutrientcombinations, involving organic and inorganic sourcesof nutrients, on performance of wheat under inputintensive and nutrient exhaustive rice-wheat croppingsystem.


The present investigation was carried out atResearch Farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sonipat(Haryana) during winter seasons of 2002-03 and 2003-04. The experiment was conducted on sandy loamsoil having pH 8.4, low in organic carbon, available

nitrogen and phosphorus and medium in availablepotassium. The treatments comprising 14 nutrientcombinations (Table 1) were laid out in randomizedblock design with four replications. Wheat variety Raj.3765 was sown in 20 cm apart rows on November26 and 30 during the years 2002-03 and 2003-04,respectively, using 125 kg/ha seed rate. Organicmanures i . e. farm yard manure (FYM) andvermicompost were incorporated into the soil priorto pre sowing irrigation. Recommended dose ofphosphorus, potassium and zinc and half dose ofnitrogen fertilizers were applied at sowing andremaining half dose of nitrogen was top dressed afterfirst irrigation during both the years. Seed wasinoculated with Azotobacter as per treatments andsowing was done after drying the treated seed in shade.The mean values of both the years of FYM andvermicompost for nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium were 0.60, 0.23 and 0.26% in FYM and1.26, 0.52 and 0.94% in vermicompost, respectively.


Yield Attributes

The yield attributing characters viz., numberof effective tillers, spike length, number of grains perspike, grain weight per spike and 1000-grain weight ofwheat were significantly improved with the application

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 51-54 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Eff

ect o

f int

egra

ted

nutr

ient

man

agem

ent o

n yi

eld

attr

ibut

es a

nd y

ield

of w

heat

(Poo

led

data

of t

wo

year

s)

Trea

tmen

tN

o. o

fSp

ike

No.

of

Gra

in10

00-g

rain

Gra

in y

ield

Stra

w y

ield

Har

vest

effe

ctiv

ele

ngth

grai

ns/s

pike

wei

ght/

wei

ght

(q/h

a)(q

/ha)

inde

xtil

lers

/m(c

m)

spik

e (g

)(g

)(%

)ro

w le

ngth

Con

trol

42.9

7.6

28.0

1.30

38.7

823

.137

.038

.4R

D o

f N (1

20 k

g/ha

)53

.58.

631

.41.

3439

.03

38.3

53.4

41.8

RD

of N

P (N

120 P

60 k

g/ha

)61

.59.

336

.01.

4139

.49

46.7

62.5

42.7

RD

of

NPK

+Zn

(N12

0 P 60

K30

)72

.110

.140

.91.

4940

.27

50.8

66.8

43.2

50%

of R

D o

f NPK

and

Zn

59.8

9.1

35.0

1.40

39.4

145

.061

.042

.975

% N

thro

ugh

FYM

+25%

N th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er50

.88.

430

.31.

3338

.88

36.6

52.5

41.1

75%

N th

roug

h ve

rmic

ompo

st+2

5% th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er52

.48.

731

.01.

3438

.98

31.1

53.9

40.7

50%

N th

roug

h FY

M+5

0% th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er57

.08.

932

.31.

3839

.19

41.6

56.9

41.7

50%

N th

roug

h ve

rmic

ompo

st+5

0% th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er58

.08.

933

.31.

3939

.25

42.3

58.5

41.9

25%

N th

roug

h FY

M+7

5% th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er58

.39.

033

.91.

4039

.30

42.7

59.5

41.7

25%

N th

roug

h ve

rmic

ompo

st+7

5% th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er59

.79.

134

.51.

4039

.33

43.7

60.6

42.1

Azot

obac

ter+

RD

of N

56.0

8.8

32.2

1.37

39.1

340

.757

.041

.625

% N

thro

ugh

FYM

+Azo

toba

cter

+50%

N th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

er52

.48.

530

.91.

3339

.01

37.3

52.6

41.4

25%

N th

roug

h ve

rmic

ompo

st+A

zoto

bact

er+5

0% N

53.3

8.6

31.2

1.34

39.0

638

.153

.241

.8th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

erS.

Em

±1.

50.

11.

00.

020.

121.

31.

10.

4C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

4.5

0.3

3.0

0.06

0.36

3.9

3.3

1.2

RD

–Rec

omm

ende

d do

se, F

YM

–Far

m y

ard

man

ure.

52 Dahiya, Dahiya, Lathwal, Sharma and Sheoran

of various chemical fertilizers or their combinationswith organic manures or biofertilizer over the controlwhere no external input was applied during both theyears (Table 1). Application of recommended dose ofNPK+zinc resulted in an increase of 68.0, 35.0 and17.2% over control, recommended dose of N aloneand recommended dose of N and P, respectively ontwo years’ pooled data basis. Similarly, thecorresponding values for number of grains per spike,grain weight per spike and 1000-grain weight were46.2, 30.3 and 13.6; 17.3, 11.2 and 6.4 and 3.8, 3.2and 2.0%, respectively. The favourable effect ofrecommended dose of NPK+zinc on yield attributesmight be due to more availability of nutrients throughoutthe growth period improving the plant vigour andconsequently better yield attributes (Vyas andChoudhary, 2000).

Among the treatments having combination oforganic manures i. e. FYM or vermicompost withchemical fertilizers, the treatment having 25% Nthrough vermicompost+75% N through fertilizers gave14.1 and 2.9, 4.6 and 2.2, 11.7 and 3.9, 5.2 and 1.5%higher number of tillers, spike length, grains per spikeand grain weight per spike over 75% N throughvermicompost+ 25% N through fertilizer and 50% Nthrough vermicompost+50% through fertilizers,respectively, on pooled mean basis (Table 1). This trendwas also observed in the treatments having samereplacement with FYM. This increase in the yieldattributes with 25% replacement of N by vermicompostor FYM could be attributed to the fact thatvermicompost had direct effect by supplying essentialnutrients and indirect effect by introducing earthwormsin the field. The FYM which supplied the availableplant nutrients directly to the plants and createdfavourable soil environment which ultimately increasedthe nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil forlonger time resulted in better growth and yield attributes.Dhudhat et al. (1997) also reported the similar resultswith the organic manures.

Yield Studies

The grain and straw of wheat weresignificantly higher with the recommended dose ofNPK+zinc than the other treatments in both the years.Among the various chemical fertilizer treatments, theincrease in grain and straw yield was 119.9, 33.0,9.0 and 80.5, 25.3 and 7.2% with the application of

recommended dose of NPK+zinc over control,recommended dose of N and recommended dose ofN and P treatments, respectively, on the basis oftwo years’ mean data. The corresponding values forbiological yield were 95.6, 28.4 and 7.8% on pooledmean basis (Table 1). The significant positivecorrelation between grain yield and various otherparameters has indicated the positive response ofrecommended dose of NPK+Zn on various yieldparameters . Maximum yield response torecommended dose of NPK and Zn was also reportedby Azad et al. (1998). The highest grain and strawyields in nutrient combinations were obtained fromthe treatment having 25% N throughvermicompost+75% through fertilizers and themagnitude of increase was 18.1 and 3.6, 12.4 and3.6, 14.5 and 3.4% for grain and straw yields withthis t reatment over 75% N throughvermicompost+25% through fertilizers and 50% Nthrough vermicompost+50% N through fertilizers,respectively, on pooled mean basis. Jayanthi et al.(2002) also advocated the use of combinedapplication of nutrients through organic and inorganicfertilizers for higher productivity and sustainability.

Seed inoculation with Azotobacter alongwithrecommended dose of N through fertilizers gave 9.4and 6.8, 8.0 and 7.0% higher grain and straw yield thanthe treatments having 25% N through fertilizers+Azotobacter+50% N through fertilizers and 25% Nthrough vermicompost+Azotobacter+50% N throughfertilizers, respectively, on average basis. The higher yieldin Azotobacter+recommended dose of N treatment couldmainly be due to the fact that nitrogen was easily availableto the plant from the applied fertilizers as compared tothe organic sources i. e. FYM or vermicompost whichtake comparatively longer time for nutrients availabilityto the crop plants. Tomar et al. (1995) also obtainedsimilar results.

REFERENCES

Azad, B. S., Gupta, S. C. and Peer, A. C. (1998). Influence oforganic and inorganic fertilizers in maximizing wheatyield at irrigated conditions. Environ. and Ecol. 16 : 71-73.

Dhudhat, M. S., Malavia, D. D., Mathukia, R. K. andKhanpara, V. D. (1997). Effect of nutrient managementthrough organic and inorganic sources on growth, yield,quality and nutrients uptake by wheat (Triticumaestivum). Indian J. Agron. 42 : 455-58.


Jayanthi, C., Malarvizhi, P., Chinnusamy, C. and Mythili,S. (2002). Integrated nutrient management for bajrahybrid napier system. J. Farming Systems Res. & Dev.8 : 10-14.

Tomar, R. K. S., Namdeo, K. N., Raghu, J. S. and Tiwari, K.P. (1995). Efficacy of Azotobacter and plant growth

regulators on productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) in relation to fertilizer application. Indian J. agric.Sci. 65 : 256-59.

Vyas, A. K. and Choudhary, N. R. (2000). Response of wheat tozinc fertilization under varying levels of nitrogen andphosphorus. Ann. Agric. Res. 21 : 294-95.

54 Dahiya, Dahiya, Lathwal, Sharma and Sheoran

Comparative study of prilled versus granular urea in pearl millet-wheatcropping system

J. P. SINGH, V. PHOGAT AND ANOOP SINGHDepartment of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during 2006-07 and 2007-08 to study the relative effect of prilled andgranular urea on the yield and uptake of N by pearl millet-wheat cropping system at varying levels of N (50, 75, 100and 125% of the recommended dose) in a factorial RBD design. Nitrogen was supplied through prilled and granularurea separately. The grain and straw yields of pearl millet and wheat increased with increasing levels of N. Relativelyhigher yields of pearl millet and wheat were obtained when N was supplied through granular urea. The yieldobtained in 100% of recommended dose treatment from granular urea (GU) was at par with the yield obtained in100% of recommended dose treatment from prilled urea (PU) in both the crops during both the years indicating 25%saving in N with GU in comparison to PU. The magnitude of increase in grain yield with GU varied from 1.8 to10.8% in pearl millet and 2.3 to 4.9% in wheat in various treatments. The N and K uptake also showed similar trendas obtained in grain and straw yields of both the crops. However, there was non-significant effect on P uptakebetween GU and PU sources of N. Higher content of protein and wet gluten were observed in grains of wheatobtained from plots fertilized with granular urea. These results implied that efficiency of GU was found to be higheron the yield of both the crops and 25% N might be saved using GU as compared to PU.

Key words : Prilled and granular urea, pearl millet-wheat, nitrogen levels, protein content, wet gluten content, nutrient uptake

INTRODUCTION

More than 90% soils of Haryana are deficient innitrogen. Prilled urea is the single most source of N andits efficiency varies between 30 to 50% (Singh and Katyal,1987; Jena et al., 2003). This has prompted considerableresearch efforts aimed at modifying urea. Modified ureafertilizers are designed to control one or more type of Nlosses to which ordinary urea is commonly susceptible.For example urea supergranules placed in the reducedsoil have been found to check ammonia volatilization losses(Singh and Singh, 1988). In view of the above, there is aneed to improve the N use efficiency of crops. Urea supergranules were found quite effective in rice crop (Sudhakaraand Prasad, 1986; Singh and Katyal, 1987; Jena et al.,2003). However, no efforts were made for improving Nuse efficiency in upland crops such as pearl millet andwheat. Introduction of granular urea may enhance N useefficiency due to its slow release and prolonged availabilityto plants. Hence, the present investigation was undertakento evaluate the prilled and granular urea as sources of Nin pearl millet-wheat cropping system.


The experiment was conducted at Research

Farm of Department of Soil Science, CCSHAU, Hisarduring 2006-07 and 2007-08 with four levels of nitrogen(50, 75, 100 and 125% of the recommended dose) andtwo sources of nitrogen (prilled and granular urea) in 15x 5.2 m2 plot size under pearl millet-wheat croppingsequence. All the treatments were replicated four timesin a factorial randomized block design. The pearl milletvariety HHB-97 and wheat variety PBW-502 weregrown. The physico-chemical characteristics of theexperimental soil were : pH2 8.1, EC2 0.65 dS/m, organiccarbon content 0.60%, CaCO3 <1.0% and C. E. C. 14.0Cmol/kg. The soil was low in available N, medium inavailable P and high in available K as well asmicronutrients. Recommended dose of 60 kg P2O5/haand 30 kg K2O/ha was applied basally. Half dose of Nwas drilled at the time of sowing and rest was broadcastedat first irrigation in both the crops. Both the crops wereharvested at maturity. Grain and straw yields wererecorded. Grain and straw samples of both the cropswere digested with diacid mixture of H2SO4 : HCIO4 (4 :1) and analysed for N, P and K content following standardmethods. The quality parameters viz., protein, wet gluten,moisture and starch contents of wheat grains weredetermined by using Whole Grain Analyzer (FOSSTECATOR).

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 55-58 (2008)


The grain and straw yields of pearl millet andwheat increased significantly with increasing levels ofN supplied through prilled urea (PU) and granular urea(GU). The maximum grain yield (35.2 q/ha) of pearlmillet was recorded in 125% of RDN during first year(Table 1). The yield obtained in 100% of RDN treatmentfrom granular urea (GU) was at par with the yield obtained

in 125% of RDN treatment from prilled urea (PU) inboth the crops during both the years. It implies thatefficiency of GU was found to be higher on the yield ofboth the crops and 25% N might be saved using GUcompared to PU. The mean grain yields of pearl milletobtained from GU in 50, 75, 100 and 125% of RDNlevels were 20.5, 22.7, 33.3 and 33.9 q/ha, respectively,which were 10.8, 9.1, 6.7 and 1.8% higher than Napplication through PU source.

Table 1. Effect of N levels and sources on grain and straw yields of pearl millet

N levels N Grain yield (q/ha) Straw yield (q/ha)(% of RDN) source

2006 2007 Mean 2006 2007 Mean

50 PU 18.6 18.4 18.5 56.5 53.4 54.9GU 21.2 19.8 20.5 58.4 58.4 58.4

75 PU 20.4 21.2 20.8 57.2 61.6 59.4GU 22.8 22.6 22.7 64.2 66.7 65.4

100 PU 32.2 30.2 31.2 61.4 89.6 75.5GU 34.7 31.9 33.3 70.0 94.0 82.0

125 PU 34.6 32.2 33.4 61.8 98.0 79.9GU 35.2 32.6 33.9 71.2 101.7 86.4

LSD (P=0.05) 2.6 2.4 4.8 3.9

RDN–Recommended dose of N (125 kg N/ha), PU–Prilled urea, GU–Granular urea.

Table 2. Effect of N levels and sources on grain and straw yields of wheat

N levels N Grain yield (q/ha) Straw yield (q/ha)(% of RDN) source

2006-07 2007-08 Mean 2006-07 2007-08 Mean

50 PU 32.2 26.2 29.2 48.2 38.3 43.2GU 34.0 27.0 30.5 49.4 41.3 45.3

75 PU 41.4 28.6 35.0 52.4 42.5 47.4GU 43.2 30.2 36.7 56.6 44.9 50.7

100 PU 46.0 44.9 45.5 65.6 62.9 64.2GU 48.0 42.5 46.6 69.2 67.2 68.2

125 PU 50.1 45.8 48.0 74.8 68.1 71.4GU 52.1 46.0 49.1 80.0 68.4 74.2

LSD (P=0.05) 3.2 2.2 4.4 3.2


The maximum wheat grain yield (52.1 q/ha) wasobtained with GU @ 125% of RDN during 2005-06(Table 2). However, the mean increase in grain yield ofwheat produced by GU application in various N levelsvaried from 2.3 (125% of RDN) to 4.9% (75% of RDN)over the respective yields obtained with PU treatment.The magnitude of increase in yield reduced with theincreasing levels of urea application in both the crops.

Hence, granular urea was found better than prilled ureain terms of increase in grain and straw yields of both thecrops. Nitrogen applied through prilled urea in sandyloam soil might have been subjected to higher leachinglosses, whereas the losses from granular urea were lessand consequently a higher availability of N was maintainedto the crop. Similar results were also observed by Singhand Singh (1992) and Jena et al. (2003) with neem

56 Singh, Phogat and Singh

coated and urea super granules (USG), respectively, inrice crop.

The N uptake by pearl millet and wheat cropsshowed the similar trend as obtained in grain and strawyields (Tables 3 and 4). The uptake by grain+strawincreased significantly with the increasing levels of N

application upto 100% of RDN under both the sources.It was higher where N was supplied through granularurea. The N uptake by pearl millet increased by 1.7 and1.8% in 100% of RDN and 125% of RDN levels,respectively, in GU than PU source. Similarly, in wheat1.4 and 1.1% increase in N uptake was recorded.

Table 4. Nutrient uptake (grain+straw) by wheat as affected by levels and sources of N (Pooled data for two years)

N levels N Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)(% of RDN) source

Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium

50 PU 70.4 11.6 57.6GU 71.8 12.4 59.4

75 PU 75.4 13.9 62.9GU 77.2 14.8 66.4

100 PU 110.8 20.2 99.2GU 112.4 20.8 100.4

125 PU 112.2 20.6 100.8GU 113.4 20.7 101.4

LSD (P=0.05) 4.8 2.2 5.2


Table 3. Nutrient uptake (grain+straw) by pearl millet as affected by levels and sources of N (Pooled data for two years)

N levels N Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)(% of RDN) source


50 PU 62.6 9.2 87.4GU 68.4 10.1 90.2

75 PU 72.6 11.8 99.6GU 76.8 12.4 103.2

100 PU 96.8 15.0 122.8GU 98.4 16.2 129.6

125 PU 99.4 16.6 131.8GU 101.2 16.7 136.2

LSD (P=0.05) 4.6 2.3 10.6


The higher uptake of N due to granular ureamay probably be due to prolonged availability of N toplants. Jena et al. (2003) also obtained significantlyhigher uptake of N when it was applied through UreaSuper Granules. The K uptake by grain+straw alsoincreased on the similar pattern as N uptake in both thecrops. However, the P uptake did not vary significantlywith urea source.

The results indicated that granular urea improvedthe protein and wet gluten contents of wheat grains (Table5). The protein content in 100 and 125% of RDN was4.6 and 4.4% higher in GU than PU. Similarly, the wet

gluten also increased by 2.2 and 8.1% in the abovetreatments with GU as compared to PU as source of Napplication. The strarch content did not vary significantlywith the source of N application but it increased withthe increasing levels of N application.

The study revealed that granular urea as Nsource was a better option than prilled in pearl millet-wheat cropping sequence as it produced higher grainand straw yields and higher N uptake by both the crops.The quality parameters (protein and wet gluten) of wheatalso improved in granular urea application over prilled.However, detailed laboratory and field studies are required


to find out the reasons for better effect of granular ureaon crop yields and quality.

REFERENCES

Jena, D., Mishra, C. and Bandyopadhyay, K. K. (2003). Effectof prilled urea and urea super granules on dynamics ofammonia volatilization and nitrogen use efficiency ofrice. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 51 : 257-61.

Singh, B. and Katyal, J. C. (1987). Relative efficiency of someurea based nitrogen fertilizers for growing wetland riceon a permeable alluvial soil. J. Agric. Sci., Camb. 109 :

Table 5. Wheat grain quality parameters as affected by levels and sources of N

Treatment N Protein Moisture Starch Wet gluten(% of RDN) source

50 PU 9.75 8.0 65.6 22.0GU 9.60 8.2 65.8 21.1

75 PU 10.0 8.2 66.9 22.6GU 10.6 8.1 66.2 24.7

100 PU 10.8 8.2 66.8 27.1GU 11.3 8.3 66.5 27.7

125 PU 11.7 8.2 66.7 29.7GU 12.2 8.2 66.6 32.1


27-31.

Singh, G. R. and Singh, T. A. (1988). Leaching losses and useefficiency of nitrogen in rice field with USG. J. IndianSoc. Soil Sci. 36 : 274-79.

Singh, K. and Singh, D. V. (1992). Effect of rates and sources ofnitrogen application on yield and nutrient uptake ofCitronella java. Fertil. Res. 33: 187-91.

Sudhakara, K. and Prasad, R. (1986). Relative efficiency ofprilled urea, urea supergranules (USG) and USG coatedwith neem cake for direct-seeded rice. J. Agric. Sci.,Camb. 106 : 185-90.


Production potential and economics of different cropping systems in semi-aridzone of Haryana under irrigated situations

PAWAN KUMAR, S. K. YADAV AND MANOJ KUMARDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 , India

ABSTRACT

The field experiments were conducted at Agronomy Research Farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar during 2002-03 to 2005-06 continuously. Seven cropping systems were studied for their yield and economics underirrigated conditions. The wheat equivalent yield (WEY) of cotton-wheat and pearl millet-wheat was 10567 and 7009 kg/ha, respectively. Pearl millet-potato-mungbean yielded 17913 kg/ha, almost 65% higher than the prevailing and wellestablished cotton-wheat cropping system. The highest net return of Rs. 60586/ha was recorded in pearl millet-potato-mungbean cropping system, whereas existing cotton-wheat cropping system gave net income of Rs. 47839/ha.

Key words : Cropping systems, wheat equivalent yield, net return

INTRODUCTION

To meet the food requirement of ever increasinghuman population and diverse food requirement of thecosmopolitan communities, diversification in croppingsystems is a must and is clearly visible through changingarea under different cropping systems over the years(Anonymous, 1967, 2007). Cropping system like rice-wheat is not proving farmers’ friendly due to higherneed of water, susceptibility to various insect-pests andadverse effect on soil health. Moreover, due to globalmarketing Indian farmers are under pressure forproducing higher quantum of quality food at low costfrom shrinking land and other natural resources.Therefore, need has been felt to develop and identifycropping system(s) which can sustain the food grainproduction of the country.


The experiments were conducted for four yearsfrom 2002-03 to 2005-06 at Agronomy Research Farm

of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Indialocated at 75°46′ E longitude, 29°10′ N latitude and 215.2m altitude with mean annual rainfall of 450 mm. Out ofthis rainfall, about 80% occurred due to monsoon rainsduring July to September. The soil of the field was looselyaggregated with sandy loam texture.

The experiment was laid out in balanceincomplete block design comprising seven croppingsystems under four replications. The details of thecropping systems are presented in Table 1. The individualplot size was 10 x 8.1 m. The recommended packageand practices were followed for crop raising.

The yield of all the crops was converted to wheatequivalent yield on current price basis as reported by Yadavand Newaj (1990) to compare different cropping systems.The economics were calculated on variable cost basis.


The mean wheat equivalent yield (2002-03 to2005-06) varied between 6547 and 17913 kg/ha amongdifferent cropping systems (Table 1). Cotton-wheat and

Table 1. Wheat equivalent yield (kg/ha) of different cropping systems

Cropping system 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Mean

Pearl millet-wheat 7591 7342 6662 6440 7009Pearl millet-mustard 6732 6315 5898 7351 6547Soybean-wheat-cowpea (f) 10969 9774 9065 9031 9710Sorghum (f)-wheat 8628 8348 7640 7021 7909Pearl millet-potato-mungbean 18916 18348 22181 12208 17913Pearl millet-field pea-maize (f) 5974 8158 6795 6508 6858Cotton-wheat 9307 12088 9939 10936 10567

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 59-61 (2008)

Tabl

e 2. E

cono

mic

s of d

iffer

ent c

ropp

ing

syst

ems

Cro

ppin

g sy

stem

Net

retu

rns

(Rs./

ha)

B :

C (R

s./R

e.)

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

2005

-06

Mea

n20

02-0

320

03-0

420

04-0

520

05-0

6M

ean

Pear

l mill

et-w

heat

3642

435

506

3519

934

466

3539

42.

32.

32.

62.

12.

3Pe

arl m

illet

-mus

tard

2659

032

524

3445

440

969

3363

42.

32.

63.

12.

52.

6So

ybea

n-w

heat

-cow

pea

(f)

5787

538

726

4055

638

358

4453

22.

62.

12.

32.

02.

2So

rghu

m (f

)-w

heat

3710

035

974

3696

229

644

3492

02.

72.

62.

92.

02.

5Pe

arl m

illet

-pot

ato-

mun

gbea

n62

843

6102

866

664

5180

860

586

2.4

2.4

2.7

2.7

2.5

Pear

l mill

et-f

ield

pea

-mai

ze (f

)17

846

3358

626

664

2458

525

670

1.6

2.2

1.9

1.5

1.8

Cot

ton-

whe

at37

745

5992

045

351

4834

147

839

2.2

2.7

2.6

2.2

2.4

60 Kumar, Yadav and Kumar

pearl millet-wheat produced WEY of 10567 and 7009kg/ha, respectively. The highest yield of 17913 kg/hawas recorded in pearl millet-potato-mungbean and lowestyield recorded was 6547 kg/ha in pearl millet-mustardcropping system. Under irrigated conditions pearl millet-potato-mungbean yielded 65% higher than the existingcotton-wheat cropping system and it might be becauseof intensive cropping system. Bhargavi et al. (2008) gavesimilar observations. Soybean-wheat-cowpea (f) yielded9710 kg/ha which is near to cotton-wheat croppingsystem. The established pearl millet-wheat croppingsystem yielded 7009 kg/ha, whereas sorghum (f)-wheatyielded 7909 kg/ha, which is 11% higher than pearl millet-wheat cropping system.

Pearl millet-mustard cropping system requiredlow water and produced 6547 kg/ha which is only 7%lower than pearl millet-wheat cropping system whichrequires sufficient irrigations. Variability in yield ofdifferent cropping systems has also been reported byGangwar et al. (2004). Yield potential of differentcropping systems and economic value of produce governthe WEY of cropping system as reported by Gangwaret al. (2003) and Gangwar et al. (2004).

The net return per hectare from differentcropping systems is one of the most important factorsfor a farmer in selecting the cropping system for hisfarm. Pearl millet-potato-mungbean cropping systemgave highest net return of Rs. 60586/ha and it is higherthan the existing cotton-wheat cropping system whichgave a net income of Rs. 47839/ha (Table 2). The netincome from soybean-wheat-cowpea (f) was Rs. 44532/ha, closer to cotton-wheat cropping system. The netincome from pearl millet-wheat and pearl millet-mustardcropping systems was Rs. 35394 and 33634/ha,

respectively. The results are in confirmation with thefindings reported by Gawai and Pawar (2005). Thelowest net return of Rs. 25670/ha was recorded in pearlmillet-field pea-maize (f) cropping system.

The B : C also followed almost similar trend asthat of net returns over the years. From the presentfindings, it is clear that pearl millet-potato-mungbeancropping system may be promising cropping systemunder irrigated situations.

REFERENCES

Anonymous (1967, 2007). Haryana Statistical Abstract.Published by Department of Agriculture, Governmentof Haryana, India.

Bhargavi, K., Raghava Reddy, C., Yellamanda Reddy, T. andSrinivasulu Reddy, D. (2008). Effect of precedingcrops on rainy season rice (Oryza sativa). Indian J.agric. Sci. 78 : 170-72.

Gangwar, B., Katyal, V. and Anand, K. V. (2003). Productivity,stability and efficiency of different cropping systemsin Maharashtra. Indian J. agric. Sci. 73 : 471-77.

Gangwar, B., Katyal, V. and Anand, K. V. (2004). Stability andefficiency of cropping systems in Chattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh. Indian J. agric. Sci. 74 : 521-28.

Gawai, P. P. and Pawar, V. S. (2005). Production potential andeconomics of sorghum-chickpea cropping system underirrigated nutrient management system. Crop Res. 30 :345-48.

Yadav, D. S. and Newaj, R. (1990). Studies on increasing theutilization of natural resources through intensivecropping systems. Indian J. Agron. 35 : 50-55.


Site specific nutrient management in pearl millet-wheat cropping systemJ. P. SINGH, V. PHOGAT AND ANOOP SINGH

Department of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during 2006-07 and 2007-08 to study the site specific nutrient management(N, P and K) in pearl millet-wheat cropping system. Accordingly, fertilizers were applied as per the practicefollowed by the farmers (T1), 100% of the state recommendation (T2) and 150% of the state recommendation (T3)and also on the basis of actual soil test value (T4) to both the crops. The results showed that maximum grain yieldof pearl millet and wheat crops was obtained where fertilizers were applied on the basis of actual soil test values.The mean grain yield of pearl millet increased by 39.0, 35.0 and 50.4% in T2, T3 and T4 treatments, respectively, ascompared to farmers’ practice. Similarly, the grain yield of wheat was increased by 44.4, 50.5 and 57.0% in T2, T3and T4 treatments as compared to T1 treatment. The nutrient (N, P and K) uptake was also higher in STV (T4) ascompared to other practices. The results of this study showed that crop yields might be improved by applyingfertilizers in optimum amounts and balanced proportions based on soil test.

Key words : Pearl millet-wheat, site specific nutrient management, soil test values, nutrient uptake

INTRODUCTION

Haryana is one of the agriculturally importantstates of India. The state contributes about 6.3% to thenational food grain production. The trend in food grainproduction in Haryana indicated that every year therewas an average increase of 0.297 million tonnes of foodgrains. It has been estimated that in 2010, food grainproduction of Haryana would be 15.60 million tonnesfor which 1130 thousand tonnes fertilizer would berequired (Antil, 2008). A seven-fold increase in foodgrainproduction in Haryana state during the last four decadescombined with inadequate and imbalanced nutrient supplyhas led to continued and accelerated soil nutrient depletionof all essential plant nutrients (Tiwari, 2008).

The researches conducted in many Asiancountries, including north-west India (Ladha et al.,2003) have demonstrated limitations of the currentapproaches of fixed-rate and fixed-time (blanket)fertilizers recommendations being made for large areasincluding Haryana state. Cropping systems governed byeither generalized soil testing recommendation systemsor common farmers’ practice are incapable of producingmaximum economic yield. Most of the farmers are notapplying fertilizers in optimum amounts and balancedproportions. Consequently, yield of crops is very low.Site specific nutrient management (SSNM) is nownecessary for sustaining soil health and productivity. Itis a systematic agronomic approach which considersfield scale variability in soil nutrients (Tandon and Tiwari,

2007) and alternatively it refers to apply fertilizers onactual soil test values for obtaining economic yields.Hence, present investigation was carried out to evaluatedifferent practices of fertilizer application for obtainingmaximum yield of pearl millet and wheat.


A field experiment was conducted at ResearchFarm of Department of Soil Science, CCSHAU, Hisarduring 2006-07 and 2007-08 to evaluate the site specificnutrient management in pearl millet-wheat crop rotationwith four treatments of fertilizer application (T1 to T4)in 15 x 5.2 m2 plot size. The treatment details are givenin Table 1.

All the treatments were replicated four times ina factorial RBD design. The physico-chemicalcharacteristics of the experimental soil were : pH2 8.1,EC2 0.65 dS/m, organic carbon content 0.55 to 0.65%,CaCO3 <1.0% and C. E. C. 14.0 Cmol/kg. The soil waslow in available N, medium in available P and high inavailable K. The experimental soil was not deficient inany of the micronutrients. The pearl millet variety HHB-97 and wheat variety PBW-502 were grown. Both thecrops were harvested at maturity. Grain and straw yieldswere recorded. Grain and straw samples of both thecrops were digested with diacid mixture and analysedfor N, P and K content following standard methods.The quality parameters viz., protein, wet gluten, moistureand starch contents of wheat grains were determinedby using Whole Grain Analyzer (FOSS TECATOR).

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 62-64 (2008)


The grain and straw yields of pearl millet andwheat are presented in Table 2. The data showed thatsignificantly higher grain yields of pearl millet and wheatcrops were recorded in T2, T3 and T4 treatments ascompared to farmers’ practice i. e. T1. The maximumgrain yield of pearl millet in both the years (28.8 and30.9 q/ha) was obtained in T4 treatment which signifies

the importance of fertilizer application on the basis ofsoil test. The mean grain yield of pearl millet increasedby 39.0, 35.0 and 50.4% in T2, T3 and T4 treatments ascompared to farmers’ practice. The straw yield alsoshowed the similar trend as obtained in grain yield.Dwivedi et al. (2008) also reported 1.91 t/ha higher yieldof pearl millet with SSNM as compared to farmers’practice (FP). The increase in mean straw yield variedfrom 43.4-58.5% in various treatments.

Table 1. Treatment details followed in both the crops

Treatment Practice N+P2O5+K2O (kg/ha)

Pearl millet Wheat

T 1 Farmers’ practice (FP) 60+0+0 120+24+0T 2 Recommended dose (State recommendation) 120+30+0 150+60+30T 3 150% of recommended dose 180+45+0 225+90+45T 4 On the basis of STV 90+24+0 120+45+0

Table 2. Effect of different treatments on grain and straw yield of pearl millet and wheat

Treatment Grain yield (q/ha) Straw yield (q/ha)

2006-07 2007-08 Mean 2006-07 2007-08 Mean

Pearl milletT1 18.1 21.6 19.85 50.0 64.4 57.20T2 25.8 29.4 27.60 75.8 88.2 82.00T3 26.2 27.4 26.80 84.6 92.2 88.40T4 28.8 30.9 29.85 90.0 91.3 90.65LSD (P=0.05) 0.2 2.3 4.4 4.2WheatT1 26.6 30.2 28.40 60.0 46.5 53.25T2 40.0 42.0 41.00 78.2 60.8 69.50T3 42.4 43.1 42.75 80.0 64.3 72.15T4 44.4 44.8 44.60 77.8 69.2 73.50LSD (P=0.05) 2.4 2.1 4.6 3.8

Similarly, the grain yield of wheat was increasedby 44.4, 50.5 and 57.0% in T2, T3 and T4 treatments ascompared to T1 treatment. The corresponding increasein straw yields of wheat varied from 30.5 to 38.0%. Singhet al. (2008) recorded 41% increase in the wheat yieldwith SSNM as compared to FP and Dwivedi et al. (2008)reported 2.21 and 1.58 t/ha higher wheat grain yield inSSNM as compared to FP and state recommendation(SR), respectively, establishing again the inadequacy ofeven SR in exploiting the higher yield potential of moderncultivars under otherwise congenial environment. Theseresults also corroborate the findings of multi-locational

on-station experiments with rice-wheat and rice-ricecropping systems, which also showed the possibility ofeven doubling the current productivity levels by adoptionof improved SSNM options (Tiwari et al., 2006). Hence,it was suggested that farmers should apply fertilizers onthe basis of soil test value.

The uptake of N, P and K by grain and straw ofboth the crops was significantly higher in T4 where fertilizerswere applied on the basis of actual soil test value ascompared to farmers’ practice and state recommendation(Tables 3 and 4). Hence, the uptake of nutrients correspondsto the yields obtained in both the crops.


Data in Table 5 show that maximum proteincontent (12.25%) was observed in grains fertilized @150% of the state recommendations. Similarly, the valueof wet gluten was also maximum in the grains obtainedfrom plots which received nutrients @ 150% of thestate recommendations.

Table 3. Nutrient uptake (grain+straw) by pearl millet as affectedby different treatments

Treatment Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)


T1 70.6 10.8 88.6T2 92.8 14.6 120.8T3 94.6 12.2 110.2T4 98.6 15.8 124.4LSD (P=0.05) 5.6 2.6 11.4

Pooled data for two years.

Table 4. Nutrient uptake (grain+straw) by wheat as affected bydifferent treatments

Treatment Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)


T1 78.4 13.6 66.4T2 110.2 19.2 94.6T3 112.4 19.8 96.2T4 114.8 20.2 98.6LSD (P=0.05) 5.0 2.4 6.8

Pooled data for two years.

Table 5. Wheat grain quality parameters as affected by differenttreatments

Treatment Protein Moisture Starch Wet gluten

T1 10.70 8.1 66.4 25.8T2 11.35 8.3 66.8 29.6T3 12.25 8.3 66.3 32.9T4 11.50 8.4 66.9 27.3

This study has demonstrated that siteapplication of N, P and K on the basis of fertilizers onsoil test value has significantly increased the yield ofpearl millet and wheat crops as compared to farmers’practice and blanket recommendation. Hence, there isneed to conduct large scale on-farm trials/demonstrations to acquaint the farmers with thesignificance of soil testing for the judicious use offertilizers and higher crop yields.

REFERENCES

Antil, R. S. (2008). Soil fertility status and nutrients addition,removal and balance in soils of Haryana. Seminar onBreaking Yield Barriers through Balanced Fertilizationin Haryana, Dec. 31, Department of Soil Science,CCSHAU, Hisar. pp. 1-13.

Dwivedi, B. S., Singh, D., Tiwari, K. N., Meena, M. C.,Swarup, A., Yadav, K. S. and Yadav, R. L. (2008).Breaking yield stagnation through SSNM in Haryana :An overview. Seminar on Breaking Yield Barriers throughBalanced Fertilization in Haryana, Dec. 31, Departmentof Soil Science, CCSHAU, Hisar. pp. 75-88.

Ladha, J. K., Pathak, H., padre, A. T., Dawe, D. and Gupta, R.K. (2003). Productivity trends in intensive rice-wheatcropping systems in Asia. In : Improving theProductivity and Sustainability of Rice-wheat System :Issues and Impacts, J. K. Ladha et al. (eds.), AmericanSociety of Agronomy Special Publication No. 65,Medison, DI. pp. 45-76.

Singh, V. K., Tiwari, R., Gill, M. S., Sharma, S. K., Tiwari,K. N., Dwivedi, B. S. and Shukla, A. K. (2008).Economic viability of site-specific nutrient managementin rice-wheat cropping. Better Crops–India 2 : 16-19.

Tandon, H. L. S. and Tiwari, K. N. (2007). Fertilizer use inIndian agriculture–An eventful half century. BetterCrops–India 1 : 3-5.

Tiwari, K. N. (2008). Fertilizer consumption and foodgrainproduction in Haryana. Seminar on Breaking YieldBarriers through Balanced Fertilization in Haryana, Dec.31, Department of Soil Science, CCSHAU, Hisar. pp.62-74.

Tiwari, K. N., Sharma, S. K., Singh, V. K., Dwivedi, B. S. andShukla, A. K. (2006). Site specific nutrient managementfor increasing crop productivity in India : Results withrice-wheat and rice-rice systems. Research Bulletin.PDCR, Modipurm and PPIC-India Programme,Gurgaon. pp. 1-92.


Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline water for sustaining the productivity ofIndian mustard (Brassica juncea)

SATYAVAN, V. PHOGAT, S. K. SHARMA AND SANJAY KUMARDepartment of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during 2003-04 and 2004-05 at Soil Research Farm, CCSHAU, Hisar toinvestigate the effect of alternate use of saline and non-saline water on growth, yield and economics of Indianmustard (Brassica juncea). The experiment consisted of eight treatments in RBD with three replications. Thepooled analysis results revealed that all canal irrigation (C) treatment resulted in significantly higher grain and stoveryield than obtained with all saline (S), 2S : 1C, 1S : 1C, 1S and rest canal irrigation treatments. However, all canalirrigation treatment was at par with 2C : 1S, 1C : 1S and 1C : rest saline treatments. Saline water irrigation reducedthe grain yield by 23 and stover yield by 23.3% when compared with canal water irrigation. The mean maximumseasonal water use of 248 mm and highest WUE of 9.30 kg/ha-mm were registered with all canal water irrigationtreatment and minimum water use of 223 mm and lowest WUE of 7.70 kg/ha-mm were recorded with all saline waterirrigation treatment. The average maximum net returns of Rs. 20524 and B : C ratio of 2.16 were recorded with canalwater irrigation followed by 2C : 1S and 1C : 1S. Whereas minimum net returns of Rs. 11955 and B : C ratio 1.68were realized from all saline water irrigation. The maximum salt build up (9.28 dS/m) was observed in 0-15 cmsurface layer in all saline water irrigation.

Key words : Conjunctive use, electrical conductivity, salinity, Indian mustard

INTRODUCTION

India is the largest rapeseed-mustard growingcountry in the world, occupying the first position inarea and second position in production after China. InIndia, rapeseed and mustard are extensively cultivatedin arid and semi-arid areas either with conservedmoisture of rainfall or with limited or poor qualityirrigation water. But indiscriminate and unscientific useof these poor quality irrigation waters leads to reductionin the productivity of mustard crop in arid and semi-aridareas and also deteriorates the soil properties. Arid salinelands require more attention compared to other regionsas far as management of saline soil is concerned (Tanji,1990). Generally, with the appropriate selection of cropsand salt tolerant cultivars, management of rain and otherwater supplies and maintenance of soil structure,sustainable soil environment can be ensured under lowquality irrigation application (Gupta and Abrol, 1990).Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) has beenrecommended as the best among the oilseed crops forboth saline and sodic soils (Kumar, 1995). Theconjunctive use of saline water with inadequate supplyof canal water or run-off harvested good quality watermay play a key role in increasing the productivity ofmustard crop. In the light of these observations, an

experiment was laid out to investigate the effect ofalternate use of saline and non-saline (canal) irrigationmanagement practices on Indian mustard (Brassicajuncea L.) growth, yield, water-use efficiency, economicsand salt build up in the soil.


A field experiment was conducted during twoconsecutive rabi seasons of 2003-04 and 2004-05 atthe Research Farm of Department of Soil Science,Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar (29o10′ N and 75o46′ E, at 215 m above mean sealevel). The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam(Typic Ustochrepts) in texture, low in available nitrogen(198 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (11 kg/ha), high in available potassium (287 kg/ha) and slightlyalkaline in pH (8.3). The bulk density of the soil profile0-150 cm ranged from 1.46-1.52 Mgm-3. The hydraulicconductivity decreased with soil depth and varied from4.48 x 10-7 to 9.56 x 10-7m/s. The CEC ranged from12.7 to 16.7 Cmol/kg soil in the profile. The experimentconsisted of eight treatments viz. (all C, 1C : 1S, 1S :1C, 2C : 1S, 2S : 1C, S : rest canal irrigation, C : restsaline irrigation, all S) and was replicated thrice in arandomized block design. The size of each experimental

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 65-70 (2008)

plot was 4.5 x 3.0 m. A buffer zone spacing of 1 m and2.5 m was provided between plots and blocks,respectively. Mustard variety Luxmi was sown onOctober 24 and 26 during 2003-04 and 2004-05,respectively. The distance between rows and plant toplant within rows was kept at 30 and 10 cm, respectively.The total rainfall received during the entire crop seasonsof 2003-04 and 2004-05 was 25.5 and 137.9 mm,respectively. The treatments were initiated from pre-sowing irrigation. The electrical conductivity of canalwater and saline water was 0.4 and 7.8 dS/m,respectively. Recommended dose of 60 kg nitrogen/haand 20 kg phosphorus/ha was applied. Half of N andfull dose of P was applied at sowing and the remainingN was applied after first irrigation. The mustard cropwas harvested on March 23 and 25 during 2003-04 and2004-05, respectively, and yield data were recorded foreach plot. Soil samples were collected from 0-0.15, 0.15-0.30, 0.30-0.60, 0.60-0.90 and 0.90-1.20 m layers atsowing and at harvest of the crop from each replication.The soil samples were air dried, ground to pass througha 2 mm sieve and analyzed for electrical conductivity ofthe saturation extract (ECe). Soil moisture wasdetermined gravimetrically at sowing and at crop harvest.


Growth and Yield Studies

The growth of the Indian mustard crop assessedin terms of plant height varied significantly due to variousirrigation practices during both the years (Table 1). Amean reduction of 26.7 cm in plant height was recordedin all saline water irrigation treatment when comparedwith all canal irrigation. The reductions in plant heightwith the use of saline water irrigation has been reportedearlier by Naresh et al. (1993) and Satyavan et al.(2008). The treatments, all C and 2C : 1S irrigationregistered significantly more numbers of siliquae/plantthan obtained with all S and 2S : 1C irrigation. However,the differences between all C, 1C : 1S, 2C : 1S and C :rest saline irrigation were statistically non-significant.Minimum number of siliquae/plant was noticed underall saline water irrigation treatment which was at parwith 1S : 1C, 2S : 1C and S : rest canal irrigationtreatments. The seeds/siliqua and test weight alsofollowed almost similar trend. The reduction in plantheight, siliquae/plant and test weight with saline waterirrigation may be probably due to the deleterious effects

of salinity which induced diminished initial growth,resulting in shorter plants producing less assimilates fortheir conversion to seeds. These findings arecorroborated from earlier reports of Naresh et al. (1993).

Seed and Stover Yield

Seed and stover yields (Table 2) weresignificantly influenced by irrigation practices during boththe years. Pooled analysis of seed yield indicated thatmaximum seed yield (2259 kg/ha) was obtained withcanal water irrigation and minimum seed yield wasregistered with all saline water irrigation. Consideringseed yield realized under canal irrigation as potential(100%) the relative seed yields (per cent of potentialyield) recorded with 1C : 1S, 1S : 1C, 2C : 1S, 2S : 1C,S : rest canal irrigation, C : rest saline irrigation and all Swere 95.4, 91.0, 98.3, 78.7, 92.7, 87.7 and 77%,respectively. Application of saline water irrigation duringinitial stages resulted in more reduction in seed yield ascompared to when canal and saline water was appliedalternately either 1C or 2C : 1S. The stover yield alsofollowed similar trends. The decline in seed yield wasmainly due to significant reductions in number of siliquae/plant and seeds per siliqua (Table 1). The significantreductions in seed yield might have resulted from acombination of ion toxicity, insufficient nutrient ionavailability and altered water relations.

Soil Salinity

The initial and final salinity (ECe) profilesindicating the salt build up by irrigations with variousmodes of irrigations in the Indian mustard are presentedin Table 3. Continuous irrigation with saline water alone(S) increased electrical conductivity of the saturationextract (ECe) of soil compared with good quality water(C). The average value of ECe as determined beforesowing of mustard varied from 2.46 to 3.06 dS/m invarious treatments. In all saline water irrigated treatment,the mean ECe values ranged from 4.64-9.28 dS/m in 0-15 cm layer and from 5.2-8.78 dS/m in 15-30 cm layerat the harvest of the mustard crop in 2004-05. Thehighest ECe (9.28 dS/m) was observed in case of allsaline water irrigation treatment (S) in 0-15 cm layer.The electrical conductivity of soil saturation extract washigher in saline water irrigated plots than cyclic mode ofirrigation. Among the cyclic mode treatments, 2S : 1Chad the highest average salinity (6.0 dS/m) followed by

66 Satyavan, Phogat, Sharma and Kumar

Tabl

e 1. G

row

th p

aram

eter

s and

yiel

d at

trib

utes

of I

ndia

n m

usta

rd a

s affe

cted

by i

rrig

atio

n pr

actic

es

Irrig

atio

nPl

ant h

eigh

tSi

liqua

e/pl

ant

Seed

s/sili

qua

Test

wei

ght (

g)pr

actic

es20

03-0

420

04-0

5M

ean

2003

-04

2004

-05

Mea

n20

03-0

420

04-0

5M

ean

2003

-04

2004

-05

Mea

n

All

cana

l16

2.5

170.

216

6.4

182.

717

4.8

178.

813

.313

.413

.46.

306.

436.

371

cana

l : 1

salin

e15

8.4

165.

816

2.1

185.

317

2.0

178.

712

.713

.713

.26.

276.

226.

251

salin

e : 1

can

al15

2.7

160.

215

6.5

175.

416

6.5

171.

012

.312

.712

.56.

036.

336.

182

cana

l : 1

salin

e16

5.3

166.

516

5.9

180.

217

5.3

177.

812

.013

.612

.86.

236.

416.

322

salin

e : 1

can

al14

8.2

150.

014

9.1

152.

214

5.2

148.

711

.711

.511

.66.

206.

206.

201

salin

e : r

est c

anal

150.

415

0.3

150.

416

2.4

163.

216

2.8

12.0

11.3

11.7

6.43

6.33

6.38

1 ca

nal :

rest

salin

e15

2.0

156.

015

4.0

166.

116

8.0

167.

111

.711

.611

.66.

276.

196.

23A

ll sa

line

138.

314

1.1

139.

715

6.0

143.

614

9.8

11.3

11.0

11.1

6.10

6.08

6.09

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)14

.016

.3-

20.5

17.6

-N

S1.

6-

0.22

0.22

-

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.


Tabl

e 2.

Eff

ect o

f irr

igat

ion

prac

tices

on

seed

yie

ld, s

tove

r yie

ld, n

et re

turn

s and

ben

efit

: cos

t rat

io o

f mus

tard

Irrig

atio

nSe

ed y

ield

(kg/

ha)

Stov

er y

ield

(kg/

ha)

Net

retu

rn (R

s./ha

)B

: C

ratio

prac

tices

2003

-04

2004

-05

Pool

ed20

03-0

420

04-0

5Po

oled

2003

-04

2004

-05

Mea

n20

03-0

420

04-0

5M

ean

All

cana

l23

7021

4822

5974

6568

0971

3721

957

1909

120

524

2.30

2.02

2.16

1 ca

nal :

1 sa

line

2296

2015

2156

7186

6769

6978

2080

315

630

1821

72.

231.

902.

071

salin

e : 1

can

al22

2218

9020

5669

7760

1064

9419

719

1470

517

212

2.16

1.79

1.98

2 ca

nal :

1 sa

line

2420

2022

2221

7647

6430

7039

2278

716

949

1986

82.

351.

912.

132

salin

e : 1

can

al19

2616

3017

7860

3551

5055

9314

883

1028

512

584

1.88

1.55

1.72

1 sa

line

: res

t can

al21

4820

3720

9367

0263

9665

4918

435

1720

417

820

2.09

1.92

2.01

1 ca

nal :

rest

salin

e21

8517

7819

8267

9556

5462

2519

027

1280

115

914

2.12

1.69

1.91

All

salin

e19

2615

5617

4159

9049

6354

7714

883

9027

1195

51.

881.

481.

68C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

304

252

267

947

776

-

--

--

--

Pric

e of

pro

duce

: Se

ed–R

s. 16

00/q

(200

3-04

), R

s. 17

00/q

(200

4-05

), St

over

–Rs.1

000/

ha (2

003-

04),

Rs.

1200

/ha

(200

4-05

).


1S : 1C (5.88 dS/m) at harvest. It is ascribed to themore saline irrigations in this treatment than other cyclictreatments. Major accumulation of salts was observedin the upper layer of the soil irrespective of the irrigationtreatments which decreased slowly and continuously.The higher ECe near the soil surface may be due toupward movement of salts under the evaporative flux.

Water Use

The mean seasonal consumptive use by mustardcrop ranged from 226 to 243 mm in different irrigation

treatments (Table 4). The water use under all canal waterirrigations was maximum (248 mm) and was 7.52%higher than the all saline water irrigation treatment. Theapplication of all saline water irrigation might havedecreased water uptake thereby decreasing the wateruse by mustard crop with enhanced saline waterirrigation. Similar reduction in water use with salinedrainage water has also been documented by Sharma etal. (1994). The highest water-use efficiency of 9.30kg/ha-mm was noticed under all canal water irrigationclosely followed by 2C : 1S treatment, whereas lowestwater-use efficiency of 7.70 kg/ha-mm was recorded

Table 3. Depth-wise ECe distribution before sowing (2003-04) and after harvesting of mustard (2004-05) in different treatments

Treatment ECe ( dS/m) in soil depths (cm) before sowing (2003-04)

0-15 15-30 30-60 60-90 90-120 Mean

C 2.32 2.88 2.36 2.42 2.32 2.461C : 1S 2.61 2.44 2.33 2.48 2.82 2.541S : 1C 3.02 2.42 2.78 2.35 2.58 2.632C : 1S 2.92 3.22 2.75 2.45 2.28 2.722S : 1C 3.12 2.85 2.90 2.46 2.58 2.78S : RTC 2.82 2.68 2.90 2.35 2.86 2.72C : RTS 3.28 2.62 3.08 2.36 2.40 2.75S 3.58 3.68 2.78 2.84 2.42 3.06Mean 2.96 2.85 2.74 2.46 2.53

ECe ( dS/m) in soil depths (cm) after harvesting of mustard (2004-05)C 4.98 5.20 4.74 4.44 4.08 4.691C : 1S 6.05 6.54 5.85 5.68 5.29 5.881S : 1C 6.64 6.29 6.05 5.5 5.23 5.942C : 1S 5.45 5.35 4.68 4.43 4.21 4.822S : 1C 7.02 6.36 5.55 5.69 5.38 6.00S : RTC 4.64 5.24 4.57 4.42 4.52 4.68C : RTS 7.87 7.32 7.65 6.76 5.56 7.03S 9.28 8.78 7.24 7.42 5.78 7.70Mean 6.49 6.39 5.83 5.57 5.03

Table 4. Effect of irrigation practices on water use and water use efficiency of Indian mustard

Irrigation Water use Water use efficiencypractices (mm) (kg/ha-mm)

2003 2004 Pooled 2003 2004 Pooled

All canal 237 258 248 10.44 8.32 9.301 canal : 1 saline 231 249 240 10.34 7.90 9.021 saline : 1 canal 227 255 241 10.15 7.47 8.712 canal : 1 saline 229 259 244 10.80 7.96 9.292 saline : 1 canal 218 249 234 9.08 6.60 7.731 saline : rest canal 222 254 238 9.99 8.08 8.981 canal : rest saline 216 242 229 10.26 7.00 8.47All saline 208 238 223 9.34 6.35 7.70


under all saline water irrigation closely followed by 2S: 1C treatment; for other treatments WUE varied between8.47 and 9.02 kg/ha-mm. The higher WUE under canalwater irrigation might be due to production of relativelyhigher seed yield than obtained under saline waterirrigation.

Economics

The comparison of results in Table 2 showsthat in general, seed yield, stover yield, net returns andB : C ratio were maximum under canal water irrigationduring both the years. Maximum net returns of Rs. 21957and 19091 and B : C ratio of 2.3 and 2.02 were recordedwith canal water irrigation during 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively, whereas minimum net returns ofRs.14883 and 9027 and B : C ratio of 1.88 and 1.48were realized from all saline water irrigation. It wasfurther observed that the benefit : cost ratio alsofollowed similar trend of grain yield. With the applicationof initial irrigation with saline water the grain and strawyields declined significantly compared with canal waterirrigation. However, substitution of initial irrigation withcanal water considerably increased the grain yields andmonetary returns compared to saline water application.

REFERENCES

Gupta, R. K. and Abrol, I. P. (1990). Salt affected soils, their

reclamation and management for crop production. Adv.Soil Sci. 11 : 223-88.

Kumar, D. (1995). Salt tolerance in oilseed brassicas–Presentstatus and future prospects. Plant Breed. Abstr. 65 :1439-47.

Naresh, R. K., Minhas, P. S., Goyal, A. K., Chauhan, C. P. S.and Gupta, R. K. (1993). Production potential of cyclicirrigation and mixing of saline and canal water in Indianmustard (Brassica juncea L.) and pearl millet(Pennisetum typhoides) rotation. Arid Soil Res. Rehab.7 : 103-11.

Satyavan, Phogat,V., Kumar, S. and Kaushik, R. D. (2008).Response of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) toirrigation levels and quality of irrigation water. Environ.& Ecol. 27 : 53-57.

Sharma, D. P., Rao, K. V. G. K., Singh, K. N., Kumbhare, P.S. and Oosterbaan, R. J. (1994). Conjunctive use ofsaline and non-saline irrigation waters in semi-aridregions. Irrig. Sci. 15 : 25-33.

Tanji, K. K. (1990). Nature and extent of agricultural salinity. In: Agricultural Salinity, Assessment and Management.Manual and Reports on Engineering Practices 71 : 1-17.


Assessment of front line demonstrations on mustard in south-western region ofHaryana

L. K. MIDHA, V. S. RANA, A. C. MALIK AND RAMESH VASISHTDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

ABSTRACT

Front line demonstrations on mustard crop were laid out at farmers’ fields for six years in differentdistricts of south-western region of Haryana. Average of 55 front line demonstrations in different yearsresulted in 47% higher seed yield of mustard than farmers’ practice. An extension gap of 542 kg/ha betweenimproved practices and farmers’ practice was recorded. The higher technology gap (781 kg/ha) and technologyindex (31.2%) on an average basis reflected the availability of inadequate package of technology to harvestpotential yield. The average additional expenditure of Rs. 2272/ha gave higher additional net returns (Rs. 7967/ha) in demonstrations. The incremental benefit : cost ratio ranged between 2.82 to 4.46 averaging 3.51 duringthe study. Technical breakthroughs, market stability and efficient extension network are required to harvestthe potentials.

Key words : Mustard, evaluation, demonstrations, monetary returns

INTRODUCTION

Mustard is an important rabi oilseed cropgrown in south-western region of Haryana. In theyear 1966-67, the total cultivated area under this cropwas 198 thousand hectare and now it has beenincreased to 709 thousand hectare. Its productivityalso increased from 404 to 1114 kg/ha in 40 years(Anonymous, 2006-07). The reason for increasingtrend in area and productivity of mustard is attributedto use of improved seed, better agronomic practicesand price stability. Front line demonstrationsprogramme was initiated a decade back to demonstratethe production potential benefits of latest technologiesvis-a-vis traditional farming practices. This paperreports the results of studies undertaken in Hisar,Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Rewari,Mahendergarh and Gurgaon districts of south-westHaryana.


Front line demonstrations were conducted inwinter (rabi) season during 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2007-08 at farmers’ fieldsto work out the economic feasibility of technologytransfer and adoption in mustard in Hisar, Bhiwani,Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Rewari, Mahendergarh andGurgaon districts in south-west Haryana. The soils

of different sites were loamy sand to sandy loam intexture with pH ranging from 8.0 to 8.7. The soilswere low in organic carbon (0.2%) and availablenitrogen (130+18 kg N/ha), low to medium in availablephosphorus (8.1+2.6 kg/ha) and medium to high inpotash (240+24 kg/ha). The entire quantity offertilizer, 40 kg N and 20 kg P2O5/ha was drilled at thetime of sowing. Sowing was done in the secondfortnight of October in each year using 5 kg seed perhectare of variety RH-30. Recommended package ofpractices were adopted in the demonstrations forraising mustard crop. To show the worth of thedemonstrations, the traditional farmers’ practices werecompared and various gaps were calculated usingweighted means of demonstrations. The followingformulae suggested by Prasad et al. (1993) were usedto find out the gaps and index :

(a) Extension gap=Demonstration yield (Di)–Farmers’ yield (Fi)

(b) Technology gap=Potential yield (Pi)–Demonstration yield (Di)

(c) Technology index = (Pi-Di) x 100 ____________

Pi(d) Additional return=(Di-Fi) x Sale price(e) Effective gain=Additional returns-Additional cost(f) Incremental benefit : = Additional returns

cost ratio (IBCR) ___________________

Additional cost of inputs

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 71-73 (2008)


Seed Yield

In general, seed yield during the years 2002-03and 2007-08 was low due to occurrence of frost duringgrand growth period of mustard. The package ofdemonstrated technology improved the seed yieldranging from 35.3 to 56.3% over farmers’ practice(Table 1). Enhanced seed yield might be due to adoptionof recommended package of practices. Similarobservations have been reported by Yadav et al. (2004).

Extension Gap

The extension gap was more when the high seedyield was obtained as compared to the poor performingyear (2002-03). On an average of 55 demonstrations,the extension gap of 542 kg/ha was recorded. This gapcould be attributed to poor adoption of differentcultivation practices like timely sowing, crop geometry,poor plant population, imbalanced use of fertilizers, lackof weed control, non-adoption of integrated nutrientmanagement and inadequate plant protection measuresunder traditional cultivation practices. Such gap revealed

Table 1. Yield and gap analysis of front line demonstration on mustard

Year No. of Variety Seed yield (kg/ha) Increase Extension Technology Technologydemonstrations in seed gap gap index

Potential Improved Farmers’ yield over (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (%)practices practice F. P. (%)

2000-01 2 RH-30 2500 2240 1565 43.1 675 260 10.42001-02 2 RH-30 2500 1575 1015 55.2 560 925 37.02002-03 11 RH-30 2500 1320 960 37.5 360 1180 47.22003-04 5 RH-30 2500 2030 1500 35.3 530 470 18.82006-07 27 RH-30 2500 1660 1070 55.1 590 840 33.62007-08 8 RH-30 2500 1500 960 56.3 540 1000 40.0Average 55 2500 1724 1178 47.0 542 781 31.2

about the essence of improved package of practicesadopted in front line demonstrations. Low extension gapreflects good extension activities which result insignificantly high adoption of improved technology bythe farmers. The gap can be lowered further bystrengthening extension activities (Siag et al., 2000).

Technology Gap and Index

Although the front line demonstrations (FLDs)were conducted under the supervision of scientists,there was still a wide gap between crop’s potential yieldand FLD yield. This was mainly due to variation in soilfertility, weather conditions, location specificmanagement problems and poor irrigation facilities insome demonstrations. This gap can be bridged up onlyby adoption of location specific recommendations(Kadian et al., 1997). The technology gap ranged from260 to 1180 kg/ha during different years and on anaverage basis of six years it was 781 kg/ha. There wasinverse relationship between technology gap andextension gap. The higher technology gap showed

worth of existing technolgies in real farming situation(Yadav et al., 2004). The technology index is thesignificance of evolved technology feasible at farmers’fields. Lower value of technology index as a functionof technology gap indicated the higher perfection oftechnology. The technology index was maximum(47.2%) during the year 2002-03 and minimum (10.4%)during the year 2000-01 and the average technologyindex was 31.2% in accordance with the technologygap. The higher technology gap index might be due toinadequate package of research findings which couldperform as per potential in different agroclimaticconditions. The technology index can be brought downin real sense by evolving location specific researchinnovations to bridge the gap between the potential yieldand demonstrations’ improved practice yield (Kadianet al., 1997).

Economic Evaluation

The seed yield variations and sale price ofmustard during different years influenced the total

72 Midha, Rana, Malik and Vasisht

returns. On an average, incurring of Rs. 2272 per hectareresulted in Rs. 7967/ha additional benefit than localfarmers’ practice (Table 2). The incremental benefit :cost ratio (IBCR) as a function of additional rupee earnedfor additional investment ranged from 2.82 to 4.46 insix years study. On an average, an IBCR of 3.51 was

obtained during the study period. it means that byincurring one more rupee on improved practice, thefarmer will get a benefit of Rs. 3.51.

The findings of this study are in the line withthe results obtained by Sidhu et al. (2003), Yadav et al.(2004) and Lathwal (2007).

Table 2. Economic analysis of front line demonstration on mustard

Year Cost of cultivation Total returns Additional Additional Effective Incremental(Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) cost in returns in grain benefit : cost

demonstrations demonstration (Rs./ha) ratioImproved Farmers’ Improved Farmers’ (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) (IBCR)practices practices practices practices

2000-01 13555 10925 24640 17215 2630 7425 4795 2.822001-02 12878 10654 20475 13195 2224 7280 5056 3.272002-03 13137 11795 19800 14400 1342 5400 4058 4.022003-04 14118 11967 30450 22500 2151 7950 5799 3.702006-07 15207 12960 28220 18190 2247 10030 7783 4.462007-08 15870 12830 27000 17280 3040 9720 6680 3.20Average 14127 11855 25098 17130 2272 7967 5695 3.51

REFERENCES

Anonymous (2006-07). Package of Practices for Kharif,CCSHAU, Hisar. p. 53.

Kadian, K. S., Sharma, Ravinder and Sharma, A. K. (1997).Evaluation of front line demonstration trials on oilseedin Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Ann. Agric. Res.48 : 40-43.

Lathwal, O. P. (2007). Evaluation of front line demonstrationson spring sunflower. Haryana J. Agron. 23 : 95-97.

Prasad, Y., Rao, E., Manohar, M. and Vijaybhinanda, R. (1993).Analysis of on-farm trials and level of technology onsoilseeds and pulse crops in Northern Telangana Zone ofAndhra Pradesh. Indian J. agric. Econ. 48 : 351-56.

Siag, R. K., Gaur, R. B., Verma, R. S. and Yadava, D. K.(2000). Evaluation of front line demonstrations toidentify adoption gaps in chickpea production underirrigated conditions of Sriganganagar district. Indian J.Pulses Res. 13 : 28-30.

Sidhu, B. S., Singh, K., Singh, T. P. and Sharma, K. (2003).Productivity realization and diversification through frontline demonstrations (oilseeds and pulses). Bulletin.Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ferozpur, Punjab AgriculturalUniversity, Ludhiana. pp. 20.

Yadav, D. B., Kamboj, B. R. and Garg, R. B. (2004). Increasingthe productivity and profitability of sunflower throughfront line demonstrations in irrigated agro-ecosystemof eastern Haryana. Haryana J. Agron. 20 : 30-35.


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

Effect of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on yield and nutrient uptake by onionB. L. YADAV AND RAJNI GUMBER

Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, S. K. N. College of Agriculture, Jobner-303 329, Jaipur, India

The productivity of the onion (8.43 t/ha) isvery low in Rajasthan, where it is grown in highlypermeable loamy sand soils. In Jaipur district ofRajasthan, 33% soil samples were deficient in S content(Jat and Yadav, 2006). Among the several constraints,improper nutritional management is an importantimpediment for increasing the productivity of onion.Several workers have reported that application ofoptimum dose of sulphur to onion crop receiving anadequate supply of nitrogen enhances both quantityand quality of the produce. Therefore, nitrogen andsulphur requirement of newly released variety of onionneeds evaluation. In present study, attempts have beenmade to evaluate the optimum doses of N and S forsustainable production of onion (Allium cepa L.) andto study the status of available N and S in loamy sandsoils of Rajasthan.

A field experiment was conducted on loamysand soil at farmers’ field near S. K. N. College ofAgriculture, Jobner during rabi 2001-02 with onionvariety RO-1. The treatments consisted of four levelseach of N (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N/ha) and S (0, 30, 60and 90 kg S/ha). These treatments were replicated thricein randomized block design. The soil of experimentalfield had pH 8.2, available N 135.6 kg/ha and available S8.4 mg/kg. Full dose of sulphur and one third dose ofnitrogen was applied as basal through elemental sulphurand urea, respectively. The remaining quantity of nitrogenwas applied in two equal splits i. e. 30 and 60 days aftertransplanting through urea. Phosphorus and potassiumwere applied as basal @ 50 kg P2O5/ha and 100 kg K2O/ha through triple super phosphate and muriate of potash,respectively. The seedlings of onion were planted in midDecember of 2001. Bulb yield was recorded atphysiological maturity. Bulb samples of onion were driedin air and then in oven for 2-3 days at 60°C, powderedand stored for their analysis, soil and plant samples wereanalysed for N and S content by using standardprocedures.

The fertilizer use efficiency was calculated as :

Bulb yield (kg/ha) in treated plot-Bulb yieldFertilizer use (kg/ha) in control plotefficiency (FUE) =______________________________________

(kg bulb/kg N or S) N or S applied (kg/ha)

Increasing levels of N significantly increasedthe bulb yield of onion from 18.4 to 31.70 t/ha (Table1). Maximum bulb yield of 31.70 t/ha was recorded at150 kg N/ha. Similarly, increasing levels of S increasedthe bulb yield from 20.01 to 30.08 t/ha and maximumbulb yield of 31.0 t/ha was recorded at 90 kg S/ha.Progressive increase in the bulb yield due to applicationof N and S was attributed to their low status in soil.

The optimum requirement of nitrogen andsulphur for maximum economic bulb yield of onion wasworked out with the help of response equations on thebasis of average bulb yield and fitted into followingquadratic (2nd degree) equations i. e. Y=a+bx+cx2 :

Y1 = 18.084+0.129 X1–0.00025 X12

Y2 = 20.040+0.157 X2–0.00051 X22

Where, Y1 and Y2 denote the bulb yield (t/ha) and X1 andX2 indicate levels of N and S (kg/ha), respectively. Fromthese equations, the optimum dose of N worked outwas 180.34 kg N/ha at which bulb yield was found tobe 33.22 t/ha. Similarly, the optimum dose of S was107.47 kg S/ha with a response of 31.02 t/ha of bulbyield.

Application of N significantly increased the Nuptake by bulb from 102.29 to 341.45 kg/ha (Table 1).This increase in N uptake may be attributed to increasein concentration and yield. The uptake of N by bulb alsoincreased significantly from 143.78 to 289.49 kg/ha byS application. It could be due to the profuse vegetativeroot growth resulting in higher absorption of N (Kumaret al., 2001).

Successive increase in nitrogen level from 0 to150 kg/ha significantly increased the S uptake by onionbulb from 110.90 to 237.08 kg/ha (Table 1). The uptakeof S by onion bulb also increased significantly with

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 74-76 (2008)

increasing level of sulphur from 98.73 to 238.49 kg/ha.This may be due to synergistic uptake mechanism of Nand S which can again invariably be attributed to increasein yield and higher nutritional demand for plant growth(Tiwari et al., 1992). The results are in close conformitywith the findings of Singh et al. (1996) and Meena andSingh (1998).

The NUE and SUE improved from 0.694 to1.194 kg bulb/kg N and 0.686 to 1.673 kg bulb/kg Sdue to their higher level of S (90 kg/ha) and N (150 kg/ha), respectively, over their control.

Nitrogen fertilization significantly decreased theN use efficiency (NUE) from 1.192 to 0.910 kg bulb/kgN and it was maximum at lower level (50 kg N/ha).Similarly, sulphur fertilization also decreased the sulphuruse efficiency (SUE) significantly from 1.457 to 1.118kg bulb/kg S and maximum being with 30 kg S/ha (Table1). It was decreased with per unit increase in fertilizersapplication as it is governed by total dry matterproduction which decreased per unit of applied N and Sat higher level where competition for N and S amongplant decreases due to more available N and S in soil andassociated with decrease in N and S uptake for a unitdecrease in applied fertilizer (Yadav and Vyas, 2006).This increase was due to more absorption of nutrientsby increase in root growth and mineralization of soil Nand S and thereby increase in yield and uptake ofnutrients.

The available N and S content of post-harvestsoils increased from 127.09 to 141.63 kg/ha and 10.35to 12.93 mg/kg, respectively, with N application (Table

1). Similarly, the available N and S increased withincreasing levels of sulphur from 0 to 90 kg/ha. Thehighest available N and S contents were recorded attheir higher level. The available N and S content in theircontrol was 127.09 kg/ha and 6.37 mg/kg as against theinitial value of 135.60 kg/ha and 8.40 mg/kg indicatingthe depletion of native soil N and S by 6.27 and 31.87%,respectively. Improvement in the status of available Nand S content in soil after harvest of crop was due toaddition of particular nutrient through fertilizer (Singhand Pandey, 2006). Significant increase in available Nand S due to nitrogen and sulphur application was alsoreported by Upadhyay et al. (1991).

From this study, it can be concluded thatapplication of N @ 150 kg/ha and S @ 90 kg/ha toonion recorded highest bulb yield. However, the optimumdoses of N and S worked out were 180.34 and 107.47kg/ha with a response of 33.22 and 31.02 t/ha bulb yieldof onion, respectively, in loamy sand soils of semi-arideastern plain of Rajasthan.

REFERENCES

Jat, J. R. and Yadav, B. L. (2006). Different forms of sulphur andtheir relationship with properties of entisols of Jaipurdistrict (Rajasthan) under mustard cultivation. J. Ind.Soc. Soil Sci. 54 : 208-12.

Kumar, A., Singh, R. and Chhillar, R. K. (2001). Influence ofnitrogen and potassium application on growth, yieldand nutrient uptake by onion (Allium cepa). Ind. J.Agron. 46 : 742-46.

Table 1. Effect of nitrogen and sulphur on onion yield, uptake of N and S, their efficiencies and availability in soil after harvest ofonion crop

Treatment Bulb yield N uptake S uptake Nitrogen use Sulphur use Available N Available S(t/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) efficiency efficiency (kg/ha) (mg/kg)

(kg bulb/kg N) (kg bulb/kg S)

N levels (kg/ha)0 18.04 102.29 110.90 - 0.686 127.09 10.35

50 24.00 176.47 159.46 1.192 1.165 130.95 11.32100 28.28 260.60 200.43 1.023 1.496 137.15 12.44150 31.70 341.45 237.08 0.910 1.673 141.63 12.93C. D. (P=0.05) 2.147 6.15 10.21 0.130 0.229 1.480 0.871S levels (kg/ha)0 20.01 143.78 98.73 0.694 - 128.76 6.37

30 24.39 201.35 165.64 0.990 1.457 133.45 10.8860 27.56 246.20 204.99 1.192 1.257 136.30 14.4190 30.08 289.49 238.49 1.194 1.118 138.32 17.39C. D. (P=0.05) 2.147 6.15 10.21 0.150 0.198 1.480 0.871


Meena, O. S. and Singh, D. (1998). Effect of sulphur and zincapplication on onion yield and sulphur and zinc uptakein three soil order. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 46 : 636-40.

Singh, H., Singh, S. and Singh, V. (1996). Response of onion(Allium cepa L.) to nitrogen and sulphur. Ann. Agric.Res. 17 : 441-44.

Singh, V. and Pandey, M. (2006). Effect of integrated nutrientmanagement on yield and nutrient uptake by onion andon soil fertility. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 54 : 365-67.

Tiwari, R. C., Singh, S. K. and Pandey, D. K. (1992). Influence

of sulphur application on yield and chemical compositionof some crops. Fert. News 37 : 23-26.

Upadhyay, R. M., Singh, B. and Katiyar, S. K. (1991). Effectof nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur application toblackgram on yield and fate of phosphorus in aninceptisol. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 39 : 298-301.

Yadav, B. L. and Vyas, K. K. (2006). Influence of sub-surfacecompaction on recovery and use efficiency of nitrogenin wheat crop on highly permeable soils. J. Ind. Soc.Soil Sci., 54 : 158-62.

76 Yadav and Gumber

Weed growth, yield and economics of transplanted rabi rice as influenced bydifferent weed management practices

C. SUBHA LAKSHMI, M. VENKATA RAMANA AND M. SRINIVASA RAJUDepartment of Agronomy, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad -500 030, India

Rice occupies a prominent position among thecereal crops grown in India. It contributes to about 62%of the total food granary of the nation, occupying anarea of 42.49 million hectares with a production of 88.28million tonnes and a productivity of 2.07 t/ha.

Weed management is considered as one of themajor factors affecting rice yields. Weeds when notcontrolled cause yield loss to a tune of 35-55% intransplanted conditions (Saikia and Purushothaman,1996). Hand weeding though effective is cumbersomeand time consuming. In the present days restricted labouravailability and ever hiking labour wages make handweeding expensive and less profitable. Under thesecircumstances chemical weed control assumesimportance (Bhan et. al., 1984), more so with theincreased availability of selective herbicides in recenttimes. The use of pre-emergence herbicides helps incontrolling the weed growth from the beginning of thecrop and offers scope for better utilization of growthresources. However, the application of pre-emergenceherbicides alone may not provide weed free environmentin the later stages. Hence, alternative methods involvingboth pre- and post-emergence herbicides or integratedweed management practices need to be investigated.Therefore, the present study was carried out to find outthe suitable weed control practice for transplanted rice.

A field experiment was conducted at the CollegeFarm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabadduring the rabi season of 2005. The soil of theexperimental site was sandy clay loam in texture with amedium content of organic carbon, nitrogen andphosphorus, high in available potassium status andslightly alkaline in reaction (pH 8.1). The experimentwas laid out in a randomized block design replicatedthrice with 12 weed control treatments (Table 1).Seedlings were transplanted by adopting a spacing of15 × 10 cm. One third of the recommended dose of N(40 kg/ha), full dose of P2O5 (60 kg/ha) and K2O (40 kg/ha) were applied before transplanting and remainingamount of N was top dressed in two equal splits, half atactive tillering and half at panicle initiation stages. Weeddensity was recorded by using 0.25 m2 quadrat at four

places and expressed as No./m2. Weed data were analysedafter using √x+1 transformation. The major weed flora of the experimental site asobserved from control plot consisted of grasses(Echinochloa colona, Panicum repens, Paspalumdistichum, Cynodon dactylon), sedges (Cyperus iria,Cyperus difformis) and broad-leaved weeds (Ecliptaalba, Caesulia auxillaris, Ammania baccifera,Commelina bengalensis). Grasses were dominant (43%)than broad-leaved weeds (29%) and sedges (28%). Handweeding at 20 and 40 DAT was found to be significantlyeffective in recording lower weed density and higherweed control efficiency irrespective of the stage of thecrop. Among the herbicidal treatments, the pre-emergence application of anilofos @ 0.4 kg a. i./ha andoxadiargyl @ 70 g a. i/ha were found effective in reducingthe weed density at active tillering stage, while atmaximum tillering stage anilofos 0.3 kg a. i./ha+one handweeding (at 25 DAT), oxadiargyl @ 50 g a. i./ha+onehand weeding (at 25 DAT) proved effective in controllingweeds (Table 1). The highest values for yield attributesi. e. panicles/m2 and filled grains per panicle wererecorded by hand weeding treatment followed by anilofos0.3 kg a. i./ha+one hand weeding at 25 DAT andoxadiargyl @ 50 g a. i./ha+one hand weeding at 25 DAT.The weed control treatments had no effect on 1000-grain weight. Lowest values of these yield attributingcharacters were recorded by unweeded check. Higheryield attributes finally led to higher grain yields in thesetreatments. The highest grain yield was registered byhand weeding treatment followed by anilofos 0.3 kga. i./ha+one hand weeding at 25 DAT and oxadiargyl @50 g a. i./ha+one hand weeding at 25 DAT. Singh andKumar (1999) also observed similar increase in grainand straw yields with anilofos 0.3 kg a. i./ha+one handweeding at 20 DAT. These treatments also recorded betterweed index values. The highest gross returns wererecorded by HW at 20 and 40 DAT followed by anilofos0.3 kg a. i./ha+ HW at 25 DAT and oxadiargyl @ 50 ga. i/ha+HW at 25 DAT. On comparing the net returns,anilofos 0.3 kg a. i/ha+HW at 25 DAT, HW at 20 and 40DAT gave higher net returns. The highest benefit : cost

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 77-79 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Wee

d de

nsity

, wee

d co

ntro

l eff

icie

ncy,

yiel

d a

nd e

cono

mic

s of r

ice

as in

fluen

ced

by d

iffer

ent w

eed

man

agem

ent p

ract

ices

Trea

tmen

t (g/

ha)

Wee

d de

nsity

(No.

/m2 )

WC

E (%

)G

rain

Stra

wG

ross

Net

B :

Cyi

eld

yiel

dre

turn

sre

turn

sra

tioA

ctiv

eM

axim

umA

ctiv

eM

axim

um(k

g/ha

)(k

g/ha

)(R

s./ha

)(R

s./ha

)til

lerin

gtil

lerin

gtil

lerin

gtil

lerin

g

Oxa

diar

gyl @

70

g P

RE

30.1

075

.80

83.2

264

.38

4754

5253

3115

018

800

1.52

(5.6

6)(8

.73)

Ani

lofo

s @

400

g P

RE

30.1

072

.20

83.9

364

.49

4779

5508

3142

819

153

1.56

(5.6

6) (8

.53)

2,4-

D S

odiu

m sa

lt @

100

0 g,

25

DAT

79.3

063

.60

4.52

51.2

138

2349

6725

421

1307

11.

06 (8

.91)

(8.5

3)Fe

noxa

prop

-p-e

thyl

@ 1

00 g

, 25

DAT

77.6

053

.70

2.26

55.5

340

8048

9026

925

1390

01.

07(8

.81)

(7.3

6)O

xadi

argy

l @ 5

0 g P

RE

fb

2,4

-D @

500

g ,

25 D

AT43

.50

57.7

080

.09

65.5

648

0253

5631

490

1914

91.

55 (6

.60)

(7.6

2)A

nilo

fos

@ 3

00 g

PR

E f

b 2

,4-D

@ 5

00 g

, 25 D

AT46

.30

57.7

080

.69

65.4

049

0154

2032

116

1961

71.

57(6

.80)

(7.6

2)O

xadi

argy

l @ 5

0 g

PRE

fb fe

noxa

prop

@ 7

5 g,

25

DAT

44.4

061

.80

79.9

360

.98

4587

5361

3020

217

108

1.31

(6.6

6)(7

.89)

Ani

lofo

s @ 3

00 g

as P

RE

fb fe

noxa

prop

@ 7

5 g,

25

DAT

47.8

067

.00

80.9

958

.87

4325

5410

2865

515

603

1.20

(6.

66)

(8.2

2)O

xadi

argy

l @ 5

0 g

PR

E fb

HW

25

DAT

43.0

043

.96

80.3

969

.61

5734

6151

3747

923

683

1.72

(6.5

6)(6

.67)

Ani

lofo

s @

300

g P

RE

fb H

W 2

5 D

AT42

.30

39.8

081

.07

72.5

858

6362

2138

288

2465

41.

81(6

.50)

(6.3

5)H

W a

t 20

and

40

DAT

17.9

027

.00

88.3

876

.52

6046

6810

3968

124

536

1.62

(4.2

5) (5

.24)

Unw

eede

d (C

ontro

l)85

.60

191.

46-

-32

9746

3122

097

1025

20.

87 (9

.25)

(13.

85)

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)0.

210.

21

11

020

6

Figu

res i

n pa

rent

hese

s ind

icat

e ro

ot tr

ansf

orm

ed v

alue

s. fb

=fol

low

ed b

y.

78 Lakshmi, Ramana and Raju

ratio of 1.81 was obtained with anilofos 0.3 kg a. i/ha+HW at 25 DAT followed by oxadiargyl @ 50 g a. i/ha+HW at 25 DAT (1.72). Hand weeding twice at 20and 40 DAT recorded a lower BCR (1.62) in comparisonto the above two treatments.

REFERENCES

Bhan, V. M., Balyan, R. S. and Malik, R. K. (1984). Weedmanagement in direct seeded upland rice. In : Proc.

Annual Conference of Indian Society of Weed Science,Varanasi. pp. 2.

Saikia, M. and Purushothaman, S. (1996). Competitive abilityof weed flora in lowland rice (Oryza sativa). Indian J.agric. Sci. 66 : 70-72.

Singh, S. P. and Kumar, R. M. (1999). Efficacy of single andsequential application of herbicides and weed control intransplanted rice. Indian J. Weed Sci. 31 : 222-24.


Weed management studies in zero-tillage maize (Zea mays)P. ANAPURNAMMA, A. PRATAP KUMAR REDDY, G. S. MADHU BINDU AND M. SREENIVASA RAJU

Department of Agronomy, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030, India

Maize, being a wide row spaced and high fertilityrequiring crop, invites many weeds which germinateand compete for various growth factors. Depending uponthe growth and persistence of weed population, themagnitude of yield loss in maize varies from 30-90%(Khajanji et al., 2002). Post-emergence application ofatrazine proved to be very potent against broad-leavedweeds and annual grasses (Balyan et al., 1994).However, integrated method of weed control seems tobe efficient in controlling weeds under zero-tillageconditions.

Field study was conducted at Students’ Farm,College of Agriculture, ANGRAU, Hyderabad during rabi2006-07. The soil of the experimental field was sandyloam in texture, slightly alkaline (pH 8.5) with mediumorganic carbon (0.5%), low available nitrogen (250.8kg/ha), high phosphorus (93.0 kg/ha) and potassium(289.7 kg/ha) contents. Nine treatments were laid out inrandomised block design with three replications havingplot size 5.4 x 4.0 m (Table 1). Maize Hybrid Super 900M (Cargil) which matures in 120-125 days was used inthe study. Paraquat @ 1.5 kg a. i./ha was appliedimmediately after rice harvest and a day before sowingof maize. Atrazine @ 1.5 kg a. i./ha was applied aspost-emergence at 15 DAS. Hand weeding as pertreatment was done at 30 DAS. The recommended doseof fertilizers @ 120 N+60 P2O5+40 K2O kg/ha wasapplied. In conventional tillage method, entirerecommended dose of P2O5 and K2O and 1/3 dose ofnitrogen was applied as basal. The remaining 2/3 ofnitrogen was applied in two equal split doses at knee-high and flowering stages. Under zero-tillage conditions,entire dose of P2O5, K2O and 1/3 nitrogen was applied at15 DAS by pocket placement method. The remaining2/3 nitrogen was applied in two equal splits at knee-highand flowering stages. The field was infested with seven dominantspecies of weeds comprising three monocots–Cynodondactylon, Echinochloa colonum, Cyperus rotundus andfour dicots–Trianthema portulacastrum, Vernoniacinerea, Cichorium intybus and Partheniumhysterophorus. The results of the field study indicated that weed

dry matter at 30 and 60 DAS was minimum (9.2 and54.7 g/m2) in conventional planted maize (T1) than thezero-tillage treatments (T2 and T3) (Table 1). In zero-tillage sowing, combined application of paraquat andatrazine without (T5 and T7) and with hand weeding (T8and T9) in both random and line sowings had recordedlowest weed dry matter at 30 and 60 DAS. Lower weeddry weights of the above zero-tillage treatments werecomparable to that of conventional planting and this mightbe attributed to more effective control of first flush ofweeds brought about by the combined use of twocompatible herbicides and a manual weeding whichcontrolled the second flush of weeds. These results arein agreement with the findings of Bhardwaj et al. (2004). Lowest weed index value (3.2%) under zero-tillage conditions was observed when paraquat as pre-emergence and atrazine as post-emergence were appliedin line sowing followed by a hand weeding at 30 DAS(T9).

On the other hand, weed control efficiencyrecorded at 30 and 60 DAS indicated that under zero-tillage conditions irrespective of the method of sowing,application of paraquat and atrazine as pre-and post-emergence with and without an additional hand weedingat 30 DAS (T8, T9, T5 and T7) has resulted in efficientcontrol of weeds (Table 1).

Maize planted conventionally (T1) recordedmaximum grain yield (5020 kg/ha) than the zero-tillagetreatments. Among the herbicide treatments under zero-tillage conditions, combined application of paraquat andatrazine (T7 and T5) recorded higher grain yield in bothline and random sowings than the treatments whereparaquat alone was applied (T6 and T4) (Table 1). Yieldcomparable to conventional planted maize (T1) wasobtained when an additional hand weeding was givenafter combined application of paraquat and atrazine inline sown maize (T9). Clean cultivation by intensive weedmanagement in the above treatments might have createdfavourable growth conditions to yield maximum thanrest of the treatments. The beneficial effect of integratedweed management in improving yield attributes andmaintaining higher yields as that of conventional plantedmaize was also reported by Sinha et al. (2001).

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 80-81 (2008)

An integrated approach of weed controlinvolving application of paraquat as pre-emergence andatrazine as post-emergence to zero-tillage maize followedby a hand weeding at 30 DAS when planted at optimumpopulation (T9) has increased the net profit from 10.7 to53.8% over rest of the treatments and was found moreefficient and economical. Relatively, B : C ratioconsequent to higher net returns was highest (2.1) withthis treatment (Table 1). The highest net return andbenefit : cost ratio of the above treatment might beattributed to higher gross return resulted from highercrop yield.

REFERENCES

Balyan, R. S., Malik, R. K. and Dhankar, R. S. (1994). Atrazineas post-emergence herbicide for weed control in maize

Table 1. Effect of weed control practices on weeds, grain yield and economics of maize

Treatment Weed dry matter Weed index Weed control Grain Net Benefit :(g/m2) (%) efficiency (%) yield returns cost

(kg/ha) (Rs./ha) ratio30 DAS 60 DAS 30 DAS 60 DAS

T1–Planting by conventional 9.2 54.7 - - - 5020 15802 1.8 method after land preparationT2–Random sowing by dibbling 57.3 159.3 44.0 - - 2815 8176 1.7 under zero tillage conditionsT3–Sowing in lines (60 x 20 cm2) by 66.0 133.3 39.6 - - 3033 10276 1.9 dibbling under zero tillage conditionsT4–T2 + Paraquat (Pre-emergence) 26.0 119.0 28.4 54.6 25.3 3594 11870 1.9 @ 1.5 kg a. i./haT5–T2 + Paraquat (Pre-emergence) 12.7 68.3 25.0 56.7 33.8 3770 11957 1.8 @ 1.5 kg a. i/ha+Atrazine (Post-emergence) @ 1.5 kg a. i./haT6–T3 + Paraquat (Pre-emergence) 28.6 88.3 23.0 77.8 57.1 3866 14245 2.1 @ 1.5 kg a. i./haT7–T3 + Paraquat (Pre-emergence) 10.6 60.3 21.6 83.9 54.8 3935 13589 2.0 @ 1.5 kg a. i/ha + Atrazine (Post-emergence) @ 1.5 kg a. i./haT8–T5 + Hand weeding at 30 DAS 11.5 62.4 18.0 79.9 60.8 4120 12102 1.7T9–T7 + Hand weeding at 30 DAS 9.7 56.2 3.2 85.3 57.8 4861 17689 2.1LSD ( P=0.05) 17.6 30.2 608

(Zea mays L.). Indian J. Weed Sci. 26 : 35-39.

Bhardwaj, A. K., Singh, R. K., Singh, S. P., Singh, Y., GovindraSingh, Misra, R. D., Mahendra Singh and AbnishKumar (2004). Weed management in zero-till sownwheat. Indian J. Weed Sci. 36 : 175-77.

Khajanji, S. N., Gautam, R. C. and Patel, J. R. (2002). Effectof tillage and weed control methods on growth and yieldof maize. J. Mah. Agric. Univ. 27 : 277-79.

Sinha, S. P., Prasad, S. M. and Singh, S. J. (2001). Responseof winter maize (Zea mays) to integrated weedmanagement. Indian J. Agron. 46 : 485-88.


Effect of integrated nutrient management on herbage yield and nutrient uptakeof forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

ABDHESH KUMAR, D. S. RANA AND R. S. SHEORANForage Section, Department of Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

Sorghum is one of the most important cerealfodder crops grown extensively during the kharif seasonin India. Due to its excellent growing habits and goodnutritive value, it is greatly favoured by the farmers. Itis an exhaustive crop and depletes soil fertility very fast,if proper care is not taken in nutrient management. Theapproach of nutrient management aims at efficient andjudicious use of all the major sources of plant nutrientsin an integrated manner, so as to get maximum economicyield without any deleterious effect on physico-chemicaland biological properties of the soil. Keeping in view,the sustainability and quality of forage sorghumproduction under intensive cropping system through theintegrated use of chemical fertilizers supplemented withfarm yard manure and biofertilizer which also maintainsoil fertility on long term basis, the present study wascarried out.

A field study was carried out during kharif2006 season on sandy loam soil low in available N (182.2kg/ha), medium in available P (12.1 kg/ha) and rich inavailable K (340.5 kg/ha) at Forage Research Area,Department of Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar. The experiment consisting of 10treatments (Table 1) was replicated three times in arandomized block design. The whole quantity of welldecomposed FYM was incorporated in the soil of therespective plots 21 days prior to the sowing. Full doseof phosphorus (single super phosphate) was drilledbefore the sowing. The half dose of nitrogen throughurea was applied as a basal dose at the time of sowingand remaining half dose was top-dressed at 25 daysafter sowing as per the treatments. The seed of the plotshaving biofertilizer treatment was inoculated withAzotobacter chroococcum culture (HT-54) using 10%sugar syrup so that the cultures may stick well on theseeds. The seeds were dried under shade before sowing.Sorghum variety HJ-513 was sown on July 4, 2006 by‘pora’ method with hand plough in rows 30 cm apartusing a seed rate of 60 kg/ha. The crop was harvestedat 50% flowering stage, which is considered to be idealstage for quality fodder.

The green fodder and dry matter yields of

sorghum were significantly higher with the use of 100%RDF (T3) than the other treatments, except treatmentT10 where 75% RDF was applied to the crop alongwith3.75 t FYM/ha and Azotobacter. An increase of 45.6,35.0 and 17.9% in green fodder yield was recorded withthe application of 100% RDF (T3) over control (T1),Azotobacter inoculation (T2) and 15 t FYM/hatreatments, respectively. The corresponding values fordry matter yield were 42.6, 31.5 and 18.6%. Thebeneficial response of 100% RDF to various yield studiescould be ascribed due to favourable effect of growthcharacters, namely, plant height, dry matteraccumulation, leaf area and leaf : stem ratio (Table 1).The significant increase in fodder yield with increase infertility levels could be attributed to conducive effect onroot and shoot growth of plant which in turn has accruedfrom increased morphological parameters. The resultsof present investigation are in close agreement with thefindings of Tomar and Raghu (1993), Kumar et al.(2004) and Sheoran and Rana (2005).

The various combinations of organic, inorganicand biofertilizers gave significantly higher forage yieldthan the control (Table 1). The highest green fodder anddry matter yields in these combinations were obtainedfrom the treatment having 25% N substitution throughFYM (3.75 t FYM/ha)+75% RDF through chemicalfertilizers+Azotobacter (T10) and the magnitude ofincrease was 8.7, 4.6, 2.3, 6.7 and 3.5% and 9.8, 7.5,5.4, 4.0 and 3.0% for green fodder and dry matter yield,respectively, over the treatments, T5 (25% RDF+11.25t FYM/ha), T6 (50% RDF+7.50 t FYM/ha), T7 (75%RDF+3.75 t FYM/ha), T8 (25% RDF+11.25 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter) and T9 (50% RDF+7.50 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter). The response of FYM (T4) was almostsame as that of combinations having 25% RDF+11.25 tFYM/ha (T5), 50% RDF+7.50 t FYM/ha (T6) and 25%RDF+11.25 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter (T8). This increasein yield with the integration of FYM with chemicalfertilizers can be attributed to the increased growthparameters. Sheoran et al. (2000), Jayanthi et al. (2002)and Kumar et al. (2004) also advocated the use ofcombined application of nutrients through organic and

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 82-83 (2008)

inorganic fertilizers for higher productivity andsustainability.

The uptake of NPK was highest in treatment T3(100% RDF) which enhanced the N uptake in fodder tothe tune of 62.9, 53.2 and 18.0 kg/ha over control (T1),Azotobacter alone (T2) and 15 t FYM/ha (T4),respectively (Table 1). Corresponding improvement inP uptake was 7.5, 6.0 and 1.6 kg/ha and K uptake 91.6,80.8 and 28.1 kg/ha, respectively. The higher uptake ofNPK under (T3) treatment was mainly due to higher drymatter yield (Table 1). The increase in NPK uptake withfertilizers application has also been reported by Prasadand Nanwal (2001) and Harikrishana et al. (2005).

REFERENCES

Harikrishana, B. L., Dasog, G. S. and Patil, P. L. (2005). Uptakeof NPK, nitrogen use efficiency and available NPK insoils at different growth stages of maize crop. KarnatakaJ. agric. Sci. 18 : 375-82.

Jayanthi, C., Malarvizhi, P., Chinnasamy, C. and Mythili,S. (2002). Integrated nutrient management for bajra-hybrid napier system. J. Farming Systems Research &Development 8 : 10-14.

Kumar, Sunil, Rawat, C. R., Singh, K. and Melkania, N. P.(2004). Effect of integrated nutrient management ongrowth, herbage productivity and economics of foragesorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Forage Res.30 : 140-44.

Prasad, Jagdish and Nanwal, R. K. (2001). Nutrient contentand uptake studies in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)intercropping system under rainfed conditions. HaryanaJ. Agron. 17 : 193-95.

Sheoran, R. S., Jatasra, D. S. and Rana, D. S. (2000). Efficacyof Azotobacter inoculation under graded doses of nitrogenfertilizer in relation to growth, yield and nitrogenutilization efficiency of oat (Avena sativa L.). ActaAgronomica Hungarica 48 : 165-70.

Sheoran, R. S. and Rana, D. S. (2005). Relative efficacy ofvermicompost and farm yard manure integrated withinorganic fertilizers for sustainable productivity of foragesorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. ActaAgronomica Hungarica 53 : 303-08.

Tomar, K. K. S. and Raghu, J. S. (1993). Response of sorghumto P and K fertilizers. Bulletin of Taiching DistrictAgricultural Improvement Station 26 : 31-40.

Table 1. Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth and forage yield of sorghum

Treatment Dry matter Leaf : stem Green fodder Dry matter Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)accumulation/ ratio yield (q/ha) yield (q/ha)

metre (g) N P K

T1–Control 936.5 0.21 316.2 79.2 62.5 7.1 94.9T2–Azotobacter 960.2 0.23 341.0 85.9 72.2 8.6 105.7T3–100% RDF (80 kg N+30 kg P2O5) 1160.5 0.27 460.5 113.0 125.4 14.6 186.5T4–15 t FYM/ha 1005.8 0.24 390.3 95.2 107.4 13.4 161.8T5–25% RDF+11.25 t FYM/ha 1017.2 0.23 399.6 97.6 91.7 10.7 131.7T6–50% RDF+7.50 t FYM/ha 1039.0 0.24 415.3 99.7 87.7 11.0 141.5T7–75% RDF+3.75 t FYM/ha 1062.4 0.23 425.0 101.7 89.4 11.1 142.3T8–25% RDF+11.25 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter 1025.7 0.24 407.2 103.1 110.3 12.4 160.8T9–50% RDF+7.50 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter 1051.0 0.24 419.8 104.1 114.5 13.5 169.6T10–75% RDF+3.75 t FYM/ha+Azotobacter 1135.3 0.26 434.4 107.2 116.8 12.8 171.5C. D. (P=0.05) 40.0 0.03 29.40 7.62 9.09 0.85 11.0


Weed flora associated with Pennisetum typhoides in southern Haryana and theircontrol measures

SURESH KUMAR, MUKTA ARORA1 AND J. S. YADAV2

Department of Botany (DDE), Annamalai University, Annamalainagar-608 002, India

1Department of Botany, Ahir College, Rewari-123 401 (Haryana), India.2Department of Agronomy, CCSHAU Regional Research Station, Bawal-123 501 (Haryana), India.

Pennisetum typhoides (Burm) Stapf. &Hubberd, popularly known as pearl millet (bajra), is afood crop in semi-arid tropical regions of India andseveral other countries. It symbolizes grain crop of apoor man in the part of southern Haryana and is closelyassociated with cultural and social activities of the people.Traditionally, it is used for human food and animal feedand forages. It is nutritionally better than many cerealsas it is a good source of protein (11.6%), mineralparticularly iron (8.8%) and also fat. Decoction of thegrains is given to the typhoid patients. The weeds havebeen reported to reduce the grain yield of pearl millet toan extent of 16 to 94% (Umrani et al., 1980). Hence,the present investigation was planned to identify andcontrol the weeds associated with pearl millet in theclimatic condition of southern Haryana.

A survey of weed flora of pearl millet wasconducted during the kharif season of 2007. Duringsurvey, 28 pearl millet fields approximately one monthafter sowing were surveyed using a quadrat (of size 1 x1 m) at random and a field experiment was conductedduring kharif season of 2008 at village Naichana ofdistrict Rewari (Haryana). The soil of the site was sandyloam and rainfall received during the crop season was1058 mm. The growing period of the crop was 92 days.The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized blockdesign with three replications. The treatments consistedof five stages/time of weed control (pre-emergence, 7,14, 21 and 28 days after sowing the crop) and seventypes of weed control strategies viz., unweeded, handweeding, atrazine @ 0.5 kg/ha, mixed cropping (withclusterbean), hand weeding+atrazine, handweeding+mixed cropping and mixed cropping+atrazine.86M32 variety of pearl millet was sown by seed drill onJuly 5, 2008 with a row spacing of 30 cm, and plant toplant distance of 15 cm was maintained by thinning at18 days after sowing the crop. Fifty kg P2O5 and 60 kgN/ha were applied before sowing and 60 kg N/ha wasapplied one month after sowing the crop. Hand weeding

was done by pulling out the weeds and atrazine wasapplied using knapsack sprayer. HG 365 variety ofclusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) was sown asper mixed cropping plots by mixing and spreading theseeds randomly. Visual assessment of weeds responsewas recorded on the basis of injury to the plants bydifferent types of treatments at 45 DAS using a 0-100scale, where, 0=no injury and 100=complete destruction.Growth observations in terms of dry matteraccumulation by weeds were recorded at 45 days aftersowing (DAS) and at harvest. Pearl millet equivalentyield of the crops was recorded to interpret the results.

Effect on Weeds

During survey, 26 weed species were recordedin pearl millet. Out of 26 weed species, eight were ofgrass family, two sedges and 16 belonged to broad leafweeds. On average basis, Trianthema portulacastrumwas the most dominant weed comprising 29.16% ofthe total weed flora with a density of 45.2 plants per m2

followed by Digera arvensis (13.8%), Cyperus rotundus(9.68%), Dactyloctenium aegypticum (10%), Eragrostiscolonum (5.55%), Cyperus compressus (4.7%) andPhyllanthus niruri (2.7%). The least population density,0.32% of the total weed flora, was recorded with Ipomeapurpurea and Euphorbia hirta.

The weeds showed the maximum response(99%) with hand weeding+atrazine treatment as itdestroyed maximum weeds. Phytotoxicity of 60% toweeds was recorded with atrazine+mixed croppingtreatment. Hand weeding+mixed cropping provided 90%weed control.

Dry matter accumulation by the weeds wassignificantly affected by the time and type of weedcontrol. Dry matter of weeds increased with increase inthe growth stage. Weed control upto 14 days of cropwas best in reducing the dry weight of weeds. Handweeding alone as well as in combination with atrazine

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 84-85 (2008)

(0.5 kg/ha) and mixed cropping proved superior to othertype of weed control. Atrazine (0.5 kg/ha) at 7 or 14DAS as well as its pre-emergence was also recordedbetter than its application at 21 DAS or later. Balyan etal. (1993) also reported the similar performance ofatrazine in controlling carpetweed.

Effect on Crop Yield

Higher grain yield of pearl millet was recordedwhere weed control was done upto 14 DAS. Delayingof weed control beyond 14 DAS reduced the grain yield.Hand weeding alone proved the better method of weedcontrol as compared with its combination with atrazine(0.5 kg/ha) and mixed cropping which are statisticallyat par with hand weeding. Yadav et al. (1995) alsoreported better control of carpetweed with atrazine (0.25

Table 1. Dry weight of weeds and pearl millet equivalent yield as influenced by different treatments

Treatment Visual assessment Weed dry weight (g/m2) Pearl milletof weeds equivalent yield

(% injured) 45 DAS At harvest (q/ha)

Time of weed control0 DAS (Pre-emergence) - 32.7 76.0 25.877 DAS - 25.7 60.0 26.0114 DAS - 21.9 51.5 28.1521 DAS - 44.7 98.1 24.0928 DAS - 52.6 109.1 22.03C. D. (P=0.05) - 2.69 7.04 2.25Type of weed controlUnweeded 0 76.8 137.5 14.46Hand weeding 90 14.4 40.2 31.78Atrazine (0.5 kg/ha) 50 40.3 99.4 27.02Mixed cropping 10 62.2 114.9 19.29HW+Atrazine 99 8.5 31.3 29.81HW+Mixed cropping 90 12.7 37.3 31.12Atrazine+Mixed cropping 60 33.7 91.9 23.13C. D. (P=0.05) - 5.2 8.2 2.91

DAS–Days after sowing.

to 0.5 kg/ha) at 10 to 15 DAS as compared to itsapplication at 20 DAS.

REFERENCES

Balyan, R. S., Kumar, S., Malik, R. K. and Panwar, R. S.(1993). Post-emergence efficacy of atrazine incontrolling weeds in pearl millet. Indian J. Weed Sci. 25: 7-11.

Umrani, M. K., Bhoi, P. G. and Patil, N. B. (1980). Effect ofweed competition on growth and yield of pearl millet.J. Maharashtra agric. Univ. 5 : 56-57.

Yadav, J. S., Yadav, Ashok, Malik, R. K., Balyan, R. S. andSachan, P. L. (1995). Efficacy of atrazine applied atdifferent times to control carpetweed in pearl millet.Haryana agric. Univ. J. Res. 25 : 117-21.


Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on yield and economics of pearl millet NARENDER SINGH, L. K. MIDHA, S. K. THAKRAL AND RAMESH VASHIST


The average yield of pearl millet in India as wellas in Haryana is low as compared to potential yield ofexisting cultivars and there is ample scope for increasingits productivity by adopting better agronomic practicese. g. plant density and nitrogen application. Pearl millethybrid HHB-197 has been recently evolved and theresponse to plant densities as well as nitrogen applicationstill needs to be investigated.

The field experiment was conducted duringkharif season of 2007 at Research Farm of ChaudharyCharan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar(India) on crop geometry and nitrogen levels on pearlmillet (Table 1). The soil was sandy loam in texture, lowin available nitrogen, low in available phosphorus andhigh in available potash. The sowing was done on 10July 2007 using 5 kg seed rate/ha of hybrid HHB-197.The plant to plant spacing was maintained by thinningand gap filling 19 days after sowing of crop. The halfnitrogen dose and full phosphorus (60 kg P2O5/ha) wasdrilled at the time of sowing and remaining half nitrogendose was top dressed after thinning and gap filling (20DAS).

The perusal of data (Table 1) clearly indicatesthat 45 x 16 cm spacing resulted in significantly highergrain and stover yield than rest of the treatments. Theyield attributing characters like effective number of

earheads per plant and 1000-grain weight weresignificantly higher under wider spacing i. e. 60 x 16cm (104166 plants/ha) than rest of spacing treatments,because of lesser plant population. The significantly pooryield attributing characters were found under 45 x 12cm spacing because of higher competition between theplants due to more plant population. Verma and Midha(1989) also reported similar results.

Maximum grain and stover yield was recordedunder 160 kg N/ha and each successive lower dose ofnitrogen resulted in significantly lower yields andminimum grain and stover yield was recorded undercontrol treatment. The increase in yields with theapplication of nitrogen was due to significant increasein number of earheads per plant and 1000-grain weightwith increasing levels of nitrogen from 0 to 160 kg N/ha. Application of nitrogen enhanced growth anddevelopment of plant and resulted in higher grain andstover yield. An overall increase in grain and stover yieldof pearl millet due to application of nitrogen has beendocumented by Yadav et al. (1991), Parihar et al. (1997),Bhagchand and Gautam (2000).

Plant spacing 45 x 16 cm resulted highest gross(Rs. 33557) and net return (Rs. 17715) as compared to45 x 12, 60 x 12 and 60 x 16 cm spacing (Table 1). Thismight be due to higher grain and stover yield under 45 x

Table 1. Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on yield and monetary returns in pearl millet

Treatment Effective 1000- grain Grain Stover Gross Cost of Netearheads/ weight yield yield returns cultivation returns

plant (g) (q/ha) (q/ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha)

Spacing (cm)45 x 12 2.15 9.49 32.34 98.29 31690 15842 1584845 x 16 2.91 9.71 34.42 103.24 33557 15842 1771560 x 12 2.48 9.60 29.10 83.52 27900 15742 1215860 x 16 3.07 9.78 26.69 79.54 26007 15742 10265C. D. (P=0.05) 0.12 0.11 1.18 2.05 - - -Nitrogen levels (kg/ha)

0 1.82 8.96 23.17 72.31 22941 14693 824840 2.42 9.19 28.53 85.23 27771 15280 1249180 2.67 9.66 31.64 93.35 30653 15801 14852

120 3.05 9.80 34.00 100.28 32935 16330 16605160 3.30 10.21 35.86 105.07 34650 16856 17794C. D. (P=0.05) 0.14 0.13 1.32 2.29 - - -

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 86-87 (2008)

16 cm spacing. Gross and net returns increased withincreasing nitrogen levels from control to 160 kg N/ha.Higher gross (Rs. 34650) and net returns (Rs. 17794)were obtained under 160 kg N/ha. This might be due tothe fact that higher grain and stover yields were achievedunder this nitrogen level. Similar results were alsoreported by Singh et al. (2007).

REFERENCES

Bhagchand and Gautam, R. C. (2000). Effect of organic manures,bio-fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers on growth, yieldand quality of rainfed pearl millet. Ann. Agric. Res. 21 :452-64.

Parihar, G. N., Sahu, M. P. and Joshi, N. L. (1997). Nitrogen,sulphur and thiourea nutrition of pearl millet. 1. Effecton growth and dry matter production. Ann. Arid Zone36 : 353-62.

Singh, K., Singh, H., Hooda, R. S. and Pannu, R. K. (2007).Economics of time and levels of N application and weedcontrol in pearl millet. Haryana J. Agron. 23 : 102-05.

Verma, O. P. S. and Midha, L. K. (1989). Response of pearlmillet to plant densities. Indian J. Agron. 34 : 85-87.

Yadav, J. P., Singh, G. D. and Keshwa, G. L. (1991). Growthand yield of pearl millet as affected by different formsof nitrogenous fertilizers and levels on zinc. Haryana J.Agron. 7 : 91-93.


Nutrient contents and their uptake in hybrid pearl millet as affected by organicand inorganic fertilizers

VANDANA, S. S. PAHUJA, S. K. THAKRAL AND ANIL KUMARDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

A field experiment was conducted at theAgronomy Research Farm of Chaudhary Charan SinghHaryana Agricultural University, Hisar during kharif2008. The soil of the experimental site was sandy loamin texture with slightly alkaline in reaction (pH 8.0), lowin organic carbon (0.43%) and available nitrogen (128kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (12 kg/ha) andhigh in available potassium (217 kg/ha). The experimentconsisting of 12 treatments viz., Control (T1), 75%RDF+FYM @ 5 t/ha (T2), 100% RDF+FYM @ 5 t/ha(T3), 75% RDF+FYM @ 10 t/ha (T4), 100% RDF+FYM@ 10 t/ha (T5), 75% RDF+Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha(T6), 100% RDF+Vermicompost @ 2.5 t/ha (T7), 75%RDF+Vermicompost @ 5 t/ha (T8), 100% RDF+Vermicompost @ 5 t/ha (T9), 75% RDF (T10), 100%RDF (T11) and 125% RDF (T12) was laid out inrandomized block design with three replications. Bajrahybrid HHB-197 was sown in rows 45 cm apart on 3July and was harvested on 20 September. The full doseof organic fertilizers (FYM and Vermicompost) wasapplied to the field before sowing as per the treatments.Full dose of P and half dose of N as per treatments weredrilled before one day of sowing and rest of N was topdressed after gap filling in the plots. Grain and strawsamples of pearl millet drawn from different treatmentswere analyzed for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassiumcontents and their uptake was worked out under differenttreatments.

The data pertaining to nutrient content arepresented in Table 1 which reveal that nitrogen contentwas higher in grain than in stover. Maximum nitrogencontent (1.89%) was recorded in treatment T12 (125%RDF) followed by T9 (100% RDF+Vermicompost @ 5t/ha). The lowest N content in grain and stover wasrecorded in the control treatment (no fertilizer). Similarly,

the nitrogen uptake in grain, stover and total uptake washighest under treatment T12 followed by T9 and T5.Application of fertilizer especially nitrogen [both byorganic (vermicompost & FYM) and inorganicfertilizers] known to increase the cation exchangecapacity of roots and enhance NPK absorption by cropplants. The results are in confirmation with those ofParihar (2005).

The total P content and uptake were recordedmaximum in treatment T12, which were statistically atpar with T9, T5 and T7 as organic fertilizers in combinationwith inorganic fertilizer which maintained the continuityof nutrient availability throughout the growth period.

Data pertaining to K content and uptake clearlyindicated that similar K content in grain and almost similarK content in stover was found in treatment with 125%RDF and in treatment where 100% RDF was applied incombination with Vermicompost @ 5 t/ha. Maximumtotal K uptake by crop was recorded in treatment T12(363.29) as compared to all other treatments. It wasclosely followed by T9 (353.20) and T5 (348.83). Witheach successive increase in fertilizer dose, the totalpotassium uptake increased significantly. Similar resultswere found by Sehwag et al. (2003).

REFERENCES

Parihar, M. D. (2005). Effect of nitrogen application onphenology, growth, yield and quality of pearl milletunder limited water supply. M. Sc. thesis, CCS HaryanaAgricultural University, Hisar.

Sehwag, M., Singh, H., Hooda, R. S., Khippal, A. and Goara,S. (2003). Uptake of N, P and K by pearl millet asinfluenced by composites and levels of nitrogen underrainfed conditions. Res. on Crops 4 : 195-98.

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 88-89 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Nitr

ogen

, pho

spho

rus a

nd p

otas

sium

cont

ent a

nd th

eir u

ptak

e in

grai

n an

d st

over

of p

earl

mill

et (H

HB

-197

) as i

nflu

ence

d by

diff

eren

t org

anic

and

inor

gani

cso

urce

s of n

utri

ents

Trea

tmen

tN

con

tent

N u

ptak

eP

cont

ent

P up

take

K c

onte

ntK

upt

ake

(%)

(kg/

ha)

(%)

(kg/

ha)

(%)

(kg/

ha)

Gra

inSt

over

Gra

inSt

over

Tota

lG

rain

Stov

erG

rain

Stov

erTo

tal

Gra

inSt

over

Gra

inSt

over

Tota

l

T1

1.39

0.27

33.6

919

.49

53.1

90.

240.

105.

906.

5312

.44

0.48

2.56

11.7

218

4.33

196.

05T

21.

660.

5058

.31

46.1

710

4.48

0.27

0.11

9.68

10.5

020

.19

0.62

2.77

21.9

325

5.51

277.

44T

31.

790.

6472

.56

67.1

613

9.72

0.29

0.13

11.9

313

.72

25.6

50.

652.

8626

.41

298.

7732

5.19

T4

1.71

0.54

62.8

051

.15

113.

950.

280.

1210

.48

11.5

222

.01

0.63

2.79

23.4

026

2.29

285.

69T

51.

850.

6978

.29

76.1

515

4.45

0.30

0.14

12.6

915

.28

27.9

80.

672.

9028

.62

320.

2134

8.83

T6

1.68

0.52

60.6

949

.36

110.

050.

280.

1210

.11

11.1

521

.26

0.63

2.78

22.7

826

1.16

283.

94T

71.

800.

6674

.07

72.7

914

6.87

0.29

0.13

12.2

614

.81

27.0

70.

652.

8826

.99

316.

2334

3.22

T8

1.74

0.58

65.0

056

.24

121.

250.

280.

1210

.73

12.1

922

.92

0.64

2.82

23.9

727

1.90

295.

87T

91.

860.

7080

.59

78.1

215

8.71

0.30

0.14

13.0

916

.06

29.1

50.

682.

9229

.41

323.

7935

3.20

T10

1.60

0.49

55.0

843

.40

98.4

80.

270.

119.

299.

7519

.05

0.59

2.71

20.5

224

0.22

260.

74T

111.

780.

6268

.88

62.2

413

1.13

0.29

0.13

11.4

013

.07

24.4

70.

642.

8225

.03

283.

5230

8.55

T12

1.89

0.72

83.8

980

.37

164.

260.

310.

1413

.55

16.4

229

.98

0.68

2.97

30.3

033

2.98

363.

29C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

0.09

0.08

9.70

12.3

920

.92

0.02

0.01

1.44

1.72

1.98

0.05

0.09

4.49

16.8

817

.60

RD

F–R

ecom

men

ded

dose

of f

ertil

izer

(120

kg

N/h

a+ 6

0 kg

P2O

5/ha)

.


Agronomic management for sustainable production of maize (Zea mays)-wheat(Triticum aestivum) cropping system

N. K. JAIN, HARI SINGH AND L. N. DASHORADepartment of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur-313 001, India

Under irrigated conditions of Sub-humidSouthern Plain and Aravalli Hills Zone of Rajasthan, maize(Zea mays L.)-wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.) emend.Fiori & Poal.] is the most popular staple food croppingsystem but farmers are unable to get maximum returnsfrom this cropping system mainly due to small andfragmented holdings, poor economic conditions, use ofpoor quality seed, inadequate or imbalanced fertilization,weed problem, etc. Agronomic management practicesplay very important role in increasing the productivityand net returns from the cropping system. Patil et al.(2007) have also studied the role of agronomicmanagement practices in maximizing productivity ofmaize-wheat cropping system. Information on agronomicmanagement practices on individual crops is available,while for cropping system, it is lacking or very limitedlyavailable. Keeping these considerations in mind, thepresent investigation was undertaken.

A field experiment was conducted during kharif2004 to rabi 2006-07 on cultivators’ fields inVallabhnagar, Mavli, Girva, Gogunda, Kotara and Jhadoltehsils of Udaipur district situated in Sub-humid SouthernPlain and Aravalli Hills Zone of Rajasthan. The soils ofthe experimental sites were loam to clay loam, havingpH 8.3, low in organic carbon, medium in availablephosphorus and high in available potassium status. Theexperiment consisted of three treatments (T1–Farmers’practice, T2–Farmers’ practice+seed treatment withfungicide, Azotobacter+use of recommended dose offertilizers and T3–All recommended package of practices(Good quality seed, seed treatment with Azotabacter,recommended spacing and fertilizer doses, irrigation atcritical stages and weed management), were applied toboth maize and wheat crops at the same site during ayear. The experiment was carried out in randomizedblock design with 18 replications during first two yearsand 21 replications during last year. Maize ‘PEHM 2’was sown during last week of June to first fortnight ofJuly and wheat ‘Raj 4037’/‘GW 322’ was sown duringsecond fortnight of November to first week ofDecember. Net plot size under each treatment was 100m2. In farmers’ practice, cultivators used their local

seeds, sown by broadcasting method in maize and linesowing in wheat, used less amount of fertilizers thanthe recommended dose to both the crops and done handweeding. In recommended package of practices, sowingwas done at 60 x 25 cm spacing in maize and 22.5 cmin wheat. Recommended doses of fertilizers for maizeand wheat were 90 : 35 : 30 and 120 : 40 : 30 kg N : P :K/ha, respectively. Seeds were also treated withAzotobacter. Weeds were controlled by pre-emergencespray of atrazine @ 0.5 kg/ha in maize and by post-emergence spray of 2, 4-D ester @ 0.5 kg/ha in wheat.The crop was evaluated in terms of grain and stover/straw yield, net returns and benefit : cost ratio. Maize-grain equivalent yield was also calculated by convertingthe wheat grain yield data to maize- grain equivalent onprice basis. The production efficiency (PE) wascalculated by using the following formula (Nanda et al.,2007) :

MGEY (kg/ha)PE (kg/ha/day) =________________________________

Duration of the cropping system (days)

Pooled results of the study (Table 1) revealedthat application of full recommended package ofpractices to both the crops significantly improved thegrain and stover/straw yields of maize and wheat overthe farmers’ practice (T1) and farmers’ practice + RDF+ seed treatment (T2). The per cent increase in grainyield of maize and wheat with recommended packageof practices was 38.7 and 53.7, respectively, overfarmers’ practice. Data further showed that applicationof full recommended package of practices to both maizeand wheat recorded significantly higher maize-grainequivalent yield (10233 kg/ha) over the other treatments.Production efficiency was also maximum (45.48 kg/ha/day) with the application of recommended package ofpractices.

Economic analysis of treatments showed thatsignificantly higher net returns (Rs 43,424/ha) and benefit: cost ratio (1 : 85 : 1) were obtained due to applicationof full recommended package of practices to maize-wheat cropping system over the farmers’ practice

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 90-91 (2008)

(Rs. 23,128/ha and 1.08 : 1) and component technology(Rs. 32,752/ha and 1.43 : 1).

Thus, it could be concluded that application offull recommended package of practices resulted insustainable production of maize-wheat cropping systemin Sub-humid Southern Plain and Aravali Hills Zone ofRajasthan.

REFERENCES

Nanda, S. S., Mohanty, M., Pradhan, K. C. and Mohanty, A.

Table 1. Yield and economics of maize-wheat cropping system as influenced by different agronomic management practices (Pooleddata of three years)

Treatment Grain yield Stover/straw MGEY NR BCR PE(kg/ha) yield (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (Rs./ha) (kg/ha/day)

Maize Wheat Maize Wheat

Farmers’ practice 2052 3006 3192 4726 6863 23128 1.08 30.50Farmers’ practice+seed treatment+RDF 2393 3802 3821 6142 8484 32752 1.43 37.71All recommended package of practices 2847 4620 4375 7297 10233 43424 1.85 45.48C. D. (P=0.05) 41 58 66 163 109 680 0.03 -

MGRY–Maize-grain equivalent yield, NR–Net returns, BCR–Benefit : cost ratio, PR–Production efficiencies, RDF–Recommendeddose of fertilizers.

K. (2007). Integrated nutrient management forsustainable production, economics and soil health inrice-rice system under acid lateritic soil of coastal Orissa.J. Fmg. Syst. Res. & Dev. 13 : 186-90.

Patil, Y. J., Hile, R. B., Bodake, P. S. and Chauhan, M. R.(2007). Agronomic management for maximizingproductivity of maize (Zea mays)-wheat (Triticumaestivum) cropping system. J. Fmg. Syst. Res. & Dev.13 : 122-23.


Effect of phosphorus, sulphur and thiourea on growth, yield attributes and yieldof clusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.]

GEETA ROAT, R. C. DADHEECH, N. S. SOLANKI AND H. K. SUMERIYADepartment of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur-313 001, India

Clusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.)Taub.] is an important hardy and drought tolerantleguminous crop of kharif season in arid and semi-arid region of tropical India. It can be grownsuccessfully on soil with low fertility and in areas oferratic rainfall. The productivity of crop in Rajasthanis very low, mainly due to low fertility of soil and no orlow fertilization. Phosphorus is a constituent of nucleicacid, phytins and phospholipids. An adequate supplyof phosphorus in early plant life is important in layingdown the primordia for the reproductive parts. Sulphuris considered as the fourth major plant nutrient. It isbest known for its role in the formation of sulphurcontaining amino acids, namely, methionine, cystine,cysteine and synthesis of proteins, vitamins andchlorophyll. Besides fertilization, the use ofbioregulators (thiourea) holds promises for increasingthe yield. Thiols probably improved phloem loading ofsucrose and thereby dry matter partitioning byenhancing the activity of sucrose transport protein(Giaquinta, 1976).

The experiment was conducted during kharifseason of 2008 at Instructional Farm, Rajasthan Collegeof Agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan). The experimentwas laid out in randomized block design with threereplications. The treatment combinations comprisedseven levels of phosphorus+sulphur (Control, 20 kgP2O5+30 kg S, 20 kg P2O5+60 kg S, 30 kg P2O5+30 kgS, 30 kg P2O5+60 kg S, 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S and 40 kgP2O5+60 kg S/ha) and three foliar sprays includingwater spray, 500 and 1000 ppm of thiourea. The soilof experimental field was clay loam in texture andslightly alkaline (pH 8.1) in reaction and calcareous innature. It was medium in available nitrogen (277.01kg/ha), phosphorus (20.1 kg/ha), potassium (283.6 kg/ha) and organic carbon (0.75%). Basal dose of

phosphorus (through SSP) and sulphur (throughgypsum) was given as per treatment. Clusterbeanvariety RGC-936 was sown on 4 July 2008 with 30 x10 cm spacing.

The results of the field experiment revealed thatmaximum growth parameter was obtained with theapplication of 40 kg P2O5+60 kg S/ha, which was at parwith application of 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S/ha (Table 1).Application of 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S/ha significantlyincreased growth parameters over control and rest oftreatments. The increases in plant height at 60 DAS,chlorophyll content at 60 DAS, dry matter accumulationat 30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS g/plant and leaf area index at60 DAS were 26.8, 16.7, 38.4, 40.2, 23.5 and 44.0 and36.8% with 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S/ha over control.Application of 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S/ha recordedsignificantly higher seed and stover yields over controland the increase registered was 65.1 and 27.4%,respectively. This treatment was at par with 40 kgP2O5+60 kg S/ha (Table 1). Similar results were reportedby Baboo and Rana (1995), Bhadoria et al. (1997), Jatet al. (2001) and Solanki and Sahu (2007).

Foliar spray of 1000 ppm thiourea recordedmaximum growth parameter which was at par with foliarspray of 500 ppm thiourea. Foliar spray of 500 ppmthiourea significantly increased plant height at 60 DAS,chlorophyll content at 60 DAS, dry matter accumulation(30, 45, 60 and 75 DAS) and leaf area index at 60 DASwith the application of 40 kg P2O5+30 kg S/ha. The percent increase in respective parameter with 500 ppmthiourea was to the tune of 7.9, 5.9, 4.9, 8.5, 11.7 and13.0 and 4.9 over control. The seed and stover yieldswere increased significantly upto application of 500 ppmof thiourea over control by 13.3, 10.9 and 11.5%,respectively. Similar results were noted by Sahu andSolanki (1991) and Solanki and Sahu (2007).

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 92-94 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Eff

ect o

f pho

spho

rus,

sulp

hur a

nd th

iour

ea o

n gr

owth

par

amet

ers,

yiel

d at

trib

utes

and

yie

ld o

f clu

ster

bean

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

Chl

orop

hyll

Dry

mat

ter a

ccum

ulat

ion

(g/p

lant

)LA

IY

ield

attri

bute

sYi

eld

(kg/

ha)

heig

ht (c

m)

cont

ent

60 D

AS

60 D

AS

60 D

AS

3045

6075

Pods

/Se

eds/

Test

Seed

Stov

erD

AS

DA

SD

AS

DA

Spl

ant

pod

wei

ght

(g)

Phos

phor

us+s

ulph

ur (

kg/h

a)C

ontro

l60

.22.

218

2.99

9.34

38.3

442

.88

3.58

18.3

55.

8628

.81

116

3680

20 k

g P 2O

5+30

kg

S67

.72.

434

3.39

10.8

942

.27

52.8

23.

9126

.28

6.42

30.5

914

1238

7020

kg

P 2O5+

60 k

g S

70.3

2.45

53.

6811

.27

42.9

556

.27

4.24

27.1

56.

5131

.03

1552

4294

30 k

g P 2O

5+30

kg

S72

.72.

485

3.82

11.5

744

.81

58.2

04.

4027

.43

6.56

30.9

616

0043

3130

kg

P 2O5+

60 k

g S

74.4

2.58

83.

9612

.22

46.9

559

.57

4.56

28.1

26.

7031

.47

1623

4455

40 k

g P 2O

5+30

kg

S76

.32.

589

4.14

13.1

047

.37

61.7

94.

8828

.25

7.18

31.5

519

1746

9040

kg

P 2O5+

60 k

g S

78.4

2.60

84.

7513

.33

49.6

666

.88

5.34

29.1

87.

3532

.09

1978

4821

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)7.

00.

178

0.41

1.22

4.23

5.56

0.25

2.72

0.61

1.50

162

424

Folia

r sp

rays

Wat

er s

pray

67.6

2.34

33.

6810

.97

41.0

052

.00

4.25

23.6

06.

3429

.84

1453

3971

500

ppm

thio

urea

72.9

2.48

33.

8611

.91

45.8

258

.78

4.46

27.0

26.

7431

.07

1647

4403

1000

ppm

thio

urea

73.8

2.62

13.

9212

.15

47.0

459

.96

4.53

28.5

76.

8831

.88

1719

4543

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)4.

60.

116

NS

0.80

2.77

3.64

0.16

1.78

0.40

0.98

106

278


REFERENCES

Baboo, R. and Rana, N. S. (1995). Nutrient uptake and yield ofclusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] asinfluenced by nitrogen, phosphorus and seed rate. IndianJ. Agron. 40 : 482-85.

Bhadoria, R. B. S., Tomar, R. A. S., Khan, H. and Sharma, M.K. (1997). Effect of phosphorus and sulphur on yieldand quality of clusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba(L.) Taub.]. Indian J. Agron. 42 : 131-34.

Giaquinta, R. T. (1976). Evidence of phloem loading from theapoplast : Chemical modification of membranesulphydryl groups. Plant Physiol. 58 : 872-75.

Jat, A. S., Meena, H. L. and Jat, M. L. (2001). Nutrient content,uptake and quality parameters of clusterbean[Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] as influenced byphosphorus and sulphur fertilization. Agron.Digestibility 1 : 64-66.

Sahu, M. P. and Solanki, N. S. (1991). Role of sulphydrylcompounds in improving dry matter partitioning andgrain production of maize (Zea mays L.). J. Agron. andCrop Sci. 167 : 356-59.

Solanki, N. S. and Sahu, M. P. (2007). Productivity and P-useefficiency of clusterbean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.)Taub.] as influenced by bioregulators and phosphorus.Indian J. Agron. 52 : 143-47.

94 Roat, Dadheech, Solanki and Sumeriya

Effect of integrated weed management on productivity of soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merrill]

V. K. YADAV AND A. A. SHAIKHDepartment of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Pune, MPKV, Rahuri, India

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is one ofthe important pulse and oilseed crops of India. It containsabout 40% quality protein, 23% carbohydrates and 20%cholesterol free oil. Soybean is mainly grown in rainy(kharif) season crop, where weed infestation is alwaysacute which culminates yield losses to the extent of 79%(Reddy et al., 1990).

The field experiment was conducted duringkharif season of 2006 at Agronomy Farm, College ofAgriculture, Pune. The experiment was laid out inrandomized block design with 11 treatments replicatedthrice (Table 1).

The soil of the experimental field was clay intexture, with medium in available nitrogen and availablephosphorus and rich in available potassium having pHof 7.6. The experimental crop was sown by dibbling at30 x 10 cm2 spacing on 28 June 2006. The wholerecommended dose of nitrogen and phosphorus at therate of 50 kg N and 75 kg P2O5/ha in the form of ureaand single super phosphate, respectively, was applied asa basal dose. The seeds were inoculated withBradyrhizobium japonicum @ 250 g/10 kg of seeds just

Table 1. Effect of integrated weed management on yield and yield attributes of soybean cv. DS-228 (Phule Kalyani)

Treatment No. of No. of Weight of 100-seed Yield (q/ha)pods seeds seeds (g) weight (g)

Seed Straw

Unweeded control 28.45 66.85 9.82 13.24 19.56 30.84Weed free check 58.80 143.51 23.62 17.16 37.51 48.18Two hand weedings (15 and 30 DAS) 55.39 138.72 22.67 16.43 35.18 45.18Hand weeding at 15 DAS followed 50.39 119.25 21.62 16.00 32.19 40.18by one hoeing at 30 DASTwo hoeings (15 and 30 DAS) 49.48 113.61 19.68 15.93 30.84 38.56Imazethapyr @ 0.075 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS 47.33 106.78 17.88 15.79 27.67 39.67Imazethapyr @ 0.075 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS+ 53.63 131.63 20.56 16.35 32.04 44.84one hoeing at 30 DASChlorimuron ethyl @ 0.009 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS 45.76 107.30 16.08 15.13 26.22 38.03Chlorimuron ethyl @ 0.009 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS+ 51.45 120.86 18.69 16.22 30.22 40.83one hoeing at 30 DASQuizalofop ethyl @ 0.05 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS 45.58 99.05 13.63 14.21 24.37 35.73Quizalofop ethyl @ 0.05 kg a. i./ha at 15 DAS+ 49.15 112.73 16.57 15.82 28.73 39.47one hoeing at 30 DASC. D. (P=0.05) 1.92 2.15 0.36 0.49 0.40 0.30

before sowing. The gross and net plot sizes were 4.2 x3.6 m2 and 3.6 x 3.0 m2, respectively.

The mean number of pods per plant, number ofseeds per plant, weight of seeds per plant and 100-seedweight were significantly affected by different weedcontrol treatments. Weed free check was significantlysuperior over all the weed control treatments as regardsnumber of pods per plant (58.80), number of seeds perplant (143.51), weight of seeds per plant (23.62 g) and100-seed weight (17.16 g) revealing the beneficial effectof weed free environment. Imazethapyr (EPOE) @0.075 kg a. i./ha+one hoeing at 30 DAS was found nextbest in above characters.

The maximum seed yield (37.51 q/ha) wasobtained with weed free check and was significantlyhigher than rest of the weed control treatments (Table1). Among the IWM treatments, imazethapyr (EPOE)@ 0.075 kg a. i./ha+one hoeing at 30 DAS recordedhighest seed yield. However, all the weed controltreatments recorded significantly higher seed yield thanweedy check control.

The increase in seed yield with integrated

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 95-96 (2008)

methods can be attributed to the fact that the crop waskept free of competition at the early critical stage ofgrowth resulting in the crop using the land and climaticresources more efficiently. These results are inconfirmation with the earlier findings of Rao et al. (1995)and Ravi et al. (2001). These results revealed thecomparative inefficiency of the chemical methods ofweed control in isolation in reducing the crop weedcompetition resulting in comparatively lower yields ascompared to their use in combination of two handweeding at 15 and 30 DAS.

REFERENCES

Rao, K. A. S., Veeraraghavaiah, R., Luther, M. M., Rao, K. L.and Ravuri, V. (1995). Weed management in soybean.Indian J. Agron. 40 :711-13.

Ravi, V., Krishnasamy, S. M. and Ganesamurthy, K. (2001).Integrated weed management in soybean. Madras agric.J. 88 : 260-62.

Reddy, V. C., Raju, B., Prasad, T. V. R. and Krishnamurthy, K.(1990). Effect of herbicides and cultural practices on weedcontrol in soybean. Mysore J. agric. Sci. 24 : 297-301.

96 Yadav and Shaikh

Genetic variability and character association in assembled accession of India,China and Australia of Brassica napus L.

DHIRAJ SINGH, RAJESH KUMAR ARYA, VIRENDER MALIK, RAM NIWAS SHEOKAND1 ANDPHILLIP SALISBRY2

Department of Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

1Computer Section, Department of Math. & Stat., CCSHAU, Hisar-125 004, India.2School of Food and Land Resources, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

Brassica napus L., commonly known as gobhisarson, is good in seed yield as well as high in oil contentand is hardy enough to tolerate cold weather. As geneticvariability is the basic requirement to breed new variety,the germplasm of Brassica napus L. is enhanced byimporting the germplasm from Australia and China. Ingeneral, direct selection for yield may not be effectiveas it is complex trait and depends on component traits.Therefore, keeping the above points in view, presentinvestigation was undertaken to assess the geneticvariability, heritability, genetic advance and characterassociation in rapeseed.

The investigation was conducted at PlantBreeding Research Farm, Chaudhary Charan SinghHaryana Agricultural University, Hisar with 54 genotypesof Brassica napus L. using randomized block design inthree replications during rabi season of 2008-09. Rowto row and plant to plant distance was kept 45 x 15 cmand recommended agronomic practices were followedto raise a good crop. The observations were recordedon five plants for days to 50% flowering, plant height(cm), number of primary branches, number of secondarybranches, main raceme length (cm), number of siliquaeon main raceme, siliqua length (cm), number of seeds/siliqua, seed yield/plant (g), days to maturity, 1000-seedweight (g) and oil content (%). Analysis of variance andpartitioning of variance were performed as per usualstatistical procedures (Panse and Sukhatme, 1957). Thecoefficients of genotypic and phenotypic variance werecalculated as per formula suggested by Burton and DeVane (1953). Heritability (in broad sense) and expectedgenetic advance (5%) were calculated as per formulagiven by Allard (1960). The phenotypic correlationcoefficients were found out as suggested by Al-Jibouriet al. (1958).

The result on analysis of variance exhibitedsignificant differences among the genotypes indicating

enough genetic variability in the material under study.The extent of variability present among 54 genotypes ofIndian mustard presented in Table 1 indicated that thehighest phenotypic and genotypic variance was exhibitedby plant height followed by main raceme length, numberof siliquae on main raceme and seed yield/plant. Whilelowest phenotypic and genotypic variance was observedfor siliqua length.

In all the characters phenotypic variance washigher than genotypic variance. Likewise, in all thecharacters PCV values were higher than GCV values.But, a close association between PCV and GCV valueswas observed for seed yield/plant, days to 50%flowering, days to maturity and plant height (cm).Therefore, by using appropriate breeding methodimprovement of above character could be possible. Thefindings were supported by Gupta (2005) and Khan etal. (2006).

To improve the efficiency of selection, theestimates of heritability, genetic advance and GAM werealso calculated. Days to 50% flowring showed highestheritability followed by days to maturity, seed yield/plant,siliqua length and plant height. Likewise, highest geneticadvance was exhibited by plant height and followed bymain raceme length, number of siliquae on main raceme,seed yield/plant and days to 50% flowering. While thehighest GAM was recorded for seed yield/plant followedby secondary branches and 1000-seed weight. It wasrevealed from above discussion that the additive geneaction was present and improvement of seed yield/plantcould be possible through selection. Similar findings werealso reported by Gupta (2005) and Khan et al. (2006).

The phenotypic correlation coefficientspresented in Table 2 show the significant and positivecorrelation of seed yield/plant with number of primarybranches, number of secondary branches and numberof seeds/siliqua. Plant height was found significantly and

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 97-99 (2008)

Tabl

e 1. E

stim

ates

of v

aria

nce c

ompo

nent

and

rela

ted

gene

tic p

aram

eter

s for

seed

yiel

d an

d ot

her t

raits

in B

. nap

us

Cha

ract

erM

ean

Rang

eVa

rianc

ePC

VG

CVH

erita

bilit

yG

enet

icG

AM

(%)

(%)

(%)

adva

nce

Phen

otyp

icG

enot

ypic

Envi

ronm

ent

Day

s to

50%

flow

erin

g65

.72

55-7

527

.29

26.6

20.

677.

957.

8597

.510

.50

15.9

7Pl

ant h

eigh

t17

1.59

148-

202

211.

8619

6.21

15.6

68.

488.

1692

.627

.77

16.1

8Pr

imar

y br

anch

es4.

973.

3-7.

30.

620.

490.

1315

.75

13.9

978

.91.

2725

.62

Seco

ndar

y br

anch

es9.

154.

0-13

.67.

225.

052.

1729

.35

24.5

570

.03.

8742

.31

Mai

n ra

cem

e len

gth

60.2

841

.9-8

1.2

88.1

780

.99

7.18

15.5

814

.93

91.9

17.7

729

.47

No.

of s

iliqu

ae o

n m

ain

race

me

53.1

335

.4-6

8.8

74.8

967

.03

7.86

16.2

915

.41

89.5

15.9

630

.03

Siliq

ua le

ngth

5.52

4.6-

6.5

0.16

0.15

0.01

7.31

7.09

93.9

0.78

14.1

6N

o. o

f see

ds/s

iliqu

a23

.31

19.4

-26.

95.

234.

640.

599.

829.

2488

.64.

1817

.92

Seed

yie

ld/p

lant

17.4

18.

0-31

.733

.99

32.0

71.

9233

.50

32.5

394

.311

.33

65.1

0D

ays

to m

atur

ity15

6.01

146-

164

13.4

812

.97

0.51

2.34

2.29

96.2

7.28

4.65

1000

-see

d w

eigh

t2.

181.

2-4.

00.

350.

230.

122.

3522

.11

65.4

0.80

36.8

3O

il co

nten

t (%

)41

.71

33.7

-47.

813

.31

10.7

82.

538.

757.

8781

.06.

0914

.59

Tabl

e 2.

Est

imat

e of

phe

noty

pic

coef

ficie

nts o

f cor

rela

tion

amon

g va

riou

s cha

ract

ers i

n B

. nap

us

Cha

ract

erPl

ant

Prim

ary

Seco

ndar

yM

ain

No.

of

Siliq

uaN

o. o

fSe

edD

ays

to10

00-

Oil

heig

htbr

anch

esbr

anch

esra

cem

esi

liqua

e on

leng

thse

eds/

yiel

d/m

atur

ityse

edco

nten

tle

ngth

mai

n ra

cem

esi

liqua

plan

tyi

eld

(%)

Day

s to

50%

flow

erin

g-0

.17

-0.2

-0.1

9-0

.26*

-0.0

20.

24-0

.01

-0.2

10.

93*

-0.3

4**

-0.3

6**

Plan

t hei

ght

0.09

-0.1

60.

38**

0.33

*-0

.05

-0.1

4-0

.09

-0.2

00.

33*

0.18

Prim

ary

bran

ches

0.53

**-0

.18

0.15

0.03

-0.0

90.

43**

-0.0

1-0

.13

-0.1

5Se

cond

ary

bran

ches

-0.1

7-0

.09

-0.1

60.

100.

60**

-0.1

6-0

.17

0.09

Mai

n ra

cem

e len

gth

0.45

**0.

02-0

.03

0.10

-0.2

50.

34**

0.30

*N

o. o

f sili

quae

on

mai

n ra

cem

e-0

.08

-0.2

20.

23-0

.01

0.05

0.07

Siliq

ua le

ngth

0.30

*-0

.06

0.27

*-0

.05

-0.2

0N

o. o

f see

ds/s

iliqu

a0.

28*

-0.0

00.

01-0

.01

Seed

yie

ld/p

lant

-0.1

6-0

.12

0.10

Day

s to

mat

urity

-0.3

2*-0

.40*

*10

00-s

eed

wei

ght

0.29

*

*, *

*Sig

nific

ant a

t P=0

.05

and

P=0.

01 le

vel,

resp

ectiv

ely.

98 Singh, Arya, Malik, Sheokand and Salisbry

positively correlated with main raceme length, numberof siliquae on main raceme and 1000-seed weight. Mainraceme length exhibited significant and positive correlationwith plant height, number of siliquae on main raceme,1000-seed weight and oil content (%), while it exhibitedsignificant and negative correaltion with days to 50%flowering. Number of primary and secondary brancheswas significantly and positively correlated with each otheras well as with seed yield/plant. Likewise, siliqua lengthand number of seeds/siliqua were significantly andpositively correlated with each other. However, numberof seeds/siliqua was also significantly and positivelyassociated with seed yield/plant. Number of siliquae onmain raceme showed significant and positive correlationwith plant height and main raceme length. Days to 50%flowering was significantly and positively correlated withdays to maturity and it was significantly and negativelycorrelated with main raceme length, 1000-seed weightand oil content (%). Likewise, days to maturity wassignificantly and positively correlated with days to 50%flowering and siliqua length, while it was significantlyand negatively correlated with 1000-seed weight and oilcontent (%). Significant and positive correlation of 1000-seed weight was observed with plant height, main racemelength and oil content (%) and significant negativecorrelation was observed with days to 50% floweringand days to maturity. Oil content (%) was significantlyand positively correlated with main raceme length and1000-seed weight, but it was significantly and negativelycorrelated with days to 50% flowering and days to

maturity. Above findings were supported by Khan et al.(2006) and Sharma et al. (2008).

REFERENCES

Al-Jibouri, H. A., Miller, P. A. and Robinson, H. F. (1958).Genotypic environmental variances and covariances inupland cotton cross of interspecific origin. Agron. J. 50: 633-36.

Allard, R. W. (1960). Principles of Plant Breeding, Ist edn. JohanWiley and Sons, Inc., New York. pp. 115-28.

Burton, G. W. and De Vane, E. H. (1953). Estimating heritabilityin tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) from replicatedclonal material. Agron. J. 45 : 478-81.

Gupta, S. K. (2005). Genetic variability for seed yield and qualitytraits in Indian and European cultivar of Brassica napusL. Environ. and Ecol. 23 : (Spl. 1) : 86-89.

Khan, N. N., Magfidomi, M. I. and Wai, S. A. (2006). Geneticvariability and character association in yield and relatedattributes on non-segregating populations of gobhi sarson(Brassica napus L.). Int. J. agric. Sci. 2 : 56-60.

Panse, V. G. and Sukhatme, P. V. (1957). Statistical Methods forAgricultural Workers. Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch, New Delhi. pp. 381.

Sharma, D., Barua, P. K. and Baruah, D. K. (2008). Correlationanalysis and selection in a composite population ofIndian rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.). Crop Improv.35 : 45-54.


Effect of sowing dates on nutrient uptake of mungbean genotypesMANOJ KUMAR, O. P. LATHWAL1 AND SATISH KUMAR


1Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India.

A field study was conducted during summerseason of 2007 at the farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra,Kurukshetra (Haryana) under irrigated conditions. Theexperiment consisted of two genotypes (SML 668 andMH 318) of mungbean sown on six different datesstarting from 1 March to 19 April at an interval of 10days. The experiment was laid out in randomized blockdesign with three replications. The soil of theexperimental field was slightly alkaline in reaction withelectrical conductivity of 0.33 dS/m. The nutrient statusof soil was medium in organic carbon (0.5%) and low(123 kg/ha), medium (18 kg/ha) and high (384 kg/ha) inavailable nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium,respectively. The sowing was done as per treatmentskeeping seed rate 25 kg/ha in rows 25 cm apart. At 10-15 days after sowing (DAS) thinning was done tomaintain plant to plant distance of 10 cm for uniformcrop stand in all the treatments. A uniform dose offertilizers (20 and 40 kg/ha nitrogen and phosphorus,respectively) was applied at sowing in all the treatments.Apart from pre-sowing irrigation, two irrigations (25and 45 DAS) were applied in all the treatments. Thecrop was harvested at physiological maturity of podsunder all the treatments. The grain and straw samplesfrom each plot were collected at harvest which wereoven-dried for carrying out the chemical analysis.Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P and K)contents were estimated using standard methods ofchemical analysis of plant samples. Nutrient uptake wascomputed by multiplying the nutrient contents with therespective grain and straw yield obtained at harvest.

The genotypes SML 668 and MH 318 werestatistically at par in respect of N, P and K contents ingrain as well as straw. Similarly, different dates of sowingalso did not influence the nutrient content in grain and

straw (Table 1). Irrespective of the treatments, thenitrogen and phosphorus contents were more in grainthan straw, whereas it was reverse for potassium content.

Variety SML 668 removed significantly higherquantity of nutrients through grain and straw. It is evidentfrom Table 1 that genotype SML 668 registered 14-15%more uptake of N, P and K than MH 318. Higher NPKuptake by SML 668 was due to more grain as well asstraw yield which were related to above ground biomassproduction (Muchow et al., 1993). The crop sown on20 March recorded maximum uptake of N which was7, 15, 18, 23 and 25% higher than 30 March, 10 March,1 March, 9 April and 19 April sowing dates, respectively.However, the crop sown on 30 March registered 6, 8,22 and 25% higher uptake of P than 20 March, 1-10March, 19 April and 9 April sown crop, respectively.The uptake pattern of K in grain and straw under differentdates of sowing was in same pattern to N uptake. Thenutrient uptake variations under different dates of sowingcould be ascribed to differences in growth, yieldattributes and yield (Kumar et al., 2007).

REFERENCES

Kumar, A., Singh, N. P., Singh, V. K., Rana, N. S. and Singh,A. (2007). Effect of planting dates on yield and nutrientuptake by mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] andurdbean [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] varieties duringspring season. J. Farming System Res. and Dev. 13 :280-83.

Muchow, R. C., Robertson, M. J. and Pengelly, B. C. (1993).Accumulation and partitioning of biomass and nitrogenby soybean, mungbean and cowpea under contrastingenvironmental conditions. Field Crops Res. 33 : 13-16.

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 100-101 (2008)

Tabl

e 1.

Eff

ect o

f gen

otyp

es a

nd so

win

g da

tes o

n nu

trie

nt c

onte

nt a

nd u

ptak

e of

mun

gbea

n

Trea

tmen

tN

utrie

nt c

onte

nt (

%)

Nut

rient

upt

ake

(kg/

ha)

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

Gra

inSt

raw

Gra

inSt

raw

Gra

inSt

raw

Gra

inSt

raw

Gra

inSt

raw

Gra

inSt

raw

Gen

otyp

esSM

L 66

83.

392.

170.

410.

271.

431.

6556

.871

.36.

99.

024

.153

.9M

H 3

183.

372.

130.

410.

271.

441.

6650

.959

.86.

27.

721

.846

.5C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

5.5

7.6

0.5

0.7

1.5

4.1

Dat

es o

f so

win

g1

Mar

ch3.

412.

040.

420.

291.

401.

6753

.161

.96.

48.

921

.650

.110

Mar

ch3.

312.

150.

440.

271.

431.

6651

.366

.46.

78.

622

.251

.620

Mar

ch3.

302.

310.

410.

251.

441.

6558

.976

.87.

38.

325

.854

.330

Mar

ch3.

412.

130.

410.

291.

431.

6758

.170

.37.

19.

524

.654

.59

Apr

il3.

362.

130.

390.

261.

461.

6550

.659

.95.

87.

422

.146

.419

Apr

il3.

502.

130.

400.

281.

451.

6350

.858

.05.

97.

521

.244

.5C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

13.0

0.9

1.2

2.5

7.2

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.


Prospect of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Dunal) through integratednutrient approach under Haryana conditions

ANIL KUMAR, RAMESH KUMAR, J. S. HOODA AND V. K. MADANBajra Section, Department of Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Dunal),popularly called as ‘Indian Ginseng’, is an importantmedicinal plant belonging to family Solanaceae and isknown with different vernacular names i. e. Asgandha,Punir in Hindi and Winter Cherry in English. The wholeplant, especially the leaves and the root bark are enrichedwith numerous medicinal properties. It has a strongtranquilizing effect and stimulates the immune system,increases libido and the power of retention of spermupto 10 times, tones the uterus after a miscarriage andalso in treating post partum difficulties and very effectivein patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The fruitand seed are diuretic in nature. Its seeds are used tocurdle plant milk in order to make vegetarian cheese.

In India, its annual production is around 1123.6tonnes, whereas the present requirement is 3222.4tonnes. Under Haryana situations, it is not cultivated butfound in wild form. The growth habit of ashwagandhais non-synchronous and it produces flowers and fruitscontinuously for a large period of time and, therefore, itneeds nutrient supply for longer period. For itscultivation, it is necessary to find out its nutritionalrequirement for obtaining maximum yield.

Fertilizers are the key input to agriculture.However, because of expensive nature and adverseconsequences on environment as well as on qualitycomponent of medicinal plants it has become a seriousconcern in reducing their use and to supplement theirrequirement through organic manures and biofertilizers(Katyal, 1993). Several workers have indicated the benefitof integrated use of organic manure and inorganicfertilizers for sustaining the productivity of soil and cropin an intensive cropping system in many other crops.Studies are almost lacking on integrated nutrient supplyand crop management in ashwagandha, therefore, thisstudy was undertaken.

A field experiment to evaluate the performanceof ashwagandha with the different combinations oforganic and inorganic fertilizer application was conductedduring 2003-04 at MA&UUP Research Farm, CCSHaryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The experimentwas laid out in randomized block design with nine

treatments i. e. T1– Farm yard manure (FYM) @ 10 t/ha, T2–Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) @ 10 kg/ha, T3–Azotobacter @ 10 kg/ha, T4–N : P : K (20 : 40 :20 kg/ha), T5–T1+T2, T6–T1+T3, T7–T1+T2+T3, T8–T2+T3 and T9–Control. The soil was sandy loam with pHvalue of 8.4, low in available N, medium in available Pand high in available K. Ashwagandha was sown on 4September, 2003. The whole dose of the differentfertilizers was applied as basal dose. Two irrigations wereapplied at 60 and 120 days after sowing. The crop wasuprooted on 17 May, 2004. The JA-20 variety was sownin 30 x 10 cm spacing with a seed rate of 6.0 kg/ha. B :C ratio was calculated as gross returns (Rs./ha)/cost ofcultivation (Rs./ha). Total alkaloids content (%) wascalculated by chlorometric method.

The results in Table 1 elucidate that growthparameters i. e. plant height (cm), number of branchesper plant and root parameters i. e. fresh/dry weight ofroots per plant (g), root length (cm), root diameter (cm),fresh and dry root yield (q/ha) were influenced bydifferent treatments. Plant height (cm) in the range of51.4-58.3 cm was statistically at par among varioustreatments; however, the number of branches wassignificantly higher over control under all the testedtreatments. Root length and its diameter were found inthe range of 16.8-27.3 cm and 1.27-1.86 cm,respectively. Both the parameters were found statisticallyat par between NPK (T4) and FYM+Azotobacter+PSB(T7) treatments but significantly superior over thecontrol. Individual fresh and dry weight per plant (g)were also found maximum in NPK treatment comparedto all other tested treatments. Total fresh root yield (q/ha) was also statistically superior in NPK appliedtreatment (14.09 q/ha) and was followed byFYM+Azotobacter+PSB treatment (11.03 q/ha). T5 andT6 treatments were also statistically superior over T2, T3and T9 treatments. Dry root yield (q/ha) also followedthe same trend. The treatments T1, T4, T5, T6 and T7produced 52.8, 137.7, 61.8, 72.6 and 96.2% higher rootyield over the control, respectively. This might be dueto the better root length, root diameter, fresh and dryroot yield of individual plant in these treatments.

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 102-104 (2008)

Significant increase in growth and yield attributingparameters can be attributed to more availability ofnitrogen and phosphorus and certain growth promotingsubstances like auxins, gibberellin, vitamins and organicacids secreted by bioinoculants (Gupta and Prasad,1991). Phyto-hormones extracted from FYM helped theplant to grow more luxuriously even with reduced dosesof chemical fertilizers (Gupta et al., 1999).

The seed yield (q/ha) of 3.73 and 3.48 q/ha was67.3 and 56.1% superior in T4 and T7 treatmentscompared to the control (Table 2). It was interesting toknow that total alkaloid content (%) was not affected

Table 1. Effect of different treatments on growth, yield attributes and root yield of Ashwagandha

Treatment Plant No. of Fresh root Dry root Root Root Total fresh Dry rootheight primary weight/ weight/ length diameter root yield yield(cm) branches/ plant plant (cm) (cm) (q/ha) (q/ha)

plant (g) (g)

T1–Farm yard manure (FYM) @ 10 t/ha 56.3 6.0 31.9 11.3 21.5 1.79 9.26 3.24T2–Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) 54.2 7.0 29.2 9.1 18.9 1.52 6.84 2.60 @ 10 kg/haT3–Azotobacter @ 10 kg/ha 54.9 5.9 30.4 9.7 20.9 1.49 7.56 2.70T4–N : P : K (20 : 40 : 20 kg/ha) 57.4 7.2 42.6 14.9 27.3 1.82 14.09 5.04T5–T1+T2 58.3 6.7 34.1 10.4 21.8 1.81 9.57 3.43T6–T1+T3 57.9 6.8 34.8 10.7 21.3 1.74 9.88 3.66T7–T1+T2+T3 56.9 7.0 38.6 11.7 25.4 1.86 11.03 4.16T8–T2+T3 57.8 6.2 31.4 8.6 20.2 1.60 8.71 3.04T9–Control 51.4 5.1 23.5 8.1 16.8 1.27 6.01 2.12C. D. (P=0.05) NS 0.6 7.2 1.8 4.1 0.42 2.54 1.09CV (%) 8.7 9.4 14.2 10.4 11.2 14.3 16.1 12.6

NS–Not Significant.

Table 2. Seed yield, alkaloid yield and economics of Ashwagandha as influenced by different organic and biofertilizer treatements

Treatment Seed yield Alkaloid Total Gross Cost of Net B : C(q/ha) content (%) alkaloids returns cultivation returns ratio

(kg/ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha) (Rs./ha)

T1–Farm yard manure (FYM) @ 10 t/ha 2.82 0.30 97.2 33,540 23,420 10,120 1.43T2–Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) 2.68 0.27 70.2 29,000 21,645 7,355 1.34 @ 10 kg/haT3–Azotobacter @ 10 kg/ha 2.78 0.27 72.9 31,300 21,645 9,655 1.45T4–N : P : K (20 : 40 : 20 kg/ha) 3.73 0.34 171.4 48,890 22,492 26,398 2.17T5–T1+T2 2.91 0.31 106.3 35,130 23,920 11,210 1.47T6–T1+T3 2.99 0.33 120.8 36,910 23,920 12,990 1.54T7–T1+T2+T3 3.48 0.34 141.4 42,360 25,515 16,845 1.66T8–T2+T3 2.82 0.29 88.2 32,340 22.145 10,195 1.46T9–Control 2.23 0.24 50.9 24,050 21,050 3,000 1.14C. D. (P=0.05) 1.04 0.6 18.2 - - 1,830 0.35CV (%) 10.6 - - - - - -

Rate of produce : Ashwagandha roots @ Rs. 60/kg and seed @ Rs. 50/kg.

by NPK treatment rather it was comparable with T6 andT7 treatments. These treatments have also shown theirsupremacy over all other treatments. Total alkaloid yield(kg/ha) was the resultant of alkaloid content (%) andthe root yield. Therefore, inorganic NPK treatment (T4)had statistically maximum alkaloid yield compared withall other treatments. Total alkaloid yield was 300% higherthan the control.

Maximum gross return of Rs. 48,890/ha wasobtained in NPK treatment and it was almost doublethan the control (Table 2). Cost of cultivation wasmaximum in the T7 treatment, whereas the net return of


Rs. 26,398/ha with B : C ratio of 2.17 was maximum inthe T4 treatment. Therefore, on the basis of this study, itwas found out that application of inorganic fertilizer i. e.NPK and combination of FYM+Azotobacter+PSB didnot effect the total alkaloid content but producedmaximum root yield, net returns and B : C ratio.

REFERENCES

Gupta, N. S., Sadavarte, K. T., Mahorkar, V. K., Jadhav, B. J.

and Dorke, S. V. (1999). Effect of graded levels ofnitrogen and bioinoculants on growth and yield ofmarigold (Tagetes erecta). J. Soil Crops 9 : 80-83.

Gupta, R. D. and Prasad, Y. R. (1991). Phosphobacterium is anideal phosphatic bacterial fertilizer. Farmers’ Digest 5: 13-14.

Katyal, J. C. (1993). Proc. Indian National Science Academy B59 : 161-72.

104 Kumar, Kumar, Hooda and Madan

Nutrient uptake, residual soil fertility and yield of forage chicory (Cichoriumintybus L.) as influenced by various sources and levels of nitrogen

D. M. PATEL, B. S. PATEL, P. P. PATEL, G. N. PATEL, B. M. PATEL, S. M. PATEL AND B. J. PATELDepartment of Agronomy, S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar-385 506 , India

Gujarat state is pioneer in “White Revolution”in the country. Still the milk productivity is low due topoor health of livestock. This needs to be improved bysupplying good quality forage alongwith feed. Presentlylucerne is important fodder crop in north Gujarat region.However, chicory is making headway as supplementalforage crop. Chicory, being a non-leguminous multi-cutforage crop, is highly responsive to nitrogen fertilization(Collins and Mc-Coy, 1997). Very meagre scientificinformation is available about content and uptake offorage chicory. Keeping this in view, the response ofchicory to nutrient uptake and yield as influenced bysources of N and basal as well as top dress applicationof nitrogen under north Gujarat condition was studied.

A field experiment was conducted at AgronomyInstructional Farm, C. P. College of Agriculture, S. D.Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar during rabiseasons of 2002-03 and 2003-04. The soil was loamysand, low in available nitrogen (159.8 kg/ha), high inavailable phosphorus (57.5 kg/ha), medium in availablepotash (193.6 kg/ha), low in organic carbon (0.17%)with pH value of 7.6-7.8 and electrical conductivity of0.14 dS/m at 25oC. The experiment was laid out inrandomized block design with factorial concept. Twenty-seven treatment combinations comprising three sourcesof nitrogen (urea, castor cake and 50% N throughurea+50% N through castor cake); three levels of nitrogen(20, 40 and 60 kg N/ha) for basal application and threelevels of nitrogen (0, 15 and 30 kg N/ha) for top dressapplication i. e. after harvest of each cut. A basal doseof nitrogen (from urea, castor cake and 50% N fromurea+50% N from castor cake) as per treatments and30 kg P2O5/ha from single super phosphate was appliedbefore sowing in previously opened furrows as acommon dose. Top dress application of nitrogen fromurea was made after harvest of each cut as pertreatments. The crop was sown on 3 November, 2002and 11 November, 2003. Total five cuts were taken fromforage chicory.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calciumfrom plant sample were determined by using MicroKjeldahl’s method, Vanadomolybdo phosphoric acid

yellow colour method, Flame photometric method andVersanate titration method of Jackson (1973),respectively.

Castor cake was used as one of the sources ofnitrogen for basal application. It contained 4.4, 1.81 and0.47% N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively. To equate thequantity of P2O5 and K2O in rest of the treatmentcombinations, the deficit quantity of P2O5 and K2O wasadded in respective treatment combination through SSPand muriate of potash, respectively.

Various sources of N failed to induce anyimprovement in N, P, K and Ca content as well as uptakeby forage chicory (Table 1). The results are in agreementwith those obtained by Tripathi et al. (1991). Similarly,green as well as dry forage yields also remainedunaffected due to various sources of nitrogen.

Mean N and Ca content in forage chicory wassignificantly increased with increasing levels of nitrogen.Maximum nitrogen and calcium contents (2.48 and2.46%, respectively) were recorded with 60 kg N/haover 20 and 40 kg N/ha. The increase in N content withthe increase in N levels might be due to better availabilityof nitrogen and its efficient utilization on account ofhigher leaf area per plant (Collins and Mc-Coy, 1997).Higher Ca content could be ascribed to a greater cationexchange capacity of roots, as a result of increasednitrogen. There was no appreciable increase in P and Kcontent with increase in levels of nitrogen. Significantlythe highest uptake of N (283.1 kg/ha) , P (51.2 kg/ha)and K (227.4 kg/ha) was observed under 60 kg N/haapplication as basal over 20 kg N/ha. This could beascribed to higher dry matter yield recorded at higher Nlevel (60 kg N/ha). Raju et al. (1997) reported that N, Pand K uptake increased with increase in levels ofnitrogen. Application of 60 kg N/ha as basal to foragechicory crop significantly increased total green and dryforage yield as compared to 20 kg N/ha.

Linear response of nitrogen applied after eachharvest was observed with respect to mean N and Cacontent. An increase in N and Ca content with 30 kg N/ha was 6.8 and 4.1; 9.6 and 1.7% higher over 0 and 15kg N/ha, respectively. This might be due to application

Haryana J. Agron. 24 (1 & 2) : 105-107 (2008)

Tabl

e 1. A

vaila

ble n

utri

ents

, con

tent

, upt

ake a

nd fo

rage

yiel

d of

chic

ory a

s inf

luen

ced

by d

iffer

ent s

ourc

es o

f nitr

ogen

with

leve

ls o

f nitr

ogen

for b

asal

as w

ell a

s afte

rha

rves

t of e

ach

cut (

Pool

ed d

ata

of 2

002-

03 a

nd 2

003-

04)

Trea

tmen

tAv

aila

ble n

utrie

nts i

n so

ilN

utrie

nt c

onte

nt in

pla

ntN

utrie

nt u

ptak

eTo

tal f

orag

e yi

eld

(kg/

ha)

(on

dry

wei

ght b

asis

) (%

)(k

g/ha

)(q

/ha)

NP 2O

5K

2ON

PK

CaN

PK

Gre

enD

ry

Sour

ces

of n

itrog

enU

rea

162.

350

.317

6.9

2.45

0.43

2.05

2.41

271.

049

.622

0.9

902.

9111

5.43

Cas

tor c

ake

163.

651

.217

7.6

2.43

0.43

2.05

2.40

272.

450

.422

2.2

888.

8711

6.96

50%

N fr

om u

rea+

50%

from

cas

tor c

ake

163.

250

.717

7.8

2.45

0.44

2.05

2.44

272.

950

.522

2.6

917.

0911

6.01

LSD

(P=0

.05)

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

Bas

al n

itrog

en l

evel

s (k

g/ha

)20

162.

152

.017

9.8

2.40

0.43

2.04

2.37

262.

849

.021

5.4

854.

4411

4.28

4016

3.0

50.6

177.

12.

440.

442.

072.

4227

0.1

50.3

222.

690

1.37

115.

2860

164.

049

.617

5.5

2.48

0.43

2.05

2.46

283.

151

.222

7.4

953.

0611

8.82

LSD

(P=0

.05)

NS

1.3

2.1

0.03

NS

NS

0.04

18.7

1.5

6.9

24.6

73.

30To

p dr

ess

nitr

ogen

leve

ls a

fter

har

vest

of e

ach

cut (

kg/h

a)0

157.

853

.618

6.4

2.37

0.43

2.04

2.37

221.

541

.918

7.9

715.

0996

.99

1516

4.5

50.3

176.

22.

430.

442.

072.

4227

5.9

52.0

228.

592

3.03

119.

1230

166.

748

.316

9.7

2.53

0.43

2.05

2.46

318.

956

.724

9.0

1070

.713

2.28

LSD

(P=0

.05)

2.6

1.3

2.1

0.03

NS

NS

0.04

50.1

10.2

42.8

162.

1723

.74

Initi

al s

tatu

s15

9.8

57.5

193.

6

NS–

Not

Sig

nific

ant.

106 Patel, Patel, Patel, Patel, Patel, Patel and Patel

of N after each harvest and can increase the availabilityof nitrogen in the soil which satisfies the nutrientrequirement of the crop. The increase in Ca contentwith the amount of applied N might be due to usualeffect of nitrate in increasing total inorganic cations inplants (Canninagham, 1964). On the other hand, P andK contents were not significantly influenced due tonitrogen levels.

Significantly higher total uptake of N (318.9 kg/ha), P (56.7 kg/ha) and K (227.4 kg/ha) was recordedwith 30 kg N/ha applied after each cut over control.The higher uptake of N, P and K might be due to highergreen as well as dry forage yield of chicory crop athigher N levels (15 and 30 kg N/ha) as compared tocontrol (Table 1).

Top dress application of 30 kg N/ha after harvestof each cut significantly increased green and dry forageyield than control, but it remained at par with 15 kg N/ha.

Different sources of nitrogen had no significanteffect on available nitrogen, phosphorus and potash insoil after harvest of chicory crop (Table 2). Eachsuccessive increase in levels of nitrogen (basal)significantly reduced the available P2O5 and K2O in soiland the lowest residual available phosphorus and potashwere observed with 60 kg N/ha. However, nitrogenavailability was marginally improved with increase in

nitrogen level applied as basal. Similar results were alsorecorded with respect to top dress application of nitrogenafter each harvest. Higher nitrogen level (30 kg/ha)recorded the lowest available P2O5 (48.3 kg/ha) and K2O(169.7 kg/ha); whereas significantly higher available N(166.7 kg/ha) was noticed as compared to 0 and 15 kgN/ha (157.8 kg/ha).

REFERENCES

Canninagham, R. K. (1964). Cation anion relationship in cropnutrition. III. Relationship between the ratios of sum ofcations, sum of the anions and nitrogen concentration inseveral plant species. J. Agric. Sci. 63 : 109-11.

Collins, M. and Mc-Coy, J. E. (1997). Chicory productivity,forage quality and response to nitrogen fertilization.Agron. J. 89 : 232-38

Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall ofIndia Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Raju, M. S., Srinivas, A. and Raja, V. (1997). Effect of nitrogenand legumes intercropping on yield, crude protein andN, P and K uptake of forage maize (Zea mays L.). ForageRes. 23 : 59-63.

Tripathi, S. B., Hazara, C. R. and Srinivas, N. C. (1991).Effect of nitrogen sources with and without phosphoruson oats. Indian J. agric. Res. 25 : 79-84.


Form IV(See Rule 8)

Statement about the ownership and other particulars of the Haryana Journal of Agronomy

Place of Publication Hisar

Periodicity of Publication Half Yearly

Printer’s Name Systematic Printers

Whether Citizen of India? Yes

Address Systematic PrintersUdaypurian Street, Near Video Market,Hisar-125 001, India

Publisher’s Name Dr. R. S. Balyan

Whether Citizen of India ? Yes

Address Secretary, Haryana Agronomists Association (HAA),Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar-125 004

Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jagdev Singh

Whether Citizen of India? Yes

Address Haryana Agronomists Association (HAA), Departmentof Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar-125 004

Name and address of individuals, who own Haryana Agronomists Association (HAA),the newspaper and partners or share-holders Department of Agronomy,holding more than one per cent of the total CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004capital

I, Dr. R. S. Balyan, hereby declare that particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledgeand belief.

Dated : 31 December, 2008 Sd/-

(Dr. R. S. Balyan)

Vol. 24 June & December 2008 No. 1 & 2

HARYANA AGRONOMISTS ASSOCIATION(Regn. No. 447/84-85)

(All members of Executive Council are members of Editorial Board)Haryana Journal of Agronomy is the official publication of Haryana Agronomists Association and is published halfyearly, i. e. in June and December. This periodical publishes original research and methodology in Agronomy and alliedfields. The contribution in the Journal is open to all interested persons.

MEMBERSHIP AND JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION

Individuals Rs. 100 (India) and US $ 50 (Foreign)Libraries & Institutions Rs. 500 (India) and US $ 150 (Foreign)Donor membership for Institutions and Individuals Rs. 10000 (India) and US $ 1000 (Foreign)Life membership for Individuals Rs. 1000 (India) and US $ 500 (Foreign)

ADVERTISEMENT RATES

Black and white ColouredInner Half Page Rs. 1500 Rs. 4000Inner Full Page Rs. 3000 Rs. 8000Back Cover Page Rs. 4000 Rs. 10000

(Advt. material may be provided on a CD for better printing of logo, etc.)All remittances should be made by Cash or M. O. or Bank Drafts to the Treasurer, Haryana AgronomistsAssociation, Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India. Backvolumes are available at 50% discount.

All correspondence and enquiries may please be addressed to the Secretary, Haryana AgronomistsAssociation, Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

President Dr. S. S. Pahuja Secretary Dr. R. S. BalyanEx-President Dr. K. P. Singh Joint Secretary Dr. Satish KumarVice-President Dr. S. K. Yadav Treasurer Dr. Anil Yadav

COUNCILLORS

Andhra Pradesh Dr. S. Mohammad Assam Dr. Latu SaikiaBihar Dr. R. P. Sharma Delhi Dr. B. S. PhogatGujarat Dr. A. M. Patel Haryana Dr. V. S. KadianHimachal Pradesh Dr. H. L. Sharma J & K Dr. Dileep KachrooJharkhand Dr. V. C. Srivastava Karnataka Dr. S. L. PatilMadhya Pradesh Dr. R. S. Sharma Maharashtra Dr. N. D. ParlawarOrissa Dr. P. K. Roul Punjab Dr. U. S. WaliaRajasthan Dr. O. P. Gill Tamil Nadu Dr. R. M. KathiresanUttrakhand Dr. O. P. S. Khola Uttar Pradesh Dr. A. N. TiwariUttar Pradesh Dr. B. Gangwar West Bengal Dr. M. Ghosh

Editorial Board(Editor-in-Chief : Dr. Jagdev Singh)

Editors

Dr. A. S. Dhindwal Dr. Vinod Phogat Dr. R. K. Pannu Dr. P. S. Pratap

DIRECTIONS FOR CONTRIBUTION TO AUTHORSThe Haryana Journal of Agronomy welcomes concise papers presenting original research or methodologyfrom authors throughout the world in agronomy and allied fields. The Executive Committee and the EditorialBoard wish to continue the policy of the Journal, since its foundation in 1984.

The Editors must be informed, if any of the material submitted has been published elsewhere. If a paper isaccepted, it must not be published elsewhere in the same form. Work based on one-year experimentation willnormally be considered as a Short Communication.

Paper should be submitted to Dr. R. S. Balyan, Secretary, Haryana Agronomists Association, Departmentof Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, India.

SCRIPTS. Manuscripts written in English, should be typed in double spacing on one side of the paper with amargin of at least 2.5 cm on all sides. After a paper has been accepted, authors should, where possible, submitthe final version on a compact dick (CD) as well as two copies of the typescript and the original artwork.

LAYOUT AND STYLE. Authors are advised to use the format adopted in recent issues of Haryana Journalof Agronomy. A simple direct style of writing is preferred. Spelling should conform to that given in the ConciseOxford Dictionary. The manuscript is usually assembled in the following order : title, author(s) with affiliation,abstract, key words, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, and references.

TITLE PAGE. The title should be informative, but concise and should not contain abbreviations. Capitalizeonly the first letter of the first word, other than scientific name(s). Authors should give full initials and surnamesin the second line below the title (in caps), followed by affiliation/address of the institution where the researchwork was conducted.

ABSTRACT. Placed at the beginning of the text, the abstract must be in a single paragraph assimilating thesalient features/findings, should briefly indicate the experimental methodology (including year and place), butwithout repeating the wording of the title. Abstract should be limited to 300 words.

KEY WORDS. Include at least three key words that describe the MS contents, without repeating wordsfrom the title.

TEXT. The introduction should set the work in perspective, present only essential background, and include aconcise statement of the objectives. Relevant details should be given of the experimental materials and design,and the techniques and statistical methods used. Numerical results should be shown in the tables and notrepeated in the text. Metric and SI units should be used e. g. kg/ha, mg/1. Experimental details and resultsshould be reported in the past tense. The Discussion should draw together the results and should briefly relatethe author’s results to other work on the subject and give the author’s conclusions. Footnotes should beavoided. All abbreviations used should be fully explained at first mention.

TABLES AND FIGURES. Typed in double space on separate sheets, numbered consecutively in the sameorder as they are mentioned/discussed in the text. Numerical results should be displayed as means with theirrelevant standard errors and critical differences. The title should fully describe the contents of the Table andexplain any abbreviations used in it. Experimental data may be presented in either table or figures, but not both.


Figures should be restricted to the display of results where a large number of values are presented and inter-pretation would be more difficult in a Table format. Originals of figures should be no larger than twice the finalsize, of good quality, drawn or printed clearly on plain white paper. A copy of each Figure(s) should also beprovided. Full legend, describing the figure(s) and giving a key to all the symbols on it, should be typed on aseparate sheet.

REFERENCES. In the text, a reference should be quoted by the author’s name and date in parentheses, in dateorder, e. g. (Punia, 1994; Singh, 1998). Where there are three or more authors, the first name followed by et al.should be used. A list of references should be given at the end of the text listing, in alphabetical order, surnameof authors and initials (in capitals), year of publication (in parentheses), title of paper, name of journal in full (initalics or underlined) as in CAB International Serials Checklist, volume, and first and last pages of the reference;the place of publication and publisher (and Editors(s) if appropriate) for books and conferences should be included.Examples :

In text. Punia (1994); Punia (1994a, b); Punia & Malik (1993); (Punia, 1998); (Punia & Malik, 1993); Punia etal. (2006); Punia et al. (in press); (Punia et al, in press); K. P. Singh (unpublished); (K. P. Singh, unpublished);R. K. Mailk (Personal Communications); (R. K Malik, Personal Communications).

In the Reference list. Balyan, R. S. and V. M. Bhan (1986). Germination of horse purslane (Trianthemaportulacastrum) in relation to temperature, storage conditions and seedling depths. Weed Sci. 34 : 513-15.

Kaur, A. (1990). Quality improvement of wheat through scheduling under different sowing date. M. Sc.thesis, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India.

Pannu, R. K., Bangarwa, A. S., Yadav, S. K. and Pahuja, S. S. (2008). Practical crop production programme atCCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. In : Proceedings of National Symposium on New Paradigms inAgronomic Research, pp. 297. Navasari, Gujrat, India : Indian Society of Agronomy.

Scott, R. K. and Jaggard, K. W. (1993). Crop physiology and agronomy. In : The Sugar Beet Crop : Scienceinto Practice (Eds. D. A. Cooke & R. K. Scott), pp. 179-237. London : Chapman & Hall.

Proofs will be sent to authors to enable them to check the correctness of the typesetting. Excessive alterationsdue to amendments of the author’s original agreed copy may be charged to the author. All the authors willreceive a copy of journal after payment of membership fee.

110 Haryana Journal of Agronomy

Anapurnamma, P. 80Arora, Mukta 84Arya, Rajesh Kumar 97Bhagawati, P. C. 19Bindu, G. S. Madhu 80Bishnoi, Vinod Kumar 47Dadheech, R. C. 92Dahiya, D. S. 51Dahiya, S. S. 51Dalal, Satyavir Singh 47Das, K. 19Dashora, L. N. 90Desai, L. J. 39Devi, Urmila 31Dutta, S. 19Gumber, Rajni 74Hooda, J. S. 102Jain, Alok 16Jain, N. K. 90Jain, Namrata 1, 4Kadian, V. S. 9Karwasra, R. S. 7Kumar, Abdhesh 82Kumar, Anil 7, 88, 102Kumar, Manoj 59, 100Kumar, Pawan 59Kumar, Rakesh 9Kumar, Ramesh 37, 102Kumar, Sanjay 65Kumar, Satish 9, 100Kumar, Suresh 84

HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMYAuthor Index

Vol. 24 June & December 2008 No. 1 & 2

Kundu, K. K. 42Lakshmi, C. Subha 77Lal, Roshan 26Lathwal, O. P. 51, 100Madan, V. K. 102Malik, A. C. 71Malik, D. P. 42Malik, R. K. 23, 34Malik, Virender 9, 97Mehta, Anil 26Midha, L. K. 71, 86Nandal, D. P. 23, 34Pahuja, S. S. 88Patel, B. J. 105Patel, B. M. 39, 105Patel, B. S. 105Patel, D. M. 12, 105Patel, G. N. 105Patel, M. M. 12, 39Patel, Manish M. 12, 39Patel, P. P. 12, 105Patel, S. M. 105Phogat, V. 55, 62, 65Pujari, A. Ashok 42Raju, M. Sreenivasa 80Raju, M. Srinivasa 77Ramana, M. Venkata 77Rana, D. S. 82Rana, V. S. 71Reddy, A. Pratap Kumar 80Roat, Geeta 92

Salisbry, Phillip 97Satyavan, 65Shaikh, A. A. 95Sharma, R. K. 1, 4Sharma, Ramesh 51Sharma, S. D. 26Sharma, S. K. 7, 65Sheokand, Ram Niwas 97Sheoran, R. S. 51, 82Singh, Anoop 55, 62Singh, Bhagat 23, 34Singh, Dhiraj 97Singh, Hari 90Singh, J. P. 55, 62Singh, Narender 86Solanki, N. S. 92Suhag, K. S. 42Sumeriya, H. K. 92Thakral, S. K. 86, 88Upadhyay, V. B. 16Vandana, 88Vashist, Ramesh 86, 71Verma, Shashi Kanta 31Yadav, Ashok 23, 26, 34Yadav, B. L. 74Yadav, Dharam Bir 26Yadav, J. S. 84Yadav, Jai Lal 37Yadav, S. K. 59Yadav, Sube Singh 37Yadav, V. K. 95

108 Haryana Journal of Agronomy

haryana journal of agronomyharyanaagronomists.org/downloads/files/n53d8e46048896.pdf · haryana...

Documents