HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY · HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY Volume 26 June & December 2010 No. 1 & 2 CONTENTS 1-8 9-11 12-17 18-20 21-22 23-26 27-29 30-33 34-37 38-40 41-44 45-46 Influence

HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMYVolume 26 June & December 2010 No. 1 & 2

CONTENTS

1-8

9-11

12-17

18-20

21-22

23-26

27-29

30-33

34-37

38-40

41-44

45-46

Influence of integrated fertilizer management on nutrients utilization and soil chemical properties by pearlmillet-wheat cropping system–Manoj Kumar, Pawan Kumar and S. K. Yadav

Evaluation of integrated weed management practices for soybean [(Glycine max. (L.) Merrill)] cultivationunder rainfed conditions–R. Umat, U. S. Raghuwanshi, O. P. S. Raghuwanshi and S. R. S. Raghuwanshi

Evaluation of glufosinate (Basta 15% SL) against weeds in cotton, phytotoxicity and residual effect onsucceeding crops–S. S. Punia, R. S. Malik and Dharambir Yadav

Evaluation of improved technologies on mustard in south-western Haryana–L. K. Midha, V. S. Rana, B. D. Sharma and O. P. Nehra

Effect of levels of nitrogen and spacing on growth and grain yield of mesta–M. V. Singh, Neeraj Kumar, R. K. Singh and B. N. Mishra

Effect of intercropping on various growth characteristics of cabbage–Avtar Singh and P. S. Partap

Effect of integrated nutrient management and spacing on fibre yield of mesta–M. V. Singh, Neeraj Kumar, B. N. Mishra, G. Singh and Vinay Kumar

Effect of crop geometry, nitrogen levels and intercropping on production of cabbage (Brassica oleraceavar. capitata L.)–Avtar Singh and P. S. Partap

A study on male and female labour utilization pattern in agriculture and household activities in Jhajjardistrict of Haryana–K. S. Suhag, Nirmal Kumar, Rajnish Kumar, Jagdish Kumar and Subodh Agarwal

Impact of training programmes of Extension Education Institute, Nilokheri, Haryana–Fidda Hussain Shah, R. S. Hudda, A. K. Godara, S. K. Mehta and Subhash Chander

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

Effect of fertility levels and bio-fertilizers on yield and quality of kharif green gram (Vigna radiata (L).Wilczek)–Roshan Choudhary, A. C. Sadhu and K. M. Gediya

Response of semi rabi castor (Ricinus communis L.) cv. GCH-5 to nitrogen and phosphorus levels undermiddle Gujarat conditions–M. H. Chaudhary and A. C. Sadhu

Published by Dr. O. P. Nehra, Secretary, Haryana Agronomists Association (HAA), Department ofAgronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. Editor-in-Chief : Dr. Jagdev Singh.Printed at Systematic Printers, Udaipurian Street, Near Video Market, Hisar, Ph.: (O) 01662-230467(M) 92551-31387 (31 December, 2010)

On-farm performance of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) genotypes under different fertilitylevels–N. K. Jain, S. R. Maloo and Hari Singh

Distribution of weed flora of wheat in south-western Haryana–Samir Monga, O. P. Nehra, Ashok Yadav, S. S. Punia and R. C. Hasija

Prospects of agri-tourism in Haryana–Davender Kumar, S. K. Mehta, A. K. Godara, R. S. Hudda and Shruti Sharma

Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum durum Desf.) to biofertilizers under varyingfertility levels–D. R. Patel, A. U. Amin, A. M . Patel and B. J. Patel

Effect of integrated nutrient management on quality and nutrient uptake by barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)–Mukesh Kumar, A. S. Bangarwa, Satish Kumar and O. P. Nehra

Distribution of weed flora of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts ofHaryana–S. S. Punia, Dharambir Yadav and Samunder Singh

Effect of row spacing and seed ratio on green forage yield and economics of lucerne and chicory underdifferent mixed/intercropping systems–S. P. Jakhar, B. S. Patel, B. J. Patel and D. R. Patel

Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth parameters, yield attributes, yield and economics ofbarley (Hordeum vulgare L.)–Mukesh Kumar, A. S. Bangarwa, Satish Kumar and O. P. Nehra

Evaluation of neem cake-coated urea in rice at farmers’ fields–O. P. Nehra and A. S. Dhindwal

47-48

49-52

53-54

55-57

58-59

60-61

62-64

65-66

67-68

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.

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EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

President Dr. A. S. Dhindwal Secretary Dr. O. P. NehraEx-President Dr. S. S. Pahuja Joint Secretary Dr. Pawan KumarVice-President Dr. S. K. Yadav Treasurer Dr. Anil Kumar 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. K. S. Grewal Dr. R. K. Pannu Dr. P. S. Pratap

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 1-8 (2010)

Influence of integrated fertilizer management on nutrients utilization and soilchemical properties by pearl millet-wheat cropping system

MANOJ KUMAR, PAWAN KUMAR AND S. K. YADAVDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India

ABSTRACT

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different sources of fertilizers/manureson nutrients uptake by the crops and soil properties during 2004-05 and 2005-06 on pearl millet-wheatcropping system at Research Farm of Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar. The organic carbon of soil varied around 10 per cent in different treatments and was higher with theuse of organic sources as compared to chemical fertilizers alone in both pearl millet and wheat. Theavailable phosphorus and potassium in the soil increased markedly with each successive increase infertilizer dose irrespective of sources of nutrients. Available phosphorus and potassium contents werealso higher with the application of organic fertilizers. The application of higher dose of fertilizers increasednitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptakes by pearl millet and wheat. The nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium uptake (mean of 2-years) were 180.0, 39.2 and 418.3 kg ha-1, respectively with the application ofrecommended chemical fertilizers during both the seasons, while these values were 188.8, 42.7 and 436.3kg ha-1 with the application of 50 per cent nitrogen through FYM + 50 per cent nitrogen through chemicalfertilizers during kharif and 100 per cent recommended fertilizers during rabi season.

Key words : Fertilizers, manures, uptake, organic carbon, phosphorus, potassium

INTRODUCTION

Most of the soils in Haryana are low in organicmatter, generally containing less than 0.40 per centorganic carbon. The continuous use of only chemicalfertilizers may deteriorate soil health environment andhence, crop productivity may not remain sustainable.Moreover, the indiscriminate use of high analysischemical fertilizers also results in the deficiency ofnutrients other than applied and causes decline in organiccarbon in soil (Singh et al., 2001). It is now realizedthat integrated use of chemical fertilizers along withorganic materials for managing soil fertility along withcrop productivity could be the alternative to sole use offertilizers (Palaniappan and Annadurai, 1999). Organicmanures provide regulated supply of N by releasing itslowly (Yoshiaki, 1982) resulting in increased yields andnutrient use efficiency (Sharma, 2002). Adequateavailability of FYM, though one of the best organic sourceis seriously constrained by the use of dung as a sourceof fuel in India in general and Haryana in particular. Asan alternative the green manure crop dhaincha (Sesbaniabispinosa) may be utilized to maintain productivity andsoil health which has the advantages of a vigorousgrowth habit, N fixation capacity and the ability to

withstand a wide range of soil conditions such as salinity,alkalinity and water logging. It is evident that organicsalone or green manuring may not meet the full nutrientsrequirements of intensive cropping systems and,therefore, integrated nutrient supply holds great promisein sustaining high productivity and soil health. Moreover,the application of integrated nutrient management (INM)discourages the emergence of multiple nutrientdeficiencies and deterioration of soil health andenvironment. The present study was, therefore,undertaken to evaluate the effect of organic matter/greenmanuring incorporation with chemical fertilizers on soilproperties and nutrients utilization by pearl millet-wheatcropping sequence in semi-arid area of north India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Field experiment was conducted for two years(2004-05 and 2005-06) at the Research Farm of CCSHaryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India, located at74° 27’ 28” East longitude, 27° 30’ North latitude, 215.2m altitude and the mean annual rainfall around 450 mmand most of it (about 80 per cent) is received in rainyseason (July to September). The area is characterizedas semi-arid.

Tabl

e 1. D

etai

l of t

reat

men

ts

Trea

tmen

tKh

arif

(Pea

rl m

illet

)Ra

bi (W

heat

)

T1

Con

trol (

no fe

rtiliz

er)

Con

trol (

no fe

rtiliz

er)

T2

50%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s50

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T3

50%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s10

0% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T4

75%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s75

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T5

100%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s10

0% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T6

50%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+50

% N

thro

ugh

farm

yard

man

ure

100%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

sT

775

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers+

25%

N th

roug

h fa

rmya

rd m

anur

e75

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T8

50%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+50

% N

thro

ugh

whe

at st

raw

100%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

sT

975

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers+

25%

N th

roug

h w

heat

stra

w75

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T10

50%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+50

% N

thro

ugh

gree

n m

anur

e10

0% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T11

75%

reco

mm

ende

d N

PK d

ose

thro

ugh

ferti

lizer

s+25

% N

thro

ugh

gree

n m

anur

e75

% re

com

men

ded

NPK

dos

e th

roug

h fe

rtiliz

ers

T12

Farm

er’s

prac

tice

Farm

er’s

prac

tice

2 Kumar, Kumar and Yadav

There were twelve treatments of integratednutrient management (INM) comprising chemicalfertilizers alone or in combination with organic sources(FYM, green manuring, wheat straw) in pearl millet-wheat cropping system (Table 1). The experiment waslaid out in a randomized block design with fourreplications. The gross and net plot sizes were 10 m x8 m and 8 m x 7.2 m, respectively with 1 m margin onboth sides of each plot to curtail run off/seepage lossesto adjunct plots. Pearl millet was sown at 45 cm rowspacing using 5 kg seed per hectare on 4th July, 2004and 15th July, 2005. The wheat sowing was made on16th November, 2004 and 19th November, 2005 at a rowspacing of 20 cm using 100 kg seed per hectare.Fertilizers/organic nutrients were applied to all the plotsas per treatment. Nitrogen was applied in two equal splitdoses, half at planting and the remaining half as topdressing as per recommendation. The full doses ofphosphorus and potassium were applied as compoundfertilizer at sowing time. Organic manures viz. farmyardmanure (FYM), green manure (GM) with dhaincha(Sesbania bispinosa) and wheat straw (WS) were appliedsix weeks before crop sowing. The pearl millet cropwas harvested at its physiological maturity on 22nd

September and 30th September, whereas the wheat cropwas harvested on 9th April and 12th April during 2004-05and 2005-06, respectively. Other agronomic operationsand plant protection measures were followed as per localrecommendations.

The soil classified as a Typic Haplustepts, wasloosely aggregated with sandy loam texture. The surface(0 – 15 cm) soil layer had 60.4 % sand, 16.9 % silt and22.7 % clay. The slope of the study area was less than1%. The experimental soil had no salinity or drainageproblems. The soil samples were collected each year

from all the forty eight plots and were analyzed beforecrop sowing and after harvest for pH, electricalconductivity, organic carbon, available nitrogen (N),phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) using methods asgiven in Table 2. The nitrogen, phosphorus andpotassium contents in plants were analyzed by themethods given in Table 2 and the uptakes in grain andstraw were worked out by multiplying the grain andstraw yields with their respective N, P and K contents.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Soil Studies

Organic Carbon

The organic carbon content increased with theuse of integrated nutrient sources (Table 3) as comparedto the use of chemical fertilizers alone which might havebeen due to addition of organic carbon through farmyardmanure (FYM) and green manure (GM). This increasein organic carbon was a result of creation of favorableconditions for multiplication of soil micro organisms dueto addition of organic manures. Among differentintegrated nutrient management treatments, the per centorganic carbon ranged between 0.44 and 0.49 during 1st

year and between 0.46 and 0.52 during 2nd year ofexperimentation. Among different organic sources theresponse was more with the use of farmyard manurewhich might have been due to its rich constituents andsustained availability. This was in agreement with thefindings of Verma and Mathur (2009). There wassignificant increase in available nitrogen (N) due toapplication of higher dose of fertilizers alone or inconjunction with organic sources, due to more addition

Table 2. Methods used in analysis

Parameter Method

Soil studiespH Jackson, 1967Electrical conductivity (dS/m) Jackson, 1967Organic carbon (%) Wet digestion method (Walkley and Black, 1934)Available nitrogen (kg/ha) Potassium permanganate method (Subbiah and Asija, 1956)Available phosphorus (kg/ha) Olsen’s method (Olsen et al., 1954)Available potassium (kg/ha) Ammonium acetate extractable-K (Jackson, 1973)Plant studiesTotal nitrogen (%) Colorimetric method (Lindner, 1944)Total phosphorus (%) Vanadomolybdophosphoric yellow color method (Koenig and Johnson, 1942)Total potassium (%) Flame photometric

Haryana Journal of Agronomy 3

Tabl

e 3.

Soi

l che

mic

al p

rope

rties

afte

r whe

at h

arve

st in

200

4-05

and

200

5-06

Tret

amen

t20

04-0

520

05-0

6

pHE.

C.

Org

anic

Avai

labl

e nut

rient

s (kg

/ha)

pHE.

C.

Org

anic

Avai

labl

e nut

rient

s (kg

/ha)

(dS/

m)

carb

on(d

S/m

)ca

rbon

(%)

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

(%)

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

Initi

al s

tatu

s7.

70.

130.

4018

4.1

13.6

283.

07.

60.

120.

4218

8.6

13.8

283.

5T

17.

70.

150.

3316

8.0

7.3

214.

77.

60.

140.

3317

2.5

7.5

223.

8T

27.

60.

140.

3517

6.5

10.9

259.

77.

50.

160.

3621

2.5

11.5

260.

0T

37.

60.

150.

3717

8.0

15.8

267.

27.

50.

170.

3921

6.9

16.5

272.

5T

47.

70.

150.

3817

9.4

14.0

278.

57.

50.

160.

3921

8.7

15.0

285.

0T

57.

70.

160.

4720

8.3

18.8

282.

27.

60.

170.

5022

0.0

19.8

291.

3T

67.

70.

140.

4922

4.0

19.2

294.

77.

50.

170.

5223

6.0

21.3

326.

0T

77.

60.

140.

4518

9.0

17.3

285.

97.

50.

150.

4722

4.6

18.5

315.

0T

87.

60.

150.

4620

3.0

12.8

282.

27.

60.

160.

4822

7.1

13.5

317.

5T

97.

70.

150.

4419

4.3

12.5

329.

77.

60.

150.

4622

2.8

13.5

275.

0T

107.

60.

140.

4818

9.0

10.9

322.

27.

60.

160.

5123

2.3

12.0

322.

5T

117.

60.

130.

4618

5.5

14.4

301.

27.

60.

150.

4722

6.8

15.0

311.

3T

127.

70.

140.

3916

8.0

12.2

284.

27.

60.

160.

4118

9.5

13.0

275.

0C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

NS

NS

0.09

7.93

2.6

8.4

NS

NS

0.10

7.4

3.4

9.6


of N in the soil than its removal by the crops (Table 3).Increase in available nitrogen with FYM and greenmanuring may be due to the direct addition of nitrogenthrough FYM and green manuring to the available poolof soil. The favourable effects of organic sources inconjunction of chemical fertilizers in enhancing theavailability of N has also been reported by severalworkers (Raju and Reddy, 2000; Bandyopadhyay andPuste, 2002). The build-up of soil available N may alsobe attributed to the greater multiplication of microbescaused by the addition of green manure and FYM forthe conversion of organically bound N to inorganic formsand might have helped in the mineralization of soil Nwhich led to build-up of higher available N. The nofertilizer treatment had low organic carbon of 0.33 percent during both the years which might have been as aresult of nitrogen removal both by pearl millet and wheatcrops.

Available Phosphorus

The available phosphorus (P) content after wheatharvest during both the years increased with theapplication of fertilizers/integrated fertilizers (Table 3).Available P content was increased to about 72 per centwith the fertilizer increase from 50 per cent to 100 percent during both the seasons. The increase in available Pcontent was higher with the integrated use of FYM andchemical fertilizers (T6) over the use of chemicalfertilizers alone (T5). Farmyard manure increased moresoil P over GM and WS during both the years. The organicsource viz. FYM increased more P availability due toincrease in microbial population and decomposition ofhumic substances. It has already been reported (Singhet al., 2006) that greater mobilization of native soil Pincreased availability with integrated fertilizer use.

Available Potassium

In general, there was significant increase inavailable K content in post-wheat harvest soil afterboth 1st year and 2nd year with the application of FYM,GM and WS (Table 3). The increase in soil K contentwith FYM application was 4.43 and 11.91 per centhigher over recommended dose of fertilizers during2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively. Increase inavailable potassium due to FYM or green manureapplication may be attributed to the direct addition ofpotassium to the available pool of the soil. This may

probably also be due to solubilized K from K-bearingminerals by the organic acids released after thedecomposition of FYM and green manuring.Application of FYM and inorganic fertilizers togetherincreased the available K as compared to inorganicfertilizers alone (Bharadwaj and Omanwar, 1994).Increase in available K over the initial in all theintegrated nutrient management treatments wasrecorded which could be attributed to increase in therelease rate of K from non-exchangeable fraction ofK on application of either organic or inorganic sourcesof nutrients alone or in combination (Singh et al.,2002).

pH and Electrical Conductivity

The pH of soils during both the years variedbetween 7.6 and 7.7 during first year and between 7.5and 7.6 during second year. The electrical conductivity(E.C.) during both the years was not influenced markedlydue to different integrated nutrient managementtreatments.

Nutrients Uptake by the Crops

Nitrogen Uptake

The nitrogen uptake was the lowest in controlplot during both the seasons due to low yield of crops inthis treatment (Table 4). The N uptake in both pearlmillet and wheat increased with the increase in fertilizerdose from 50 to 75 per cent and from 75 to 100 percent of recommended dose (Oo et al., 2007). The higherdose resulted in more yield without affecting the Ncontent in grain and straw and, therefore, led to higheruptake with increased fertilizer doses. The organicsources had differential effect on nitrogen uptake bypearl millet and wheat crops. The increase in nitrogenuptake by crops was significantly higher with theapplication of FYM; while it decreased with theapplication of wheat straw over the chemical fertilizersalone.

Phosphorus Uptake

The phosphorus uptake by pearl millet andwheat in control was very low and it was only 8.6 kgand 9.1 kg ha-1 in 2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively(Table 4). The P uptake increased significantly with each


Tabl

e 4. N

utrie

nts u

ptak

e (kg

/ha)

by t

he cr

op

Trea

tmen

t20

04-0

520

05-0

6

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

Nitr

ogen

Phos

phor

usPo

tass

ium

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

Pear

l mill

etW

heat

T1

18.9

19.4

3.8

4.8

94.6

56.9

22.9

26.5

4.3

4.8

92.7

58.1

T2

55.9

67.3

10.1

16.4

151.

899

.856

.371

.010

.014

.417

2.5

111.

2T

357

.086

.511

.022

.117

1.6

139.

964

.189

.811

.420

.119

2.4

160.

4T

470

.183

.412

.024

.820

1.2

134.

472

.986

.113

.222

.922

9.8

149.

1T

575

.098

.612

.125

.525

0.4

144.

481

.010

5.3

16.6

24.1

272.

116

9.7

T6

79.6

105.

614

.128

.027

0.9

146.

182

.410

9.9

16.8

26.5

294.

616

1.0

T7

78.1

93.9

13.6

26.2

248.

913

9.5

80.1

95.8

14.3

24.9

265.

615

8.0

T8

76.9

85.8

11.9

26.0

224.

013

5.7

75.7

87.7

14.9

23.5

238.

715

0.4

T9

72.7

87.1

9.9

17.8

225.

213

3.6

74.2

89.4

14.2

16.0

243.

114

5.4

T10

76.6

106.

511

.520

.924

3.1

137.

278

.210

7.3

15.0

19.4

259.

414

8.7

T11

79.4

107.

213

.222

.124

6.4

139.

980

.110

8.1

14.8

19.9

260.

915

1.0

T12

72.7

85.2

7.4

20.5

222.

612

4.3

74.0

89.6

9.7

19.1

226.

513

2.3

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)4.

85.

80.

81.

313

.76.

56.

08.

61.

31.

316

.57.

8


graded dose of fertilizers from 50 to 75 per cent andfrom 75 to 100 per cent of recommended dose duringboth the years. In 2004-05, the per cent increase in Puptake was 41.9 and 2.2, respectively, with theapplication of recommended dose over 50 per cent and75 per cent applied during both the seasons, while therespective values in 2005-06 were 66.8 and 12.7 percent. The increased fertilizer dose increased grain yieldand thereby more phosphorus uptake. Among organicsources FYM had higher effect on crops productivityand thereby increased P uptake more as compared toother organic sources. Similar results of increase in Puptake with increased fertilizer dose has also beenreported by Kumar et al., 2005.

Potassium Uptake

The potassium uptake was the highest with theapplication of chemical fertilizers in conjunction withfarmyard manure (Table 4). Similar results have alsobeen reported by Laxminarayana and Patiram, 2006that the incorporation of organics with chemical fertilizerssignificantly enhanced the nutrient uptake even higherthan the optimum doses of NPK application. Thepotassium uptake was markedly low in farmers’ practiceparticularly in pearl millet because of negligible applicationof K in the field by the farmers. The increase inpotassium uptake in pearl millet and wheat with theapplication of fertilizers/manures may be due to the reasonthat they increased cell division and elongation andsimultaneously increased enzymatic activity and therebyresulted in more uptake of potassium.

Total Uptake of Nutrients

The increase in uptake of total nutrients (N, Pand K) (Table 5) in integrated nutrient management treatedplots may be due to extra amount of nutrients suppliedby these organics and provided conducive physicalenvironment which helped in better root growth andabsorption of nutrients from the native as well as appliedsources which favoured the highest nutrient uptake(Bharadwaj et al., 1994).

REFERENCES

Bandyopadhyay, S. and Puste, A. M. (2002). Effect ofintegrated nutrient management on productivityand residual soil fertility status under different rice(Oryza sativa)-pulse cropping systems in rainfedlateritic belt of West Bengal. Indian J. Agron. 47 :33-40.

Bharadwaj, Venkatesh., Omanwar, P. K., Sharma, R. A.and Vishwanath (1994). Long term effects ofcontinuous rotational cropping and fertilization oncrop yields and soil properties – I. Effects on cropyields and nutrient uptake. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 42: 247-53.

Bharadwaj, Venkatesh and Omanwar, P. K. (1994). Longterm effects of continuous rotational cropping andfertilization on crop yields and soil properties. II.Effects on EC, pH, organic matter and availablenutrients of soil. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 42 : 387-92.

Jackson, M. L. (1967). Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice

Table 5. Total nutrients (N+P+K) uptake (kg/ha) by the crop season-wise and in the whole year

Treatment 2004-05 2005-06

Pearl millet Wheat Total Pearl millet Wheat Total

T 1 117.3 81.1 198.4 119.9 89.4 209.3T 2 217.8 183.5 401.3 238.8 196.6 435.4T 3 239.6 248.5 488.1 267.9 270.3 538.2T 4 283.3 242.6 525.9 315.9 258.1 574.0T 5 337.5 268.5 606.0 369.7 299.1 668.8T 6 364.6 279.7 644.3 393.8 297.4 691.2T 7 340.6 259.6 600.2 360.0 278.7 638.7T 8 312.8 247.5 560.3 329.3 261.6 590.9T 9 307.8 238.5 546.3 331.5 250.8 582.3T10 331.2 264.6 595.8 352.6 275.4 628.0T11 339.0 269.2 608.2 355.8 279.0 634.8T12 302.7 230.0 532.7 310.2 241.0 551.2


Hall of India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis. PrenticeHall of India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

Kumar, Pawan., Nanwal, R. K. and Yadav, S. K. (2005).Integrated nutrient management in pearl millet(Pennisetum glaucum)-wheat (Triticum aestivum)cropping system. Ind. J. agric. Sci. 75 : 640-43.

Koenig, R. A. and Johnson, C. R. (1942). Colorimetricdetermination of P in biological materials. Ind. Eng.Chem. Anal. 14 : 155-56.

Laxminarayana, K. and Patiram (2006). Effect of integrateduse of inorganic, biological and organic manureson rice productivity and soil fertility in Ultisols ofMizoram. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 54 : 213-20.

Lindner, R. C. (1944). Rapid analytical method for someof the more common inorganic constituents of planttissues. Pl. Physiol. 19 : 76-89.

Olsen, S. R., Cole, C. V., Watanabe, F. S. and Dean, L. A.(1954). Estimation of available phosphorus in soilsby extraction with sodium bicarbonate. CircularU.S. Department of Agriculture 939.

Oo Lar Mar Naw, Shiva, Y. S. and Kumar, Dinesh (2007).Effect of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on yieldattributes, productivity and nutrient uptake ofaromatic rice (Oryza sativa). Ind. J. agric. Sci. 77 :772-75.

Palaniappan, S. P. and Annadurai, K. (1999). OrganicFarming: Theory and Practices. ScientificPublishers, Jodhpur, India.

Raju, R. A. and Reddy, M. N. (2000). Integratedmanagement of greenleaf, compost, crop residuesand inorganic fertilizers in rice-rice system. Indian

J. Agron. 45 : 629-35.

Sharma, S. N. (2002). Nitrogen management in relation towheat (Triticum aestivum) residue management inrice (Oryza sativa). Ind. J. agric. Sci. 72 : 449-52.

Singh, M., Tripathi, A. K. and Reddy, D. D. (2002).Potassium balance and release kinetics of non-exchangeable K in a Typic Haplustert as influencedby cattle manure application under a soybean-wheat system. Aust. J. Soil Res. 40 : 533-41.

Singh, M., Singh, V. P. and Reddy, K. S. (2001). Effect ofintegrated use of fertilizer nitrogen and farmyardmanure or green manure on transformation of N, Pand S and productivity of rice-wheat system on aVertisol. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 49 : 430-35.

Singh, Surendra, Singh, R. N., Prasad, Janardan andSingh, B. P. (2006). Effect of integrated nutrientmanagement on yield and uptake of nutrients byrice and soil fertility in rainfed uplands. J. Ind. Soc.Soil Sci. 54 : 327-30.

Subbiah, B. V. and Asija, G. L. (1956). A rapid procedure forthe determination of available nitrogen in soils.Current Sci. 25 : 259-60.

Verma, Gayatri and Mathur, A. K. (2009). Effect ofintegrated nutrient management on active poolsof soil organic matter under maize-wheat systemof a Typic Haplustept. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 57 :317-22.

Walkley, A. J. and Black, C. A. (1934). Estimation of soilorganic carbon by the chromic acid titrationmethod. Soil Sci. 37 : 29-38.

Yoshiaki (1982). The significance of plant nutrient recyclingin agriculture. (in) Extension Bulletin No. 176, Food& Fert. Tech. Centre.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 9-11 (2010)

Evaluation of integrated weed management practices for soybean [(Glycinemax. (L.) Merrill)] cultivation under rainfed conditions

R. UMAT, U. S. RAGHUWANSHI, O. P. S. RAGHUWANSHI AND S. R. S. RAGHUWANSHIRVSKVV, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Shajapur (M. P.)

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2007-08 and 2008-09 at Krishi VigyanKendra Farm, Shajapur, on clay loam soil to study the effect of post emergence herbicides and their doseson the weed parameters, seed yield of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]. Plant height, number oftriplicates, dry matter per plant, yield attributes, seed yield of soybean, weed dry matter and weed densitywere significantly affected by herbicides. Higher seed yield and seed production efficiencies were obtainedunder weed free up to 40 DAS after sowing and clorimurun ethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25DAS.

Key words : Soybean, post emergence weedicides, seed production efficiencies

INTRODUCTION

Poor yield in rainy season crops includingsoybean may probably be due to weed infestation.Soybean growth and seed yield are seriously affected ifweeds are not controlled at initial stages. Bhan (1994)reported 40-60% loss in seed yield in soybean due toweeds. The present study was made to evaluate the effectof different post-emergence herbicides at variable doseson weeds and seed yield of soybean.


A field experiment was conducted during therainy season of 2007-08 and 2008-09 at Krishi VigyanKendra Farm, Shajapur (M.P.) on clay loam soil havingpH 7.5, 0.25% organic carbon, 13 kg P2O5/ha, 422 kgK2O/ha and 30 kg sulphur/ha. Six treatments comprisingchemical weed control methods and two hand weedings(Table 1) were tested in randomized block design with 4replications. The pre planting and pre-emergenceherbicides as checks were sprayed 1 day before andimmediately after sowing of JS-335 variety of soybean.The soybean seeds were inoculated with broodyRhizobium japonicum culture @ 5 g per kg seed. Seedswere treated with thiram 75% WP @ 3 g/kg seed beforeinoculation. Basal application (30 N + 60 P2O5 + 20 K2Okg ha-1) was done through urea, DAP and muriate ofpotash, respectively. Two manual weedings at 20 and40 days after sowing were done. The weed controlefficiency was calculated.


All the growth parameters except plant heightat harvest were significantly affected due to various weedcontrol treatments (Table 1). The maximum plant heightwas obtained with fenoxaprop @100 g/ha + quizalofop@50 g/ha at 25 DAS whereas it was the shortest inweed free plot (two hand weedings 20 and 40 DAS),which was at par with imazethapyr when applied aspost-emergence (T3).

Maximum trifoliate/plant at 75 days under twohand weedings 20 and 40 DAS (T2). The least numberof trifoliate/plant in weedy check (T1)), which weresignificantly less than all treatments T2,T3,T4,T5 andT6.

At harvest, the accumulated dry matter per plantwas found to be the highest under weed free plotswhereas it was found to be the lowest under control.Integrated weed management by adopting inter-culture+ herbicide application showed beneficial effects ascompared to herbicide alone. The herbicide applied aloneaccumulated nearly equal dry matter per plant but differedsignificantly than weedy check.

Weed control efficiency (WCE) was alsoreflected same and was found to be the maximum inweed free plots at all the stages (65 DAS + at harvest).Whereas, all integrated weed management methods andherbicides used as post emergence gave considerablyhigher mean WCE [more than 40-42%] (Table 2).

All yield attributes and seed yield variedsignificantly under various herbicidal treatments (Table

Table 1. Effect of post emergence herbicides formulations on soybean (Two years pooled data)

Treatments Plant height No. of leaves/ Dry matter(cm) plant (g/plant)

60 DAS At harvest 75 DAS 75 DAS At harvest

T1–Weedy Check 76.3 72.4 19.0 9.9 15.1T2–Two Hand Weedings (20 and 40 DAS) 64.2 61.2 29.4 14.2 24.5T3–Imazethapyr @ 100 g/ha 25 DAS 76.6 72.2 24.8 11.6 20.1T4–Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg/ha PE 73.7 69.5 24.3 11.5 20.0T5–Fenoxaprop @100 g/ha+Quizalofop @50 g/ha at 25 DAS 87.8 82.7 26.6 11.7 20.3T6–Clorimurun ethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25 DAS 80.9 76.4 29.3 13.3 21.7C. D. (P=0.05) 9.0 9.4 3.8 1.6 1.6

Table 3. Effect of post emergence herbicides on yield attributes, seed yield and seed production efficiencies of soybean (Two yearspooled data)

Treatments No. of Pods/ 100-seed Seed yield Stover yield Seed productionplant wt (g) (q/ha) (q/ha) efficiencies

(kg/ha/day)

T1–Weedy Check 24.18 8.41 7.40 29.62 6.98T2–Two Hand Weedings (20 and 40 DAS) 41.16 10.34 23.31 44.79 21.99T3–Imazethapyr @ 100 g/ha 25 DAS 27.64 9.34 19.15 33.50 18.07T4–Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg/ha PE 27.47 9.27 19.07 33.62 17.99T5–Fenoxaprop @100 g/ha+Quizalofop @50 g/ha at 25 DAS 30.81 9.41 19.91 38.32 18.78T6–Clorimurun ethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25 DAS 33.09 9.79 22.22 43.79 20.96C. D. (P=0.05) 8.68 0.94 2.96 6.05

Table 2. Effect of post emergence herbicides on weed dry matter, weed density and weed control efficiency of soybean (Two yearspooled data)

Treatments Weed dry matter Weed density WCE(g/m2) (Number/m2) (%)

65 At 65 DAS At harvest 65 AtDAS harvest DAS harvest

M* D** M* D**

T1–Weedy Check 132.00 275.00 13.33 20.15 11.20 16.48 0.00 0.00T2–Two Hand Weedings (20 and 40 DAS) 1.20 9.90 0.33 0.00 1.00 0.00 99.09 96.40T3–Imazethapyr @ 100 g/ha 25 DAS 12.84 46.54 2.17 3.41 2.20 3.40 90.28 83.08T4–Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg/ha PE 14.30 43.56 2.17 3.41 1.86 2.79 89.17 84.16T5–Fenoxaprop @100 g/ha+Quizalofop @50 g/ha at 25 DAS 11.00 29.26 2.17 2.17 1.61 2.44 91.67 89.36T6–Clorimurun ethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25 DAS 8.80 36.96 1.54 1.86 1.24 2.17 99.33 86.56C. D. (P=0.05) 1.87 1.87 1.91 2.27 1.91 2.38

*Monocot weeds **Dicot Weeds.

3). The number of pods/plant and test weight werehigher under weed free condition, closely followed byclorimurun ethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25DAS. Seed and stover yield and seed production

efficiency were the highest under weed free conditionsupto 40 DAS (23.31 q ha-1, 44.79 q ha-1 and 21.99 kgha-1 day-1, respectively) closely followed by clorimurunethyl @ 10 g/ha+fenoxaprop 70 g/ha at 25 DAS (22.22

10 Umat, Raghuwanshi, Raghuwanshi and Raghuwanshi

q/ha,43.79 q/ha and 20.96 kg/ha day, respectively).Similar findings have been reported by Singh and Bajpai(1994) and Vyas et al. (2000).

REFERENCES

Bhan, V. M. (1994). Weed management–A factor forsustainability in crop production. Proceedings ofthe XXI National Symposium on ResourceManagement for sustained crop production, held

at Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner pp.209-216.

Singh, V. K. and Bajpai, R. P. (1994). Influence of cropgeometry and weed control method on yield andeconomics of rainfed soybean (Glycine max).Indian J. Agron. 39 : 671-673.

Vyas, M. D., Singh, S. and Singh, P. P. (2000). Weedmanagement in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill].Annals Plant Protection Sci. 8 : 76-78.


Evaluation of glufosinate (Basta 15% SL) against weeds in cotton, phytotoxicityand residual effect on succeeding crops

S. S. PUNIA, R. S. MALIK AND DHARAMBIR YADAV

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, India

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the effectiveness of directed application of glufosinate (Basta 15 % SL) on differentweeds, seed cotton yield, crop phytotoxicity and residual effect on succeeding crops, results of fieldexperiments conducted during kharif and rabi seasons of 2008 and 2009 at CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar revealed that application of glufosinate ammonium (Basta 15% SL) at 300-900 g/ha wasnot sufficient to provide season long acceptable control of weeds in cotton. Per cent weed control andcotton yield with glufosinate was significantly lower than recommended practice of 2 hoeings or pre-emergence use of pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha followed by one HW. Glufosinate applied at any dose doesnot show any residual effect on succeeding wheat and barley crops.

Key words : Glufosinate, weed control, cotton, residues

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 12-17 (2010)

INTRODUCTION

Annual weeds particularly carpet weed(Trianthema portulacastrum L.), jungle rice(Echinochloa colona L.) and purple nut sedge (Cyperusrotundus L.) are serious problem in cotton cultivation.Losses due to weeds in cotton range from 40 to 75%depending upon type and density of weeds (Sandhu etal., 1996). Cotton grows slowly in summer due to veryhigh temperature varying from 41 to 47 °C (Prasad etal., 1997) and weeds get an ample space to growprofusely particularly in the initial two months of cropstage. Pre-plant incorporation of trifluralin and pre-emergence application of pendimethalin integrated withone hoeing has been found quite effective for the controlof these weeds (Panwar and Malik, 1998). Pre-emergence application of herbicides minimizes the earlyweed competition and problem of late emerging weedsbecomes more serious. To manage late emerging weeds,other manual or chemical methods need to be integratedwith these pre-plant or pre-emergence herbicides. Toovercome this problem, post-emergence application ofglufosinate was thought to be an effective alternative.So, the present investigation was therefore undertakento study the effectiveness of directed application ofglufosinate (Basta 15 % SL) on different weeds, seedcotton yield, crop phytotoxicity and residual effect onsucceeding crops.


Field experiments were conducted during kharifand rabi seasons of 2008 and 2009 at CCS HaryanaAgricultural University, Hisar under irrigated conditions.The climate is subtropical with hot and dessicating windsin May and June on an average rainfall of about 400 mmbetween end of July and middle of September. In boththe years, experiment was conducted in sandy loam soilwith pH 8.1, low in organic carbon (0.29%) and nitrogen(180 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (18 kg/ha) and high in potassium (370 kg/ha) content. TheAmerican cotton variety H-1226 was dibbled with 67.5x 30 cm spacing on 21st May 2008 and 14th May, 2009during first and second year, respectively in a plot sizeof 14.2 x 6.0 M. Harvesting dates were on 20th and 10th

November during 2008 and 2009, respectively. Thestandard packages of practices other than weed controlrecommended for cotton were adopted. Rainfall receivedduring cotton growing period was 521.1 and 438.8 mmduring 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Experiment consisting of 9 treatments (Table1) with four doses of glufosinate (Basta 15 % SL) at300, 375, 450 and 900 g/ha, paraquat 24 SL at 600 g/ha,glyphosate at 0.5% (product basis) at 35 DAS,pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha as pre-em fb one hoeing,two hoeings at 25 and 50 DAS and untreated controlwere replicated thrice in randomized block design.

Tabl

e 1. E

ffect

of d

iffer

ent h

erbi

cide

s on

per c

ent w

eed

cont

rol a

t diff

eren

t sta

ges o

f cro

p gr

owth

(200

8 an

d 20

09)

Trea

tmen

tsD

ose

Per c

ent w

eed

cont

rol

(g/h

a)20

0820

09

Day

s A

fter

Trea

tmen

t (D

AT)

Day

s A

fter

Trea

tmen

t (D

AT)

T.E.

colo

naC.

rotu

ndus

T.E.

colo

naC.

rotu

ndus

P. M

inim

a p

ortu

laca

stru

mpo

rtul

acas

trum

1530

4515

3045

1530

4515

3045

1530

4515

3045

1530

45

Wee

dy c

heck

(Unt

reat

ed)

-0

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

Glu

fosi

nate

15%

SL

300

150

00

00

50

08

00

00

00

00

100

0G

lufo

sina

te 1

5% S

L37

520

50

50

014

30

70

05

00

90

017

00

Glu

fosi

nate

15%

SL

450

5515

021

50

5545

3043

1512

2720

1530

2610

6032

25G

lufo

sina

te 1

5% S

L90

082

265

278

070

5030

5528

3035

1815

3229

1282

6045

Para

quat

24

% S

L60

087

255

257

055

2520

3025

527

2010

2830

1578

5548

Gly

phos

ate

41%

SL

0.5%

6510

095

7010

010

056

100

100

5555

5060

6025

3022

7510

010

010

0(P

rodu

ct b

asis

)H

and

hoei

ng25

and

50

DA

S90

8580

9580

8080

7560

100

9084

9290

8585

7085

9085

70Pe

ndim

etha

lin fb

han

d w

eedi

ng15

00 a

nd 3

0 D

AS

9275

7085

8070

2520

2095

8780

8280

7676

4560

9095

85


Directed spray of glufosinate was made at 35DAS with back knapsack sprayer fitted with flat fannozzle and hood using 500 litres of water/ha. Data onper cent weed control and weed biomass were recordedat 15, 30 and 45 days after spray using a quadrate of0.25 m2. Since field was heavily infested with weeds,so only weed biomass could be recorded. Visualestimates of per cent control of major weeds wererecorded on a scale of 0-100 (0 = no injury) and 100 =plant death) where as phytotoxicity scale for makingvisual estimates of crop injury was 0-10 taking in toconsideration of various parameters like leaf hyponasty,leaf epinasty, vein clearing, wilting and rosetting of cropplants. Phytotoxicity studies were recorded at 7, 15, 21and 28 days after application. Seed cotton yield wasrecorded on net plot basis.

To study the effect of left over residues ofglufosinate, wheat and barely crops were planted in samefield after cotton harvest without disturbing the originallayout with slight disking by dividing each plot in twoequal halves. Data on grain yield, yield parameters, no.of plants per m.r.l. and plant height were recorded.


Weed Flora

During 2008, experimental field was pre-dominantly infested with natural population of Trianthemaportulacastrum, Echinochloa colona and Cyperus rotundusto the extent of 95 per cent but during 2009, infestation ofTrianthema portulacastrum, E. colona, P. minima, C.

rotundus, Celosia argentia and Convolvulus arvensis tothe extent of 98 per cent was observed.

Effect on Weeds and Crop

Glufosinate 15 % SL at 300 and 375 g/ha hadpoor efficacy against all weeds but at higher doses of450 and 900 g/ha provided (55-82%) control of T.portulacastrum, 21-27% control of E. colona and 55-70% control of C. rotundus at 15 DAT (Tables 1 and 2)During 2009, efficacy of glufosinate at higher doses of450 and 900 g/ha was poor as compared to 2008 with43 – 55 % control of T. portulacastrum, 27-35 % controlof E. colona, 30-32 % control of C. rotundus and 60-82% control of P. minima at 15 DAT but this effect didnot remain consistent even up to 30 DAT during bothyears of experimentation (Table 1& 2). Glufosinateshowed its efficacy even at 3rd day after applicationwhere as effect of paraquat was visible on the next dayafter application. Effect of glyphosate application at 0.5%was visible on weeds after 10 days of its applicationwith symptoms of yellowing, stunting and chlorosis,which remained consistent even up to harvest as shownby percent control of different weeds. During 2008,due to heavy rains from 10 days after sowing to 2 monthsafter sowing, weed growth was vigorous in all treatments.At 15 DAT, maximum weed biomass (3.14 q/ha) wasrecorded in untreated check and minimum (0.64 q /ha)in hand weeded twice followed by paraquat at 600 g /haand pendimethalin (pre-em.) followed by one handweeding at 30 DAS. Regeneration of E. colona wasobserved in glufosinate treated plots in all doses employed

Table 2. Effect of different herbicides on weed biomass and seed cotton yield (2008 and 2009)

Treatments Dose Weed biomass (q/ha) Seed cotton yield(g/ha) (kg/ha)

2008 20092008 2009

15 DAT 30 DAT 45 DAT 15 DAT 30 DAT 45 DAT

Weedy check (Untreated) - 3.14 4.65 4.87 3.94 5.74 6.1 676 616Glufosinate 15% SL 30 3.05 4.21 4.01 3.13 5.63 6.0 794 699Glufosinate 15% SL 375 2.91 3.70 3.85 3.14 4.92 5.1 885 810Glufosinate 15% SL 450 2.42 3.02 3.25 2.41 4.09 4.2 964 1205Glufosinate 15% SL 900 2.09 2.94 3.01 1.89 3.70 4.0 994 1223Paraquat 24% SL 600 1.08 2.52 2.86 2.81 4.14 4.1 997 1163Glyphosate 41%SL 0.5% 1.82 0.95 0.97 1.5 1.13 1.3 1289 1485Hand hoeing 25 and 50 DAS 0.64 1.07 1.56 0 1.11 1.1 1682 1801Pendimethalin fb hand weeding 1500 and 30 DAS 1.13 1.87 2.04 0.83 1.0 1.2 1678 1722C. D. (P=0.05) - 0.04 0.1 0.12 0.52 0.45 0.5 68 50

14 Punia, Malik and Yadav

Tabl

e 3.

Cro

p ph

ytot

oxic

ity ra

ting

at 1

-10

scal

e (2

008

and

2009

)

Trea

tmen

tsD

ose

2008

2009

(g/h

a)Ve

in cl

earin

g,Le

af ti

pLe

afVe

in cl

earin

g,Le

af ti

pLe

af n

ecro

sis

wilt

ing

and

burn

ing

necr

osis

wilt

ing

and

burn

ing

rese

tting

rese

tting

DA

TD

AT

DA

TD

AT

DA

TD

AT

715

2128

715

2128

715

2128

715

2128

715

2128

715

2128

Wee

dy c

heck

(Unt

reat

ed)

-0

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

0G

lufo

sina

te 1

5% S

L30

10

00

10

00

10

00

10

00

00

00

00

00

Glu

fosi

nate

15%

SL

375

10

00

10

00

10

00

10

00

00

00

00

00

Glu

fosi

nate

15%

SL

450

21

00

20

00

10

00

21

00

21

00

10

00

Glu

fosi

nate

15%

SL

900

21

00

32

00

21

00

21

00

22

00

21

00

Para

quat

24%

SL

600

21

00

31

00

31

00

21

00

21

00

21

00

Gly

phos

ate

41%

SL0.

5 %

22

10

32

00

32

00

22

10

22

00

21

11

(Pro

duct

bas

is)

Han

d ho

eing

25 a

nd 5

0 D

AS

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

Pend

imet

halin

fb o

ne15

00 a

nd 3

0 D

AS

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

heoi

ng


Tabl

e 4.

Effe

ct o

f diff

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16 Punia, Malik and Yadav

where as at 30 and 45 DAT minimum weed biomasswas observed in glyphosate treated plots, but during2009, due to high temperature and low relative humiditythrough out the week after application, efficacy of allthe herbicides was in general low. At 15 DAT, maximumweed biomass (3.94 q/ha) was recorded in untreatedcheck and minimum (0.83 q/ha) in pendimethalin (pre-em.) followed by one hand weeding at 30 DAS,glyphosate and followed by Basta at 900 g/ha. (Table2). During both the years, maximum seed cotton yield(1682 and 1801 kg/ha) was recorded in twice hoeingplots which was at par with recommended practice ofpre-emergence use of pendimethalin at 1.5 kg/ha fb onehoeing at 30 DAS but significantly higher than allglufosinate treatments. Among glufosinate treatments,maximum seed cotton yield (997 and1223 kg/ha) wasobserved with glufosinate at 900 g/ha which wassignificantly lower than two hoeings employed at 25and 50 DAS. Panwar et al. (2000) also reported poor tomoderate control of weeds due to use of glufosinatealone at 300-600 g/ha.

Crop Phytoxicity

Leaf tip burning to the extent of 1-3 during 2008and 1-2 during 2009 on 0-10 scale) was recorded dueto application of glufosinate at 7 DAT however the cropfully recovered at 21 and 28 DAT (Table 3). Similar

trend was observed in leaf necrosis and wilting. Leafhyponasty, epinasty and chlorosis were not observed inany of the treatments during both years of study.

Effect on Succeeding Crops

No residual effect of glufosinate applied in cottonwas observed on succeeding wheat and barley crops asgrain yield, no. of tillers/m2 and no. of plants /m.r.l. ofwheat and barley was same in untreated and glufosinatetreated plots during both years of testing (Table 4).

REFERENCES

Panwar, R. S., Balyan, R. S. and Malik. R. S. (2000).Evaluation of glufosinate for weed control incotton. Indian J. Weed Sci. 32 : 94-95

Panwar, R. S. and Malik, R. K. (1998). Integrated weedmanagement in cotton. J. Cotton Res. and Dev. 2 :50-56

Prasad, H., Nehra, P. L. and Nandiwal, B. S. (1997). Weedmanagement studies in American cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.). J. Cotton Res. Dev. 11 :26-36.

Sandhu, K. S., Chandi, J. S. and Tarlok Singh (1996). Crop-weed competition studies in American cotton.Indian J. Weed Sci. 28 : 171-173.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 18-20 (2010)

Evaluation of improved technologies on mustard in south-western HaryanaL. K. MIDHA, V. S. RANA, B. D. SHARMA AND O. P. NEHRA

Department of Dryland Agriculture, CCS HAU, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India

ABSTRACT

Frontline demonstrations on mustard crop were consecutively conducted at farmers’ fields during2007-08 to 2010-11 in different districts of south-western region of Haryana. Average of 34 frontlinedemonstrations in four years resulted in 43% higher grain yield of mustard over farmers’ practices. Anextension gap of 440 kg/ha between package of practices and farmers’ practices was recorded. The highertechnology gap. (943 kg/ha) and technology index (38%) on an average basis reflected the unavailabilityof adequate package of practices to attain its potential yield. The average additional expenditure of Rs.2868/ha gave higher additional net returns (Rs. 8670/ha) in demonstrations. The incremental benefit-costratio ranged between 2.2 to 4.0 averaging 3.1 during the study period. Technical breakthroughs, efficientextension network and market stability are required to attain the potentials.

Key words: Mustard, front line demonstrations, evaluation, market stability, technology gap

INTRODUCTION

Mustard (Brassica juncea) has got its ownimportance among rabi (winter) oilseed crops grown insouth-western Haryana. During the year 1966-67, thetotal cultivated area under this crop was 198 thousandhectares and now it has increased to 513 thousandhectares (Anonymous 2010-11). Its productivity has alsoincreased from 404 kg/ha to 1655 kg/ha in about fortyyears. The reason for increasing trend in area and itsproductivity may be attributed to the use of improvedseeds, better agronomic practices, adequate plantprotection measures and price stability. Frontlinedemonstrations programme was initiated a decade backto demonstrate the production potential, benefits ofpackage, of practices vis-a-vis traditional farmers’practices in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jhajjar,Rewari, Mahendergarh and Gurgaon districts of south-western region of Haryana.


Frontline demonstrations were laid out in rabi(winter) season during 2007-08 to 2010-11 at farmers’fields to find out the economic viability of technologiestransfer and adoption in mustard (Brassica juncea) inSirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Rewari,Mahendergarh and Gurgaon districts of south-westernregion of Haryana state. These soils of different sites

were loamy sand to sandy loam in texture with pH rangingfrom 7.8 to 8.2. The soils were low in organic carbonand available nitrogen, low to medium in availablephosphorus and medium to high in available potash. .The entire quantity of fertilizer i.e. 40 kg N and 20 kgP2O5/ha was drilled at the time of sowing. Sowing wasdone in the second fortnight of October during 2007-08andin the first fortnight of November in the rest of yearsusing 5 kg seed per hectare of variety RH-30. Improvedpackage of practices were applied in the demonstrationsfor raising 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)(Pi - Di) x 100

(c) Technology Index=__________________P i

(d) Additional Return=(Di–Fi) x Sale Price(e) Effective Gain=Additional Returns–Additional Cost

Additional Returns(f) Incremental Benefit =_____________________

Cost Ratio (IBCR) Additional Cost of Inputs


Grain Yield

In general, grain yield during the year 2007-08was low due to occurrence of frost during grand growthperiod of mustard. The package of demonstratedtechnology improved the grain yield ranging from 22.0to 56.0% over farmers’ practices and on an average,43% higher grain yield was recorded under frontlinedemonstrations as compared to traditional farmers’practices (Table 1). Enhanced grain yield might be dueto adoption of improved technology in the form ofrecommended package of practices. Similar observationshave been reported by Yadav et al. (2004).

Extension Gap

Wide extension gap observed as a measure ofgrain yield difference between improved practices andfarmers’ practices was recorded during all the years ofstudy. The extension gap was more when the high grainyield was obtained as compared to the poor performing

year (2009-10). On an average of 34 demonstrations,the extension gap was recorded as 440 kg/ha. This gapcould be attributed to poor adoption of farming practiceslike timely sowing, crop geometry, poor plant population,imbalanced use of fertilizers, lack of weed control, nonadoption of integrated nutrient management andinadequate plant protection measures under traditionalfarming practices. Such gap revealed about the essenceof improved package of practices adopted in frontlinedemonstrations. Lower extension gap leads to goodextension activities which resulted in significantly highadoption of improved technology by the farmers. Thegap can be lowered down further by strengtheningextension activities (Siag et al., 2000).

Technology Gap and Index

The frontline demonstrations (FLDs) wereconducted under the supervision of scientists; however,there was still a wide gap between crop’s potential yieldand FLD yields. This was mainly due to weatherconditions, variation in soil fertility, location specificmanagement problems and poor irrigation facilities in a

Table 1. Grain yield and gap analysis of frontline demonstrations on mustard variety RH-30

Year No. of Grain yield (kg/ha) Increase in Extension Technology TechnologyDemonstrations grain yield gap gap index

Potential Improved Farmers’ over farmers (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (%)Practices Practices practices (%)

2007-08 8 2500 1500 960 56 540 1000 402008-09 18 2500 1450 970 49 480 1050 422009-10 3 2500 1170 810 44 360 1330 532010-11 5 2500 2108 1728 22 380 392 16

Total : 34 Av. 2500 1557 1117 43 440 943 38

Table 2. Economic evaluation of frontline demonstrations on mustard

Year Cost of Cultivation Total Returns Additional Cost Additional Effective Incremental(Rs/ha) (Rs/ha) in Returns in Gain Benefit-Cost

Demonstrations Demonstration (Rs/ha) RatioImproved Farmers’ Improved Farmers’ (Rs/ha) (Rs/ha) (IBCR)Practices Practices Practices Practices

2007-08 15870 12830 27000 17280 3040 9720 6680 3.22008-09 14640 11760 26100 17460 2880 8640 5760 3.02009-10 14820 11550 23400 16200 3270 7200 3930 2.22010-11 16840 14560 50592 41472 2280 9120 6840 4.0Average 15543 12675 31773 23103 2868 8670 5802 3.1


few demonstrations. This gap can be bridged up only byadoption of location specific recommendations (Kadianet al., 1997). The technology gap ranged from 392 to1330 kg/ha during various years and on an average basisof four years, it was 943 kg/ha (Table 1). There wasinverse relationship between technology gap andextension gap. The higher technology gap showed worthof existing technologies in real farming situation (Yadavet al., 2004). The technology index is the significance ofevolved technology feasible at farmers’ fields. Low valueof technology index as a function of technology gapindicated the higher perfection of technology. Thetechnology index was higher (53%) during the year 2009-10 and the lowest (16%) during the year 2010-11 andthe average, technology index was 38% in accordancewith the technology gap. The higher technology gap indexmight be due to inadequate package of research findingswhich could perform as per potential in different agro-climatic conditions. The technology index can be lowereddown in real sense by evolving location specific researchinnovations to bridge the gap between the potential yieldand demonstrations improved practices yield (Kadian etal., 1997).

Economic Analysis

The grain yield variations and sale price ofmustard during different years influenced the totalreturns. On an average, incurring of Rs. 2868/- per hectareresulted in Rs. 8670/- per hectare additional benefit thanfarmers’ practices (Table 2). The highest effective gain(Rs. 6840/- per hectare) was recorded during 2010-11with an average of Rs. 5802/- per hectare during theperiod of study. The incremental benefit-cost ratio (IBCR)ranged from 2.2 to 4.0 during the period of study. On anaverage, an IBCR of 3.10 was recorded during the study

period. It means that by incurring one more rupee onimproved practices, the farmer will get a benefit of Rs.3.10. The results of this study are in the line with thefindings obtained by Sidhu et al. (2003) and Yadav et al.(2004).

REFERENCES

Anonymous (2010-11). Package of Practices for Rabi, CCSHAU, Hisar, p. 56.

Kadian, K.S., Sharma, Ravinder and Sharma, A. K. (1997).Evaluation of frontline demonstrations trials onoilseed in Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh.Annals Agri. Res., 48 (1): 40-43.

Prasad, Y., Rao, E., Manohar, M. and Vijaybhinanda, R.(1993). Analysis of on- farm trials and level oftechnology on oilseeds and pulse crops in NorthernTelangana zone of Andhra Pradesh. Indian J. Agric.Econ., 48 : 35 1-356.

Slag, R. K., Gaur, R. B., Verma, R. S. and Yadava, D. K.(2000). Evaluation of frontline demonstrations toidentify adoption gaps in chickpea productionunder irrigated 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 throughfrontline demonstrations (Oilseeds and Pulses).Bulletin, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ferozepur, PunjabAgricultural University, Ludhiana, p. 20.

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

20 Midha, Rana, Sharma and Nehra

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 21-22 (2010)

Effect of levels of nitrogen and spacing on growth and grain yield of mestaM. V. SINGH, NEERAJ KUMAR, R. K. SINGH AND B. N. MISHRA

Crop Research Station, Bahraich-271 801 (U. P.), India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at Bahraich during 2007-08 and 2008-09 to find out the effectof levels of nitrogen and plant geometry on seed yield of mesta. Result revealed that mesta fertilized @60kg N/ha produced highest grain yield of 12.54 q ha–1 as compared to rest of nitrogen levels. Increasing rowspacing from 20 to 40 cm increased the grain yield significantly. However, difference between 30 and 40 cmwas found non-significant. The uptake of N, P and K was significantly increased with increasing levels ofN from 0 to 60 kg/ha.

Key words: Nitrogen, spacing, yield, mesta

INTRODUCTION

Mesta (Hibiscus cannabinus) is one of the mostimportant commercial crop of the country. Generally itis grown in eastern U. P. without fertilizer as inter cropwith maize, arhar and upland paddy resulting poor yield.Its growth is influenced both by the closer and widerspacings. Closer spacing reduces the vigour of theseedlings due to competition for nutrients and sun light,whereas wider spacing reduces the plant populationresulting in poor yield. (Krishnamurthy et al.,1994).

Application of nitrogenous fertilizer plays animportant role in improving growth and yield contributingcharacters of mesta. Judicious use of nitrogenousfertilizer and sowing at optimum spacing are essentialfor good growth and seed yield of crop. Hence, anexperiment was conducted to study the effect of levelsof N and spacing on growth and grain yield of mestaunder eastern U. P. conditions.


The experiment was conducted at the CropResearch Station, Bahraich during 2007-08 and 2008-09.The soil of experimental site was sandy loam in texturewith pH 7.5, organic carbon 0.3 %, medium in availablephosphorus (13.5 kg/ha) and potassium (185.8 kg/ha) andlow in available nitrogen (180.8 kg/ha). The treatmentsconsisted of four levels of N, i.e. 0, 20, 40 and 60 kg/haand three plant geometries viz., 20 x 10 cm, 30 x 10 cmand 40 x 10 cm were tested in split plot design keepinglevels on N in main plot and plant spacing in sub plot with

3 replications. Mesta variety HC-583 was sown on 30th

May and 1st June in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively.The seed was sown according to plant geometry. Thehalf dose of N as per treatment and full dose of P and Kfor all treatments was applied at sowing. The remainingquantity of N was top dressed after weeding at 40 daysafter sowing. Crop received 4 irrigations and these wereapplied according to need of crop, and other recommendedagronomic practices were adopted to raise the crop. Thegrowth parameters like plant height, number of branches/plant capsules/plant, and grains/capsule were recorded atfull growth stage of crop on 3 plants selected randomlyfrom each plot. The content of N, P and K was analysedas per standard procedure of Jackson (1973). Theeconomics was calculated on prevailing market price.


Effect of Nitrogen

The plant height, branches/plant, capsules/plant,grains/capsule were affected significantly by N application(Table 1). Plant height (302.12 cm), branches/plant (32.32),capsuleS/plant (51.55), and grains/capsule (14.88) wererecorded highest with 60 kg N/ha and which wassignificantly superior over other levels of N. The highervalues of all growth and yield attributing parameters with60 kg N/ha were mainly because of higher availability ofnitrogen with increasing supply of nitrogen. Crop received60 kg N/ha recorded the maximum seed and stalk yieldsof 12.54 and 117.15 q/ha, respectively. The increase inyield with 60 kg/ha was 60, 40.5 and 23.3% in case of

grain, and 57.9, 36.4 and 19.2 % in case of stalk over 0,20 and 40 kg N, respectively. Improvement in growth andyield attributes with 60 kg N/ha was mainly responsiblefor higher seed and stalk yields.

The crop fertilized @ 60 kg N/ha depleted thehigher quantities of N, P, K as compared to rest of Nlevels which was mainly due to higher seed yield with 60kg N/ha (Table 2).

The maximum net returns (Rs 20630/ha) and B: C ratio (2.20) was recorded under 60 kg N, whichgave 2.4. 54.5 and 32.8 % higher net return over 0, 20and 40 kg N/ha, respectively (Table 2).

Effect of Plant Geometry

Sowing at 40 x 10 cm recorded the maximumplant height (218.6 cm) as well as higher values ofbranches/plant (25.91), capsules/plant (44), capsules/branch (11.58), grains/capsule (11.08), and test weight(18.15) as compared to 20X10 and 30 × l0 cm spacing(Table 1). The improvement in yield attributes with 40 x

Table 1. Effect of levels of nitrogen and spacing on growth and grain yield of mesta (mean of 2007-08 and 2008-09)

Treatments Plant Branch/ Capsules/ Capsules/ Grains/ Test Grain Stalksheight plant plant branch capsule weight yield yield(cm) (gm) (q/ha) (q/ha)

Nitrogen levels (kg/ha-1)0 153.4 14.11 34.55 4.55 5.00 15.77 4.90 49.3020 174.7 21.22 38.66 8.66 8.66 16.82 7.45 74.4140 222.6 28.00 43.55 12.00 11.66 18.13 9.62 94.6060 302.2 32.32 51.55 16.22 14.88 20.44 12.54 117.15C.D. (P=0.05) 1.8 0.85 0.91 0.75 0.86 0.23 2.01 2.11Plant geometry20 x 10 cm 207.1 21.58 40.16 9.00 9.08 17.40 7.86 77.6530 x 10 cm 213.9 24.16 42.08 10.50 10.0 17.82 8.59 83.9340 x 10 cm 218.6 25.91 44.00 11.58 11.08 18.15 9.43 90.00C. D. (P=0.05) 1.5 0.74 0.79 0.65 0.75 0.20 1.15 1.83

Table 2. Effect of levels of nitrogen and spacing on economics and nutrients uptake of mesta (mean of 2007-08 and 2008-09)

Treatments Gross income Net income B : C Nutrient uptake (kg/ha)(Rs/ha) (Rs/ha) ratio

N P K

Nitrogen levels (kg/ha-1)0 14690 3690 1.33 19.60 12.58 43.1720 22370 9370 1.71 29.22 18.78 58.5840 28860 13860 1.92 37.68 23.65 68.4060 37630 20630 2.20 49.02 29.96 73.46C.D. (P=0.05) 780 680 0.15 1.25 0.35 0.60Plant geometry20 x 10 cm 20510 9595 1.63 90.97 19.76 51.9730 x 10 cm 25770 11770 1.8 33.82 20.93 61.5140 x 10 cm 28297 14297 1.96 36.85 23.05 63.22C.D. (P=0.05) 690 646 0.12 1.10 0.28 0.49

10 cm spacing was due to minimum inter-row spacecompetition. Contrary to this higher inter row spacingcompetition at both narrow row spacings resulted in lowervalues of all yield attributes and finally poor yield. Cropsown at wider spacing recorded significantly higher seedyield (9.43 q/ha) and stalk yield (90.0 q/ha) owing toimprovement in yield attributes. The higher uptake ofnutrients was also recorded with wider spacing i.e. 36.85N, 23.05 P, and 63.22 K kg/ha which was mainly due tohigher seed and stalk yields at this spacing. The highernet returns of (Rs. 14997/ha) and B : C (1.96) wasrecorded with 40 x 10 cm spacing followed by 30 x 10cm and 20 x 10 cm (Table 2).

REFERENCES

Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hallof India, Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Krishnamurthy, T., Sundram, G. and Ramula, A. (1994).Effect of spacing on different sabdiriffa varieties.Andhra J. 24 : 64-67.

22 Singh, Kumar, Singh and Mishra

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 23-26 (2010)

Effect of intercropping on various growth characteristics of cabbage

AVTAR SINGH AND P. S. PARTAP

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

ABSTRACT

A field experiment to study the effect of intercropping on growth characteristics of cabbage wasconducted at Vegetable Research Farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India during rabiseason of 2006 and 2007. Two crop geometries i.e. 45 x 45 cm (normal spacing) and 30/60 x 45 cm (pairedrow planting) along with three levels of nitrogen (125, 150 and 175 kg/ha) comprised the main plots.Whereas, the five intercrops viz., beet leaf, coriander, garden beet, fenugreek and radish (including solecabbage crop) comprised the sub plots in split plot design. Crop geometry had significant effect ongrowth parameters of cabbage viz., plant height and number of leaves/plant at 30, 60 and 90 days aftertransplanting, days to 50% head initiation and maturity and head yield irrespective of the nitrogen levelsapplied and intercrops planted. Compared to normal spacing of 45 x 45 cm, there was reduction in plantheight and leaves/plant and delay in both head initiation and maturity under paired row planting. Theincreasing level of nitrogen increased plant height, leaves/plant and head yield but delayed head initiationand head maturity of cabbage irrespective of crop geometries and intercrops. All the intercrops grown incabbage significantly reduced the plant height (except radish), leaves/plant, head yield and delayed theinitiation as well as maturity of cabbage heads under all crop geometries and levels of nitrogen. Delaywas found more pronounced with radish followed by garden beet and beet leaf as intercrops. Studysuggested scope for multi-cutting leafy vegetables, other short duration radish and garden beet varietiesof root crops as potential intercrops in cabbage.

Key words: Beet leaf, Brassica oleracea var.capitata, cabbage, coriander, fenugreek, garden beet,intercropping, radish

INTRODUCTION

Vegetables are usually raised on high valued landsurrounding the towns and cities. Thus, for economy inspace utilization, savings on tillage, complete utilizationof surplus nutrients, better utilization of solar energy andsoil moisture reserves, increased production and grossreturns from per unit land area during the same growingseason, intercropping is becoming advantageous. Further,with the evolution of high yielding and short durationvarieties of vegetables, now the cultivators are able toraise multiple, mixture and intercrops than growing thesole crop during the whole year.

The cabbage is planted through seedlings in rowsat wider spacing. In initial stages, the growth of seedlingsis quite slow and crop reaches marketable maturity inabout 100-120 days. Therefore, sufficient space remainingavailable in between the rows, particularly during its initialstages of growth, offer good opportunity to raise shortduration and high yielding varieties of various vegetableslike beet leaf, coriander, fenugreek, knol-khol, garden beet,radish and turnip etc as intercrops for both additional

production and income. With these facts in view, thescientific knowledge generated to utilize efficiently theentire space, growing season and available resources hasgreater relevance in the present context of feeding theever rising population of our country. Hence, aninvestigation was undertaken to explore possibilities ofintercropping various vegetables in cabbage.


The present study was undertaken at VegetableResearch Farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar, India for two years during rabi season of 2006and 2007. The treatments comprised the six combinationsinvolving two crop geometries i.e. 45 x 45 cm (normalspacing) and 30/60 x 45 cm (paired rows); three levelsof nitrogen (125, 150 and 175 kg/ha) as main plots alongwith the recommended doses of P2O5 and K2O (50 kg/ha). Five different vegetable intercrops viz., beet leaf,coriander, fenugreek, garden beet and radish were takenas sub-plots including the sole cabbage crop as checktreatment. The experiment was laid out in a split plot

design with three replicates using a plot size of 3.15 x3.6 m per treatment.

Five weeks old and healthy seedlings of cabbagecv. Pride of India were transplanted in the field as perexperimental plan. Each plot accommodated 56 plantsof sole crop. The seeds of beet leaf (HS-23), fenugreek(Pusa Early Bunching), garden beet (Deteroit Dark Red),radish (Japanese White) and coriander (NarnaulSelection) as intercrops were sown at a spacing of 20 x5 cm, 20 x 5 cm; 20 x 10 cm, 20 x 10 cm and 20 x 5cm, respectively. The full dose of phosphorus, potashand one-third dose of nitrogen were applied as basaldose. Remaining two third dose of nitrogen was topdressed in two equal splits at 30 and 45 days aftertransplanting. Uniform intercultural operations and plantprotection measures were adopted during the cropseason. Harvesting of main crop was started in thesecond week of February during both the years.


Observations recorded on growth characters

of cabbage viz., plant height and number of leaves perplant at 30, 60 and 90 days after transplanting, and daystaken to 50% head initiation and maturity and head yieldduring both the years are presented in Tables 1 and 2.The treatment effects of main and sub plots independentlydiffered significantly, but their interaction effects exhibitedno such differences. Data revealed that plants spaced at45x45 cm were significantly taller bearing more numberof leaves per plant at 30, 60 and 90 days aftertransplanting (Table 1). This normal spacing also resultedin early 50% head initiation as well as maturity and headyield as compared to those planted in paired rows (30/60 x 45 cm) during both the years (Table 2). Thus,under later planting system the altered crop geometry,than the normal one, exhibited adverse effect on thesegrowth characters. Growing of intercrops due tocompetition for production resources compounded thisadverse effect on cabbage main crop. These resultsagree with the findings of earlier workers (Srinivas, 1984and Khurana et al., 1987), who observed similar effectof closer planting in cabbage.

The increasing levels of nitrogen from 125 to

Table 1. Effect of crop geometry, nitrogen levels and intercrops on various growth characteristics in cabbage cv. Pride of India duringtwo years (2006 and 2007)

Treatments Plant height (cm) Number of leaves/plantDays after transplanting Days after transplanting

30 60 90 30 60 90 30 60 90 30 60 90

2006 2007 2006 2007

Crop geometry45 x 45 (cm) 11.6 17.9 19.8 12.2 18.5 20.1 8.6 12.2 14.3 8.6 12.8 14.330/60 x 45 (cm)* 10.9 17.2 19.2 11.2 17.6 19.3 8.1 11.8 14.0 8.1 11.7 13.9C.D. (P=0.05) 0.24 0.22 0.41 0.30 0.32 0.45 0.31 0.29 0.27 0.31 0.23 0.26Nitrogen levels125 (kg/ha) 10.2 16.5 18.7 10.7 17.0 19.2 7.5 11.2 13.5 7.6 11.2 13.4150 (kg/ha) 11.2 17.5 19.6 11.7 18.0 19.7 8.4 12.0 14.2 8.3 12.1 14.1175 (kg/ha) 12.3 18.6 20.2 12.7 19.0 20.3 9.0 12.7 14.7 9.2 12.9 14.8C.D. (P=0.05) 0.29 0.27 0.50 0.37 0.39 0.52 0.38 0.36 0.33 0.38 0.28 0.33Intercrops**Beet leaf 11.1 17.1 19.3 11.1 17.0 19.4 8.3 12.4 14.3 8.6 12.6 14.2Coriander 10.8 16.8 19.4 11.5 17.5 19.5 8.7 12.7 14.5 8.7 12.5 14.3Fenugreek 11.6 17.5 19.8 11.6 17.7 19.9 8.7 12.8 14.5 8.7 12.6 14.7Garden beet 10.9 17.0 18.9 11.7 17.8 18.9 8.0 11.0 13.9 7.9 11.7 13.4Radish 11.5 18.4 20.5 11.6 18.6 20.7 7.4 10.2 13.0 6.8 9.7 12.8Sole Cabbage 11.5 18.5 19.8 12.5 19.5 20.3 8.8 12.8 14.8 9.6 13.4 15.1C. D. (P=0.05) 0.56 0.59 0.58 0.56 0.57 0.53 0.43 0.45 0.49 0.48 0.49 0.47

*Paired row planting of cabbage seedlings**HS-23, Narnaul Selection, Pusa Early Bunching, Deteroit Dark Red and Japanese White varieties of intercrops were tested

24 Singh and Partap

175 kg/ha significantly increased plant height, numberof leaves per plant at 30, 60 and 90 days aftertransplanting, head yield and delayed 50% head initiationas well as 50% head maturity during both the years(Tables 1 and 2). The trend in the observed effects ofnitrogen was identical and independent of the cropgeometry and intercrops since its interaction effectsexhibited no significant differences. Nitrogen, being theimportant constituent of chlorophyll, nucleic acids andthe proteins, consequently favoured cell multiplicationand ultimately the elongation of growing shoots, hence,the plant height and the number of leaves per plantincreased at all the three stages of growth recorded.

Furthermore, cabbage is a heavy feeder of plantnutrients especially the nitrogen, which being an essentialmajor plant nutrient, is required in larger amounts by thecabbage plants (Borme et al., 1987). Under theintercropping system, Chavan et al. (2010) observedsignificant improvement in yield of main cabbage cropas well as the inter crops with increased fertilizer doses.In present study also plant height and number of leavesper plant improved but head initiation and maturitydelayed with increased fertilizer levels, which agree withthe above findings. The intercrops like garden beet

Table 2. Effect of crop geometry, nitrogen levels and intercrops on head initiation, maturity and yield in cabbage cv. Pride of Indiaduring two years (2006 and 2007)

Treatments Days to 50% head initiation Days to 50% head maturity Head yield (t/ha)

2006 2007 Mean 2006 2007 Mean 2006 2007 Mean

Crop geometry45 x 45 (cm) 70.0 67.4 68.7 91.0 87.8 89.4 21.7 22.6 22.130/60 x 45 (cm)* 71.3 68.8 70.1 93.0 89.2 91.1 20.6 21.8 21.2C.D. (P=0.05) 0.44 0.46 - 0.46 0.49 - 0.24 0.23 -Nitrogen levels125 (kg/ha) 69.6 66.9 68.3 90.6 87.0 88.8 19.8 21.0 20.4150 (kg/ha) 70.7 68.2 69.4 92.0 88.5 90.3 20.7 22.0 21.3175 (kg/ha) 71.7 69.3 70.5 93.4 90.1 91.8 22.9 23.6 23.2C.D. (P=0.05) 0.54 0.57 - 0.56 0.60 - 0.30 0.29 -Intercrops**Beet leaf 70.3 68.0 69.2 91.0 88.2 89.6 21.4 22.3 22.0Coriander 68.5 66.5 67.5 91.2 87.8 89.5 22.5 23.2 22.9Fenugreek 69.6 67.7 68.6 90.3 88.7 89.5 21.7 22.8 22.2Garden beet 72.0 69.7 70.8 99.7 90.0 94.8 19.6 21.0 20.3Radish 76.5 72.8 74.7 99.0 93.3 96.2 18..2 19.0 19.6Sole Cabbage 67.0 64.0 65.5 87.8 83.2 85.5 23.4 24.6 24.0C. D. (P=0.05) 0.67 0.65 - 0.64 1.14 - 0.53 0.42 -

*Paired row planting of cabbage seedlings.**HS-23, Narnaul Selection, Pusa Early Bunching, Deteroit Dark Red and Japanese White varieties of intercrops were tested.

followed by coriander and beet leaf interfered andsignificantly reduced the plant height, number of leavesper plant and head yield to the maximum extent, whileradish and fenugreek as intercrops least reduced thesetraits over sole crop (Tables 1 and 2). Thus, garden beetand radish were not much suitable intercrops while, threeother crops, where their greens were harvested as leafyproduce, appeared much profitable intercropsirrespective of crop geometry and nitrogen levels applied.

Patil and Ranpise (2003) and Patil et al. (2004)reported cabbage + palak (Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis)and cabbage + radish in rabi and cabbage + radish andcabbage + palak in kharif season as most promisingintercrops than fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum),coriander and shepu (Anethum graveolens) forMaharastra state. Radish being fast growing andbecoming ready for harvest in a very short span of onemonth did not interfere much with cabbage at its initialstage of growth.

Guvenc and Yildirim (2006) evaluatedintercropping of lettuce, radish, onion and snap beanand found significant effect on cabbage growth and yieldexcept for radish, which adversely affected the somegrowth characteristics and yield of cabbage. Rezende et


al. (2006 and 2009) suggested potential ofcabbage+pepper+radish in reducing operational cost(20.8 to 34%) in inter cropping system than their solecultivation. Similarly, Kaur and Khurana (2008) noticedcabbage+tomato followed by cabbage+capsicum as mostpotential intercropping for both production and monetaryreturns than sole crops.

Similar to the results of present investigation(Table 1), the yield and head size in cabbage wereaffected negatively with radish, peas, green beans andlettuce hence, these proved as unsuccessful intercropsin cabbage. However, onion and garlic performed asbest intercrops mainly due to their upright growth habit(Unlu et al. (2010). Thus, results of the present studyexhibited potential scope of intercropping in cabbagethat could be exploited with short duration varieties ofother leafy and root vegetables.

REFERENCES

Borme, U., Eid, K. and Kraus, A. (1987). Nitrogenfertilization of white cabbage for Sauerkrantproduction. Gemuse 23 : 62-64.

Chavan, N. H., Naik, D. M., Borade, R. S., Shinde, S. J. andJature, S. D. (2010). Effect of intercrops on yieldof cabbage at different levels of fertilizers. Internat.J. agric. Sci. 6 (1) : 291-294.

Guvenc, I. and Yildirim, E. (2006). Increasing productivitywith intercropping systems in cabbage production.J. Sustainable Agric. 28 : 29-44.

Kaur, Harneet and Khurana, D. S. (2008). Production

potential and economics of vegetablesintercropped with cabbage. Environ. & Ecol. 26 :1872-1874.

Khurana, S. C., Thakral, K. K., Singh, G. R. and Pandita,M. L. (1987). Effect of nitrogen and spacing oncabbage cv. Pride of India. Haryana J. hortic. Sci.,16: 274 -277.

Patil, J. D. and Ranpise, S. A. (2003). Performance ofdifferent leafy vegetables as inter crop in cabbageduring rabi season. Orissa J. Hort. 31 : 73-75.

Patil, J. D., Ranpise, S. A. and Kakade, D. S. (2004).Intercropping studies in cabbage during kharifseason. J. Maharastra agric. Univ. 29 (1): 39-41.

Rezende, B. L. A., Barros, J. A. P., Cecilio, F. A. B., Porto,D. R. Q. and Martins, M.I.E.G. (2009). Productioncost and profitability of lettuce, radish, arugulaand cabbage sole crop and intercropped withsweet pepper. Ciencia Agrotecnologia. 33 (1): 305-312.

Rezende, B. L. A., Cecilio, F. A. B., Feltrin, A. L., Costa, C.C. and Barbosa, J. C. (2006). Feasibility ofintercropping pepper with cabbage, rocket, lettuceand radish. Horticultura Brasileira 24 : 36-41.

Srinivas, K. (1984). Note on response of cabbage to plantdensity and fertilizer. Indian J. Hort., 41: 277-279.

Unlu, H., Sari, N. and Solmaz, I. (2010). Intercroppingeffect of different vegetables on yield and someagronomic properties. J.Food Agri. Environ. 8 :723-727.

26 Singh and Partap

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 27-29 (2010)

Effect of integrated nutrient management and spacing on fibre yield of mesta

M. V. SINGH, NEERAJ KUMAR, B. N. MISHRA, G. SINGH AND VINAY KUMAR

Crop Research Station, Bahraich-271801 (U. P.), India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at Crop Research Station, Bahraich during 2008-09 and 2009-10 to find out the effect of plan geometry of and integrated approach of nutrients on fibre yield of mestacrop. Results revealed that plant geometry 30x10 cm with 75% of recommended dose of inorganicfertilizer ( 45 : 22.5 : 22.5 kg NPK)+25% organic source produced significantly higher yield 25.08 q/ha withnet return Rs 35720/ha. The higher nutrient uptake was also recorded under same treatment.

Key words : Nutrient management, spacing, uptake, fibre yield, mesta

INTRODUCTION

Mesta (Hibiscus cannabinus) is an importantfibre crop and highly responsive to fertilizer applicationlike jute crop. It is also grown by marginal farmers whoare unable to bear the cost of synthetic fertilizers. As aresult, crop is not getting balanced dose of fertilizers.This leads to its lower productivity. Imbalanced use ofchemical fertilizers adversely affects the soil properties.Effect of combined application of inorganicfertilizers+organic manures with bio fertilizers on mestafibre production was reported by Saha et al., 2008. Plantpopulation also affects growth as well as fibre production.Higher plant population resulted both poor vegetativegrowth and low fibre production whereas, lower plantpopulation was also affected on growth and yield. It isessential to find-out optimum plant geometry along withjudicious application of fertilizers in integrated approach.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The experiment was conducted at the CropResearch Station, Bahraich during the year 2008-09 and2009-10 to find out the effect of plant geometry andfertilizers schedule on fibre yield and nutrient uptake.The soil of experiment site was sandy loam with pH 7.5and organic carbon 0.02%, medium in availablephosphorus (12.5 kg), potassium (175.5 kg), and lowin available N (175 kg/ha). The treatment combined of 4plant geometry viz. broadcast of seed, sowing at 20 x10 cm, 30 x 10 cm and 40 x 10 cm and 3 fertilityschedule viz., recommended NPK 60 : 30 : 30 kg/ha,75% recommended dose through in organic fertilizer +

25% through FYM and 50% of recommended dosethrough inorganic fertilizers+50% through FYM/hareplicated 3 times in randomized block design. The mestavariety HC–583 was sown on 25th May during both theyears. The half dose of N as urea, full dose of P assingle super phosphate and K as muriate of potash wasapplied as basal as per treatment. FYM was applied onemonth before sowing of crop. The growth parameterslike plant height, basal diameter, green weight (q/ha) andnumber of leafs were recorded at 120 days after sowingwhile fibre and sticks yields were recorded afterharvesting and retting of crop. NPK uptake by the cropwas analysed according to standard procedure adoptedby Jackson (1973).


Effect of Plant Geometry

Plant geometry significantly affected the plantheight, basal diameter, green weight and fibre yield ofcrop. The higher plant height and basal diameter perplant were recorded when crop sown at 40 x 10 cm ascompared to other plant geometries. Whereas, greenweight, fibre yield, number of leaves/plant and sticksyield q/ha were significantly higher with the plantgeometry of 30 x 10 cm. The higher values of abovecharacters with 30 x 10 cm plant geometry was due tohigher plant population. The higher green weight (427.76q/ha) was noticed with 30 x 10 cm plant geometry. Thiswas signifanctly higher to the tune of 10, 6.36 and 0.7%over broadcast, 20 x 10 cm and 40 x 10 cm plantgeometries, respectively, Crop sown at 30 x 10 cm

spacing recorded higher fibre yield (25.08 q/ha) and being12.32, 5.98, 7.7% higher over broadcasting, 20 x 10cm and 40 x 10 cm spacing of respectively. Number ofleaves and sticks yield were also recorded in the sametrend. The net profit was higher (Rs 35720 /ha ) under30 x 10 cm and being 17.28, 8.39 and 10.8 % higherover broadcast, 20 × 10 cm and 40 x 10 cm plant spacing,respectively. Crop sown at 30 x 10 cm spacing recordedthe higher values of nutrient uptake (57.4, 23.52 and76.9 kg NPK/ha) as compared to rest plant spacing.

Effects of Nutrients Level

Growth and yield attributes of mesta wereaffected significantly due to different fertility schedules.The higher vegetative growth, plant height, stemdiameter, number of leaves/plant, were recorded with75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizer+25%through FYM which was significantly better than restof fertilizer schedules. The higher values of basal

diameter and green weight was also recorded under75% RDF+25% organic as compared to RDF and 50%RDF+50% organic source. The higher values of abovegrowth parameters were due to proper growth of plantsthrough judicious application of fertilizers as well asorganic sources. Significantly higher fibre yield (24.45q/ha) was recorded under 75% RDF+25% organicsource. It was 4.98, 7.36%, higher than other RDFand 50% RDF+50% organic source respectively.Simillar results were also reported in different cropsby Gangwar et al. (2003), Yadav et al. (2003), Goshet al. (2003), Anonymous (2007) and Guha et al.(2010). The higher net income of (Rs 34405) wasrecorded with application of 75% RDF+25% organicsource which was 5.65 and 11.35% higher over RDFand 50% RDF + 50 % organic source of application,respectively. The values of uptake were higher (55.74,22.90 and 61.0 kg NPK/ha), respectively with 75%RDF+25% organic source followed by rest of fertilizerschedule.

Table 1. Effect of nutrient management and spacing on growth and fibre yield of Mesta crop (mean of year 2008-09 and 2009-10)

Treatments Plant height Basal diameter Number of Green weight Fibre yield Sticks yield(cm) (cm) leaves/plant (q/ha) (q/ha) (q/ha)

Plant geometryBroadcast 269.33 2.18 284.22 384.11 21.99 43.3520 x 10 cm 290.33 2.32 310.55 400.44 23.58 47.5530 x 10 cm 316.33 2.43 336.0 427.66 25.08 49.8340 x 10 cm 329.44 2.51 328.55 424.44 23.13 46.38CD (P=0.05) 5.49 0.015 6.01 5.27 0.34 1.49Fertility levelsRecommended 60 : 30 : 30 NPK 300.58 2.39 311.66 410.33 23.23 46.5275% RDF+25% organic 318.83 2.44 325.91 420.91 24.45 48.7250% RDF+50% organic 284.66 2.24 307.41 396.25 22.65 45.35C. D. (P=0.05) 4.74 0.017 5.20 4.56 0.30 1.29

Table 2. Effect of nutrient management and spacing on economics and nutrient uptake of mesta crop (mean of year 2008-09 and 2009-10)

Treatments Gross return Net profit B : C ratio N uptake P uptake K uptake(Rs.ha) (Rs.ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha)

Plant geometryBroadcast 43980 29546 3.04 49.48 18.39 56.4320 x 10 cm 47153 32720 3.26 54.44 21.31 63.1030 x 10 cm 50153 35720 3.47 57.40 23.52 76.4940 x 10 cm 46266 31833 3.20 50.30 22.33 68.0CD (P=0.05) 780 725 0.05 1.28 0.42 0.64Fertility levelsRecommended 60 : 30 : 30 NPK 46460 32460 3.31 52.40 21.40 57.4775% RDF+25% organic 48905 34405 3.37 55.74 22.90 61.0050% RDF+50% organic 45300 30500 3.0 50.6 19.8 55.3C. D. (P=0.05) 720 715 0.04 1.13 0.36 0.55

28 Singh, Kumar, Mishra, Singh and Kumar

REFERENCES

Anonymous (2007). Annual Report (2006-07) of AINP onJute and Allied fibres, CRIJAF, ICAR, Barrackpore,Kolkata, W. B. pp 42-53.

Gangwar, K. S., Sharma, S. K. and Tomar, O. K. (2003).Integrated nutrient management in late plantedsugarcane – wheat system in western UttarPradesh, Indian J. Agron. 48 (1) : 20-22.

Gosh, P. K., Bandopadhyay, K. K., Tripathi, A. K., Hati, K.M., Mandal, K. G. and Mishra, A. K. (2003). Effectof integrated management of farm yard manure,phospho compost, poultry manure and inorganicfertilizer for rainfed sargham in vertisole of centralIndia. Indian J. Agron. 48 (1) : 48-52.

Guha, B., Das K, Lamen, A. S. N. and Verman, B. (2009).Integrated nutrient management in Tosha Jute or

its productivity and soil properties. Jute and alliedfibres : Production Utilization and Marketing. Patil,P., Sinha, M. K. Meshram, Mitra, S., Laha, S. K.,Saha, A. R. and Mahapatra, B. S. (Eds). Indian FibreSociety Eastern Region, Kolkata pp. 151-156, ISBN: 978-81-901054-4-6.

Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis. PrenticeHall of India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.

Saha, A. R., Mitra D. N., Mazumdar, B, Saha, S. and Mitra,S. (2008). Effect on integrated nutrientmanagement on rosselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)productivity its mineral nutrition and soilproperties. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 78 (5) : 418-421.

Yadav, R. S., Yadav, P. C. and Dharma, A. K. (2003). Integratednutrient management in wheat–mungbeancropping sequence in arid region. Indian J. Agron.48 (1) : 23-26.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 30-33 (2010)

Effect of crop geometry, nitrogen levels and intercropping on production ofcabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

AVTAR SINGH AND P. S. PARTAP

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

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm of CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar, India during rabi season 2006 and 2007. The experimental treatments comprising of thetwo crop geometries i.e. 45 x 45 cm (normal spacing), 30/60 x 45 cm (paired rows) and three levels ofnitrogen (125, 150 and 175 kg/ha) as main plot and five intercrops (beet leaf, coriander, garden beet,fenugreek, radish) along with cabbage as a monoculture control. All the treatments were laid out in a splitplot design with three replicates using plot size of 3.15 x 3.6 m per treatment. Crop geometry, nitrogenlevels and intercrops response on yield of cabbage suggested that crop geometry had significant effecton cabbage yield parameters viz., plant weight, head weight, biological and economical yields and theharvest index irrespective of the N levels and intercrops planted. There was reduction in yield underpaired row planting as compared to planting under normal spacing of 45 x 45 cm. Increasing levels ofnitrogen increased the yield of cabbage under different crop geometries and intercrops. All the intercropsgrown in cabbage significantly reduced yield parameters under all crop geometries and levels of nitrogen.The yields of all the intercrops in cabbage was significantly reduced in normal spacing as compared tothe paired row planting under all levels of nitrogen. Results of the study suggested for potential scope ofintercrops in cabbage, which could be exploited with multi-cut leafy vegetables and other short durationradish and garden beet varieties of root crops.

Key words : Beet leaf, Brassica oleracea var.capitata, cabbage, coriander, fenugreek, garden beet,intercropping, radish

INTRODUCTION

Intercropping of vegetables is gainingimportance mainly due to increased cost of cultivation,dwindling economy of farmers, successivefragmentation of land holdings and rising demand ofvegetables for enormous population of our country.Vegetables are grown usually on high costing land inclose proximity of the towns and cities, where theintercropping can prove useful not only for increasingtotal vegetable production, getting substantial additionalincome from same piece of land during the same growingseason, but also to make best use of the productionresources. Further, with the evolution of high yieldingand short duration varieties of vegetables, now thecultivators are able to raise two or three crops thangrowing the sole crop during whole year.

Since, the cabbage crop is grown throughseedlings transplantation at wider spacing, there remainssufficient space in between the rows particularly duringits initial stages of growth, which provides good

opportunity to utilize the inter row spaces for growingof some short duration vegetables as intercrops. Withthese points in view, the scientific interest in intercroppingdeveloped over the recent decades to utilize fully theentire growing season and resources has greaterrelevance in the present context of escalating demandof vegetables for the mammoth population. Hence, astudy was undertaken to explore the intercroppingpossibilities of various vegetables with cabbage cropunder Hisar, Haryana conditions.


The present investigation was carried out atVegetable Research Farm of CCS Haryana AgriculturalUniversity, Hisar, India during rabi season of 2006 and2007. The average soil condition of the experimentalfields was loamy sand with organic carbon contents of0.39 and 0.37%; phosphorus (14.5 and 11.0 kg/ha),potash (410 and 395 kg/ha) and pH of 7.9 and 8.2,respectively. The experiment was laid out in a split plot

design with three replicates using a plot size of 3.15 x3.6 m per treatment. The treatments comprised the sixcombinations involving two crop geometries i.e. 45 x45 cm (normal spacing) and 30/60 x 45 cm (pairedrows); three levels of nitrogen (125, 150 and 175 kg/ha) as main plots along with recommended doses ofP2O5 and K2O (50 kg/ha). The five different vegetableintercrops viz., beet leaf, coriander, fenugreek, gardenbeet and radish were taken as sub-plots and within setthe sole cabbage crop was a check treatment.

Pre-raised healthy and five week old seedlingsof cabbage cultivar Pride of India were transplanted inthe field as per experimental plan. Each plotaccommodated 56 plants of sole crop. The seeds ofbeet leaf (HS-23), fenugreek (Pusa Early Bunching),garden beet (Deteroit Dark Red), radish (Japanese White)and coriander (Narnaul Selection) as intercrops weresown at a spacing of 20 x 5 cm, 20 x 5 cm; 20 x 10 cm,20 x 10 cm and 20 x 5 cm, respectively. The full doseof phosphorus in the form of single super phosphate,potash in the form of muriate of potash and one-thirddose of nitrogen in the form of calcium ammonium nitratewere applied as basal dose. Remaining two-third doseof nitrogen was top dressed in two equal splits at 30 and45 days after transplanting. Uniform interculturaloperations and plant protection measures were followedas and when required during the crop season. Harvestingof main crop was started in the second week of Februaryduring both the years.


The data recorded on yield characters ofcabbage viz., plant weight, head weight, biological yield,economical yield and harvest index during both the yearsare presented in Table 1. It was observed that plantsspaced at 45 x 45 cm produced significantly higher plantweight, head weight biological yield and the economicalyield as compared to those planted in paired rows (30/60 x 45 cm) during both the years. The crop geometrydid not affect the harvest index significantly, however, amarginal increase in harvest index under 45 x 45 cmspacing was observed. Apparently, the altered cropgeometry than the normal one had adverse effect on allthese yield characteristics. The effect of crop geometrywas identical for growth characters, hence, due to lackof growth of plants, the yield reduced significantly.Owing to the planting of other intercrops, the increased

competition for space and other growth resources alsocompounded the yield reduction effect. This reductioneffect was more pronounced under paired row planting.These results are in close conformity with the findingsof earlier workers (Srinivas, 1984, Khurana et al., 1987)who also observed reduction in yield of cabbage underreduced/narrowed plant spacing.

The increasing dose of nitrogen from 125 to175 kg/ha significantly increased all the yield parametersinvestigated viz., plant weight, head weight, biologicaland economical yields (Table 1). Whereas, the increasingdoses of nitrogen did not have significant effect onharvest index during both the years. However, it improvedonly slightly with increased nitrogen levels. The harvestindex is a relative estimate of plant growth (biomass)and the marketable head (economical component) bothbeing equally affected under varying nitrogen levels,hence, the influence was least visible. The favourableeffect of nitrogen was apparent because it is an importantconstituent of chlorophyll, nucleic acids and the proteins,which enhance the cell multiplication and elongation,and ultimately the elongation of the main growing shoots.In addition, nitrogen being an important essential andmajor plant nutrient, it is required in larger amount bythe cabbage plants (Borme et al., 1987). Moreover,cabbage is a heavy feeder of plant nutrients and underintercropping system, Chavan et al. (2010) notedreduction in yield of main cabbage crop when noadditional fertilizers were applied. However, they alsoobserved significant improvement in yield of maincabbage crop as well as the inter crops with increasedfertilizer doses. The results of the present study alsocorroborate the findings of these earlier workers.

The intercrops like garden beet and radishinterfered and reduced the yield/ha to the maximumextent significantly, while coriander, fenugreek and beetleaf as intercrops least affected the plant weight, headweight, biological yield and economical yield (Table 1).The effect of intercrops viz., coriander, fenugreek andbeet leaf on harvest index was found non-significant ascompared to all other intercrops. The intercrops resultedin reduced harvest index during both the years wherethe decrease was significant over sole crop (control)only. Thus, garden beet and radish, which affected theyield characteristics of cabbage, were not much suitablewhile, the other three intercrops where their greens wereharvested as leafy produce appeared much profitable asintercrops in cabbage irrespective of the crop geometry


Tabl

e 1. E

ffect

of c

rop

geom

etry

, nitr

ogen

leve

ls an

d in

terc

rops

on

vario

us yi

eld

para

met

ers i

n ca

bbag

e cv.

Prid

e of I

ndia

dur

ing

two

year

s (20

06 a

nd 2

007)

Trea

tmen

tsPl

ant w

eigh

t (kg

)H

ead

wei

ght (

kg)

Bio

logi

cal y

ield

(t/h

a)Ec

onom

ical

yie

ld (t

/ha)

Har

vest

inde

x (%

)

2006

2007

Mea

n20

0620

07M

ean

2006

2007

Mea

n20

0620

07M

ean

2006

2007

Mea

n

Crop

geom

etry

45 x

45

(cm

)1.

211.

271.

240.

640.

650.

6540

.041

.140

.621

.722

.622

.154

.155

.054

.630

/60

x 45

(cm

)*1.

131.

191.

160.

610.

610.

6138

.339

.839

.020

.621

.821

.253

.954

.654

.3C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

0.02

0.02

-0.

040.

04-

0.2

0.3

-0.

20.

2-

NS

NS

-N

itrog

en le

vels

125

(kg/

ha)

1.07

1.10

1.08

0.57

0.55

0.56

37.1

38.7

37.9

19.8

21.0

20.4

53.5

54.3

53.9

150

(kg/

ha)

1.19

1.24

1.21

0.63

0.65

0.64

38.6

40.2

39.4

20.7

22.0

21.3

53.7

54.6

54.1

175

(kg/

ha)

1.26

1.34

1.30

0.68

0.70

0.69

41.8

42.4

42.1

22.9

23.6

23.2

54.7

55.6

55.2

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)0.

030.

03-

0.05

0.05

-0.

30.

4-

0.3

0.3

-N

SN

S-

Inte

rcro

ps**

Bee

t lea

f1.

231.

301.

260.

640.

650.

6439

.741

.040

.321

.422

.522

.054

.154

.954

.5C

oria

nder

1.23

1.30

1.27

0.65

0.68

0.67

41.5

42.2

41.9

22.5

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32 Singh and Partap

and nitrogen fertilizer levels applied. Patil and Ranpise(2003) and Patil et al. (2004) investigated intercroppingin cabbage during both rabi and kharif seasons underMaharastra state conditions. They found thatintercropping cabbage + palak (Beta vulgaris var.bengalensis) and cabbage + radish in rabi season, andcabbage + radish and cabbage + palak in kharif seasonwere the most promising than intercrops like fenugreek(Trigonella foenum-graecum), coriander and shepu(Anethum graveolens). Radish, being fast growing andbecoming ready for harvest in a short span of one month,did not interfere much with cabbage at its initial stage ofgrowth.

Guvenc and Yildirim (2006) evaluatedintercropping of lettuce, radish, onion and snap bean incabbage crop. There was significant effect of intercropson cabbage growth characteristics and yield except forradish, which affected adversely the yield and somegrowth characteristics of cabbage. Net income ofcabbage increased with these crops planted asintercrops. Rezende et al. (2006 and 2009) alsosuggested cabbage + pepper + radish as inter croppingsystem where the total operational cost reduced to theextent of 20.8 to 34% than their sole cultivation.Likewise, Kaur and Khurana (2008) reported thatintercropping of cabbage + tomato followed by cabbage+ Capsicum was the most potential in terms of productionand monetary returns than their sole crops. Unlu et al.(2010) also suggested that intercropping of lettuce, pea,leek and garlic had no negative effect on the yield andsize of curds of cauliflower and broccoli. Leek, onionand garlic performed as best intercrops mainly due totheir upright growth habit. However, similar to the resultsof present investigation (Table 1), they also reportedthat the yield and head size in cabbage were affectednegatively with radish, peas, green beans and lettuce,hence, these proved as unsuccessful intercrops incabbage. Thus, results of the present study suggestedfor potential scope of intercrops in cabbage, which couldbe exploited with multi-cut leafy vegetables and othershort duration radish and garden beet varieties of rootcrops.

REFERENCES

Borme, U., Eid, K. and Kraus, A. (1987). Nitrogen

fertilization of white cabbage for Sauerkrantproduction. Gemuse 23 : 62-64.

Chavan, N. H., Naik, D. M., Borade, R. S., Shinde, S. J. andJature, S. D. (2010). Effect of intercrops on yieldof cabbage at different levels of fertilizers. Internat.J. agric. Sci. 6 (1) : 291-294.

Guvenc, I. and Yildirim, E. (2006). Increasing productivitywith intercropping systems in cabbage production.J. Sustainable Agric. 28 : 29-44.

Kaur, Harneet and Khurana, D. S. (2008). Productionpotential and economics of vegetablesintercropped with cabbage. Environ. & Ecol. 26 :1872-1874.

Khurana, S. C., Thakral, K. K., Singh, G. R. and Pandita,M. L. (1987). Effect of nitrogen and spacing oncabbage cv. Pride of India. Haryana J. hortic. Sci.,16: 274 -277.

Patil, J. D. and Ranpise, S. A. (2003). Performance ofdifferent leafy vegetables as inter crop in cabbageduring rabi season. Orissa J. Hort. 31 : 73-75.

Patil, J. D., Ranpise, S. A. and Kakade, D. S. (2004).Intercropping studies in cabbage during kharifseason. J. Maharastra agric. Univ. 29 (1): 39-41.

Rezende, B. L. A., Barros, J. A. P., Cecilio, F. A. B., Porto,D. R. Q. and Martins, M.I.E.G. (2009). Productioncost and profitability of lettuce, radish, arugulaand cabbage sole crop and intercropped withsweet pepper. Ciencia Agrotecnologia 33 (1): 305-312.

Rezende, B. L. A., Cecilio, F. A. B., Feltrin, A. L., Costa, C.C. and Barbosa, J. C. (2006). Feasibility ofintercropping pepper with cabbage, rocket, lettuceand radish. Horticultura Brasileira 24 : 36-41.

Srinivas, K. (1984). Note on response of cabbage to plantdensity and fertilizer. Indian J. Hort., 41: 277-279.

Unlu, H., Sari, N. and Solmaz, I. (2010). Intercropping effectof different vegetables on yield and someagronomic properties. J.Food Agri. Environ. 8 :723-727.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 34-37 (2010)

A study on male and female labour utilization pattern in agriculture andhousehold activities in Jhajjar district of Haryana

K. S. SUHAG, NIRMAL KUMAR, RAJNISH KUMAR, JAGDISH KUMAR AND SUBODH AGARWALDepartment of Agricultural Economics, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004

ABSTRACT

The study was undertaken in Jhajjar district of Haryana for the year 2005-06 with a sample of 50 farmersof different size groups pertaining to village Bishan from Beri block and Kablana from Jhajjar block. The studyrevealed that the contribution of male labour in crop production activities was greater than the female labourwhich was about 68 and 32 per cent, respectively. However, in operations like harvesting and threshing, theshare of both the labours was almost equal. In tending of farm animals, the share of the man labour was higherthan the female labour in grazing the animals. Otherwise in most of the other operations of tending the animals,the share of the female labour was greater than the male labour. The household activities were more or lesscompletely performed by the female labour contributing to the extent of about 97 to 98 per cent. On an average,each male labour worked for about 4.60 hours daily while the female labour worked for about 10.10 hours daily.In all the three activities, the per male daily employment was higher (being 1.60 hours per day) than the per femaledaily employment (being 0.81 hour per day) in crop production. But in rest of the two activities of tending ofcattle and household work, the per female daily employment was higher (being 3.15 and 6.14 hours, respectivelyper day) than the per male daily employment (being 2.88 hours and 0.12 hour, respectively per day).

Key words : Labour, utilization pattern, household, employment, animal and crop production

INTRODUCTION

It is an established fact that most of the studiesconducted on men and women are more or less confinedto the educated ones. The studies on the uneducatedrural men and women working on the farm and otherhousehold activities are very limited (Gill et al., 2005).In the villages of Haryana state, the female working forceplay a very important role in performing various operationsof crop production, feeding and grazing the farm animalsand at the same time doing the household work.Therefore, it would be quite interesting to know the shareof the male and female working force in differentactivities of crop production, tending of farm animalsand household work.


The present study was conducted in Jhajjardistrict of Haryana state during the year 2005-06. Fromthe district, two blocks namely Jhajjar and Beri and onevillage from each block was selected randomly. A randomsample of 25 farmers from each village Bishan from Beriblock and Kablana from Jhajjar block representing all

size groups were collected to make a sample of 50farmers. In addition to the data on main operations ofcrop production like ploughing, sowing, irrigation,harvesting, threshing etc., the data on supporting activitiesneeded for these operations like supplying of the foodand feed to the fields for the farmers and the animalswere also collected. The information about tending ofcattle like bringing fodder from the fields to home andchopping it, grazing, milking, watering, preparation offood and feeding the animals etc. and the varioushousehold activities including cleaning and maintenanceof house, preparation of meals, washing the clothes, careof the children etc., were collected from each sampledhousehold. The data were collected through personalinterview with the help of a well structured schedule.The simple tabular analysis and percentages were doneto find out the contribution of male and female agriculturallabour in various crop production operations, tending offarm animals and household activities in both the blocks.


The main crops grown by the farmers of thestudy area were bajra, guar, jowar, wheat, sarson, gram,

sugarcane, matri etc. The data in table 1 showed theaverage size of male and female labour, number of farmanimals, cropped area and average size of holding perfarm. On an average, each farm possessed about 2hectares of land, 1.57 males, 1.45 females and 4.60 farmanimals. This showed that on an average the size of samplefarm was small.

The utilization pattern of male and female labourin crop production activities (Table 2) indicated that onan average, the male and female labour per farm

contributed about 68 and 32 per cent of the total familywork in crop production activities, respectively. Thesupporting work of the female labour was about 46.57per cent of the total male work. The female labourparticipation mainly constituted hoeing and weeding,harvesting, threshing, transportation, loading andunloading operations (Kaur et al., 2003). In harvestingand threshing female’s contribution was about 14.28 and8.13 per cent of the total work and was slightly less thanthe male labour of work 15.65 and 8.80 per cent,

Table 1. Average size of male and female labour, farm animals, land holding size and cropped area

No. of Operational Average size Cropped No. of No. of No. offarmers holding (ha) holding (ha) area (ha) males females farm animals

50 98.8 1.98 3.25 1.57 1.45 4.60

Table 2. Average utilization pattern of family male and female labour per farm in crop production activities(Hours)

Particulars Annual Total Daily

Male Female Male Female

Preparation of tillage 265.20 - 265.20 0.73 -(21.58) (21.58)

Taking meals and feed to the fields - 41.95 41.95 - 0.11for the farmers and bullocks (3.41) (3.41)

Pre- sowing irrigation 24.57 - 24.57 0.07 -(2.00) (2.00)

Sowing 62.20 - 62.20 0.17 -(5.06) (5.06)

Ridging 8.97 - 8.97 0.03 -(0.73) (0.73)

Putting F.Y.M. in the field 13.05 7.39 20.45 0.04 0.02(1.06) (0.60) (1.66)

Fertilizer application 6.87 - 6.87 0.02 -(0.56) (0.56)

Hoeing and weeding 44.12 31.75 75.87 0.13 0.09(3.61) (2.59) (6.20)

Irrigation 90.52 - 90.52 0.25 -(7.40) (7.40)

Taking meals for the farmers - 10.87 10.87 - 0.03(0.89) (0.89)

Harvesting 191.55 174.67 366.22 0.54 0.49(15.65) (14.28) (29.93)

Threshing 107.6 99.55 207.15 0.30 0.28(8.80) (8.13) (16.93)

Transportation, loading and unloading 25.35 22.72 48.70 0.07 0.06(2.07) (1.86) (3.93)

Total 840.00 388.90 1228.90 2.30 1.10(68.35) (31.65) (100)

Figures in parentheses are the percentages of the total male and female labour hours


respectively. On an average per farm the male labourdevoted about 2.30 hours and female labour devoted about1.10 hours daily in crop production activities. Therefore,it was evident from the table that the male labourcontribution was greater than the female labour in somecrop operations like preparations of the tillage, sowing,irrigation, manure and fertilizer application and ridgingbut in the case of operations like harvesting and threshing,the contribution of both the male and female labour wasmore or less equal (Subrahmanyam, 1999).

The data in table 3 showed the average utilizationpattern of male and female labour per farm in tending offarm animals. On an average, on each farm the malelabour contributed about 49.41 per cent and the femalelabour contributed, 50.59 per cent of the total work intending of farm animals. The male labour contributionwas significantly higher than the female labour in grazingthe animals in the fields, whereas in most of the otheractivities like feeding, milking and processing, watering,bringing fodder from the field, the female labourcontribution was higher than the male labour (Verma,1993). On an average per farm, the male labour devotedabout 4.17 hours and females labour devoted about 4.29hours daily in tending the farm animals. Therefore, itcan be perceived from the analysis that it was the grazing

Table 3: Average utilization pattern of male and female labour per farm in tending of farm animals (Hours)



Bringing fodder from the field 357.93 445.58 803.51 0.99 1.24(11.72) (14.61) (26.35)

Chopping of fodder 366.45 344.90 711.35 1.02 0.96(12.02) (11.31) (23.33)

Feeding the animals 108.00 140.08 248.08 0.30 0.39(3.54) (4.60) (8.14)

Milking and processing 109.55 359.18 468.73 0.30 1.00(3.60) (11.78) (15.37)

Watering the animals 74.85 136.08 210.93 0.21 0.38(2.45) (4.46) (6.91)

Veterinary care 20.95 13.15 34.10 0.06 0.04(0.68) (0.44) (1.12)

Grazing the animals 468.75 103.75 572.50 1.29 0.28(15.37) (3.40) (18.78)

Total 1506.48 1542.72 3049.20 4.17 4.29(49.41) (50.59) (100)


of the animals which was responsible for the higher shareof the male labour otherwise in most of the other activitiesof tending farm animals, the contribution of female labourwas greater than the male labour.

The data in table 4 showed the average utilizationpattern of male and female labour per farm in householdactivities. On an average per farm, the share of the femalelabour was about 98 per cent whereas the share of themale labour was only about 2 per cent in the totalhousehold work. The male labour contributed only inwashing of clothes and rope making. The rest of otheractivities like preparation of meals, cleaning of house,care of children, sewing and knitting, dung fuelpreparation, bringing water from the well wereexclusively performed by female labour. On an averageper farm, the male labour worked for about 0.18 hourand the female labour worked for about 8.30 hours dailyin household activities. Therefore, it can be said thatalmost all the household activities were performed byfemale labour in the study area.

The data in table 5 showed on an average thedaily work done by each male and female labour indifferent activities. The male member devoted 1.60 hoursin crop production, 2.88 hours in tending of farm animalsand 0.12 hour in household activities and thus worked

36 Suhag, Kumar, Kumar, Kumar and Agarwal

Table 4. Average utilization pattern of male and female labour per farm in household activities (Hours)



Preparation of meals - 995.77 995.77 - 2.77(32.78) (32.78)

Cleaning the house - 336.20 336.20 - 0.94(11.06) (11.06)

Washing the clothes 38.87 80.50 119.37 0.11 0.23(1.28) (2.65) (3.93)

Care of children 14.00 223.77 237.77 0.04 0.63(0.46) (7.37) (7.83)

Sewing and knitting - 70.05 70.05 - 0.20(2.31) (2.31)

Rope and carpet making 12.50 14.35 26.85 0.03 0.04(0.41) (0.47) (0.88)

Putting dung into pits - 243.00 243.00 - 0.67(8.00) (8.00)

Dung fuel (uppla) preparation - 472.57 472.57 - 1.32(15.55) (15.55)

Bringingwaterfromwell - 383.10 383.10 - 1.07(12.61) (12.61)

Cleaning the produce and getting the - 153.32 153.32 - 0.43flour prepared (5.05) (5.05)Total 65.37 2972.63 3038 0.18 8.30

(2.15) (97.85) (100)


Table 5. Average daily employment per male and female labourin crop production, tending of cattle and householdactivities (Hours)

Particulars Male Female

Crop Production 1.60 0.31Tending of cattle 2.88 3.15Household activities 0.12 6.14Total 4.60 10.10

Impact of farm women’s participation on homeenvironment – An overview. J. Res. PAU, Ludhiana.42 (1) : 114-121.

Kaur, L., Singh, B., Singh, J. and Gupta, S. (2003).Contribution of rural women in farm and on-farmactivities in Amritsar district in Punjab. J. Agril.Develop. and Policy. 15 (1) : 66-72.

Subrahmanyam, S. (1999). Female labour absorption inAndhra Pradesh agriculture. Indian J. Agril. Econ.54 (3) : 272-280.

Verma, S. K. (1993). Women in Agriculture : A socio-economic analysis. Indian J. Agril. Econ. 47 (4) :773-774.

about 4.60 hours daily. On the other hand, the femalelabour devoted 0.81 hour in crop production, 3.15 hoursin tending of farm animals and 6.14 hours in householdactivities and thus worked for about 10.10 hours daily.Therefore, it could be visualized that on the whole thefemale member had to put on greater labour than themale counterpart.

REFERENCES

Gill, J. K., Dhillon, M. K., Sidhu, M. and Singh, H. (2005).


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 38-40 (2010)

Impact of training programmes of Extension Education Institute, Nilokheri,Haryana

FIDDA HUSSAIN SHAH, R. S. HUDDA, A. K. GODARA, S. K. MEHTA AND SUBHASH CHANDERDepartment of Extension Education, CCS HAU, Hisar (Haryana)

ABSTRACT

The Extension Education Institute, Nilokheri (Haryana) imparts training to middle level extensionpersonnel of the land based departments and master trainers of SAUs in the northern region. The studywas conducted in 7 districts of Haryana. From each district 10 trainees and 10 non trainees were selected.The total sample size was 140 respondents. Majority of trainees were of middle age possessed MastersDegree, low level of training, had moderate service experience, job stress, job satisfaction, positive attitudetowards job, had good communication behaviour and belonged to medium level of communication credibilitycategory. There was substantial impact of training programme for the trainees. The considerable impact oftraining programme was mainly in activities related to the use of communication channels in transfer oftechnology, information technology, evaluation of programme, application of PRA technique. applicationof extension management skills in job performance and in other activities in descending order.

Key words : Job performance, job requirements, training evaluation

INTRODUCTION

Training is an integral part of any developmentactivity. In-service training aims at improving theprofessional competence of extension personnel / mastertrainers in all spheres of developmental organisations.The Extension Education Institute Nilokheri organizesoff/on campus training in subject matter areas of extensionand communication for extension personnel/mastertrainers of different agricultural and allied departments,State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) of northern statesv Bihar, Haryana, U.P, Uttranchal, Jammu & Kashmir,Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and UT Chandigarh.The magnitude of any training programme needs to beevaluated periodically in order to learn about itseffectiveness in bringing about desired changes amongthe trainees who are involved in the programme.

It is therefore, desirable to find out how thesetraining programmes are successful in attending this job.Such study not only gives a picture about the perceptionof trainees mind but it will also provide proper directionand vision to the trainees/trainers/policy makers. Anattempt has been made to evaluate the trainingprogrammes to envisage the following objective i.e., toassess the impact of training programmes conducted byExtension Education Institute, Nilokheri (Haryana).


The study was conducted in state of Haryana.Seven districts were selected having maximum numberof trainees who have attended the training programmesduring 2001-2004 at the Institute. From each selecteddistrict a sample of 10 such trainees were selectedrandomly. A matching sample of the same number ofnon-trainees were selected from the same districts, thusa total number of 140 respondents were taken for study.

For the present study impact refers as the mannerand extent to which training has effect/influence on thejob performance of trainees in respect of their activitiesin the job. To measure it, some activities in which thetraining is imparted were selected as indicators comprisingdifferent aspects of their job performance. While selectingthe indicators the training curriculum, course contents,coverage of topics, evaluation of training programme,their job requirements and requirements of sponsoringinstitution were given due weightage. The data of thesecriteria was collected through pretested interviewschedule. To measure the impact of training in relationto activities, the scale administered to the respondentson a three-point continuum of performance level rangingfrom always performed’, ‘seldom performed’ and ‘neverperformed’. These categories were assigned the score

of 3, 2 and 1, respectively. The score so obtained by therespondents in all the three were calculated separatelyand then added together to arrive the total score in thatactivity. The total mean score of each activity of traineeswas calculated and compared with the total mean scoreof each activity of non-trainees. The difference of totalmean score was taken as the impact of trainingprogramme in that activity. The mean score difference(MSD) of all the 12 activities will be calculated and overallmean score difference will depict the impact of trainingprogramme. The mean values of the 12 activities oftrainees and non-trainees were subjected to statisticalanalysis to find out significant difference, if any. Thecollected data were analyzed by using mean, standarddeviation, t-test.


The results indicated that majority of trainees

were of middle age, possessed Masters degree and havinglow level of training hence, need to be deputed forappropriate refresher training programme. Most of therespondents belonged to rural areas. This shows that therespondents were quite familiar with rural problemswhich can help them to perform their duties moreefficiently. Respondents had moderate service experience,medium level of job stress and job satisfaction, positiveattitude towards job and had good communicationbehaviour belonged to medium level of communicationcredibility category this implies that majority of therespondents gets reliable information regardingdissemination of agricultural technology (Table 1).

It is evident from the Table 2 that there is asignificant difference between trained and untrainedrespondents in respect of activities in their jobperformance. The mean score of non-trainees was125.26 and the mean score of the trainees is higher thanthe mean score of non trainees, which was 190.49 and

Table 1. Profile of respondents

Independent Variable Category Score Range Frequency Percentage

Age Young Upto 35 years 1 1.43Middle 36-50 years 54 77.14Old Above 50 years 15 21.43

Education Graduate 1 9 12.86M.Sc. Ag. 2 38 54.28Ph.D. 3 23 32.86

Experience Low < 15 Years 14 20.00Medium 15-25 Years 42 60.00High > 25 Years 14 20.00

Rural-urban background Rural 2 56 81.43Urban 1 14 18.57

Training Attended Low < 5 41 58.57Medium 5-7 13 18.57High > 7 16 22.86

Job Stress Low < 42 11 15.71Medium 42-66 52 74.29High > 66 7 10.00

Job Satisfaction Low < 47 9 12.85Medium 47-73 42 60.00High > 73 19 27.14

Attitude towards Job Low < 54 7 10.00Medium 54-84 35 50.00High > 84 28 40.00

Communication Credibility Low < 54 8 12.86Medium 54-74 34 48.57High > 74 28 38.57

Communication Behaviour Low < 64 6 8.57Medium 64-88 45 64.29High > 88 19 27.14


the mean score difference was 65.23It is therefore stated that the training was an

effective one. The ‘t’ value was found statistically highlysignificant (29.67) at 0.01 level of probability. This is inconformity with results of Prashad and Mahipal (1997)who found value to be significant with regard to knowledgegain due to agricultural telecast on farmers, knowledgegain on dairying due to training, and knowledge gain dueto training programmes on various aspects of dry landagricultural technologies, respectively. Das and Sharma(1998) who also found that training programmecontributed significantly in improvement of respondents’knowledge.

It is further evident from the table 1, that therewas considerable impact of training on the activities relatedto use of communication channels in transfer oftechnology (Mean score difference=11.71), followed byinformation technology (MSD=8.64). and were rankedas I and II, respectively. There is also substantial impactof training on activities related to evaluation of programmeTable 2. Impact of training programmes in relation to activities. (N=140)

Activities Trained Un-trained Mean score CalculatedMean Mean Difference ‘t’ value

(MSD)

Activities related to use of audio-visual aids 18.94 15.16 3.79 (IX) 9.74*during transfer of technology.Activities related to use of communication channels 35.46 23.74 11.71(I) 16.94**in transfer to technology.Activities related to application of Extension Methodology 9.99 6.80 3.19 (XII) 15.35**in ob performanceActivities related to application of extension management 11.54 6.49 5.06 (V) 18.55**skills in job performanceActivities related to Need Assessment. 9.77 5.96 3.81 (VIII) 18.97**Activities related to application of PRA technique 15.90 9.66 6.24 (IV) 18.60**Activities related to use of motivational factors 9.21 5.60 3.61 (X) 15.68**Activities related to development of farmers 11.56 8.39 3.2143 (XI) 11.27*organization and self-help groupActivities related to entrepreneurial & marketing skill 10.26 6.04 4.21 (VII) 13.68**developmentActivities related to feed back 18.56 13.64 4.91 (VI) 16.840**Activities related to information technology 19.16 10.51 8.64 (II) 25.88**Activities related to evaluation of programme 20.14 13.31 6.83 (III) 16.85*Overall Impact 190.49 125.26 65.23 29.67**

**Significant at .01 level. Figures in parenthesis indicate rank

(MSD=6.83, activities related to application of PRAtechnique (MSD=6.24), activities related to applicationof Extension management skills (MSD=5.06, activitiesrelated to feed back (MSD=4.91), activities related toentrepreneurial and marketing skill development(MSD=4.21), activities related need assessment (MSD= 3.81), activities related to use of audio-visual aids duringtransfer of technology (MSD=3.79, activities related touse of motivational factors (MSD=3.61), activities relatedto development of farmers organization and self helpgroup (MSD = 3.21), activities related to application ofextension methodology in job performance (MSD = 3.19and these have been ranked in descending order as III,IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII, respectively.The ‘t value was found statistically significant in all the12 activities, this implies that training has positive impacton these activities of trainees. Similarly, Sharma and Kalla(2006) also reported the need for paying more attentiontowards need oriented subject matter and timelyinformation about training programme.

REFERENCESDas, P. K. and Sharma, J. K. (1998). Impact of training on

knowledge and perception of rural youth about scientificbee-keeping. J. Extn. Edu. 9 (1) : 1957-1962.

Prashad, M.S. and Mahipal (1997). Impact of training programme

on knowledge gain of Subject Matter Specialist. J. Extn.Edu. 8 (5) : 1596-1599.

Sharma, K. C. and Kalla, P. N. (2006). Opinion of trainees andtrainers about inservice training programme. Ind. Res. J.Extn. Edu. 6 (3) : 30-31.

40 Shah, Hudda, Godara, Mehta and Chander

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 41-44 (2010)

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

Effect of fertility levels and bio-fertilizers on yield and quality of kharif greengram (Vigna radiata (L). Wilczek)

ROSHAN CHOUDHARY, A. C. SADHU AND K. M. GEDIYADepartment of Agronomy, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand 388 110, Gujarat, India

Green gram commonly known as “mung” or“mung bean” is the most important crop of the South-East Asia and particularly the Indian subcontinent. Thispopular and ancient crop is specially recognized as anexcellent source of protein. Fertilizer application is animportant crop production factor for getting maximumproduction per unit area. The cost of nitrogenous andphosphatic fertilizers are increasing day by day. Hence,it is required to use some cheaper sources of fertilizerslike Rhizobium and Phosphate solubilising bacteria, etc.Bio-fertilizers like Rhizobium and phosphate solubilisingbacteria play important roles in increasing availability ofnitrogen and phosphorus through increase in biologicalfixation of atmospheric nitrogen and enhancedphosphorus availability to the crop, respectively.Introduction of efficient strain of Rhizobium in the soilpoor in nitrogen may be helpful in boosting up theproduction through more nitrogen fixation. Inoculationof seeds with Rhizobium culture is also very low costmethod of nitrogen fertilization. The phosphorussolubilising bacteria as inoculants in the root zone ofcrop plants partially solubilise the insoluble phosphateand improve the fertilizer use efficiency and theproductivity. Mycorrhizae are found as a result of uniqueassociation of certain fungi with roots of higher plants.Some Mycorrhizae fungi that penetrate into the rootsand form specialized structures, such as vesicular andarbuscular within the cortex are called Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM). Therefore, there wasa need to study the effect of fertility levels and bio-fertilizers on yield attributes and yield of kharifgreengram.

A field experiment was conducted at AgronomyFarm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand AgriculturalUniversity, Anand during kharif, 2008. The soil wasloamy sandy, having pH 7.6, 0.20 dS/m, electricalconductivity, 0.42 % organic carbon, 216.3 kg/haavailable nitrogen, 40.28 kg/ha available P2O5 and 282kg/ha available K2O. The experiment consisted of 12

treatments, viz., three levels of fertility (0, 50 and 100%RDF) and four levels of bio-fertilizers (No bio-fertilizer,Rhizobium inoculation, Rhizobium+PSB inoculation andRhizobium+VAM) for evaluation under randomized blockdesign with four replications. Green gram variety GM-4was sown on 27th June, 2008 and harvested on 15th

September, 2008. The crop was raised under irrigatedconditions.

The results presented in Table 1 revealed thatyield attributes viz., number of pods/plant, pod length,number of seeds/pod and seed yield/plant differedsignificantly due to different fertility levels, whereas testweight was not.

The higher number of pods/plant (23.03) wasrecorded under 100% RDF, which was statistically atpar with 50% RDF, but significantly superior overcontrol. Similarly, significantly higher pod length (7.28cm) was recorded under 100 % RDF over control whichwas at par with 50 % RDF. These might be due to thefact that an application of recommended dose offertilizers plays a vital role in the growth and developmentof plants as higher supply of nitrogen might have helpedin better translocation of photosynthesis from leaves tosink i.e., pods which consequently led to more seedsetting in pods. Simultaneously, phosphorus might haveplayed a primary role on photosynthesis by way of energytransfer and there by increased the availability ofphotosynthesis, resulting into overall increase in numberof pods/plant and pod length at harvest. These findingsare in line with those reported by Oad and Burio (2005).

There was significantly higher number of seeds/pod (9.48) under 100 % RDF as compared to control,which was statistically at par with 50 % RDF and theincrease was by 11.66 % over control. It might be dueto that balanced fertilizer application provided betternourishment to the plant for better partitioning dry matterand in turn, it resulted in increased number of seeds/pod. These findings are in close conformity to those ofYakadri et al. (2002).

The result pertaining to the test weight showednon-significant response to different fertility levels (Table1). This might be due to the fact that test weight of seedis governed by genetical characters of plants.

Crop yield is the resultant of physiologicalprocesses and biochemical activities, which modifyanatomy and morphology of the growing plants.Judicious quantity of available nutrients is a basicrequirement throughout the crop growth period forsmooth running of all physiological processes. Theresults revealed that the seed and stover yields wereremarkably influenced due to different fertility levels(Table 1). 100 % RDF recorded significantly the highestseed yield (1138 kg/ha) as compared to control and 50% RDF. Control and 50 % RDF were found at par witheach other. The magnitude of increase in seed yield under100 % RDF was to the tune of 14.37 over both thetreatments control and 50 % RDF. 50 % RDF producedthe maximum straw yield of 5753 kg/ha while controlrecorded the minimum straw yield of 5189 kg/ha.

The increase in yield of greengram might be dueto increase in number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod and seed yield/plant (Table 1) which are the importantyield attributes having significant influence on the seedand stover yields. The proper fertilization to the cropplayed an important role in higher nitrogen fixation,greater absorption and utilization of nitrogen, phosphorusand other plant nutrients, higher dry matter accumulation,rapid meristmetic activity and release of phyto-hormonesand organic acids, which might have provided food forthe beneficial bacteria present in soil. This was due tofavorable effects of N and P on growth and yield

attributes of greengram which ultimately increased theseed and stover yields. Similar observations were alsoreported by Yakadri et al. (2002), Oad and Burio (2005),Rudreshappa and Halikatti (2002) and Patel et al. (2003).

Non-significant difference was observed inprotein content of seeds due to different fertility levels.However, higher value of protein content (22.50 %) wasrecorded under 50 % RDF over control (20.98 %) dueto more availability and uptake of nitrogen and therebyincreased protein content in the seeds.

The results presented in Table 1 revealed thatbio-fertilizer treatments had significant influence onvarious yield attributes viz., number of pods/plant, podlength, and seed yield/plant, whereas test weight wasnot significantly influenced due to seed inoculation.

Inoculation with Rhizobium+PSB being at parwith Rhizobium+VAM and Rhizobium recordedsignificantly higher number of pods/plant than thatrecorded under control. Significantly lower number ofpods/plant (21.67) were recorded under control but itremained at par with Rhizobium. The values of numberof pods/plant recorded under treatments B0, B1, B2 andB3 were 21.67, 22.30, 23.08 and 22.85, respectively.The increased number of pods/plant might be ascribedto more rapid growth and, hence, the production of moreinfected sites resulting in improved nodulation and inturn production of more pods.

The same stimulatory effect of biofertilizers wasalso observed for length of pods. Among the differenttreatments, seed inoculation with Rhizobium + PSBrecorded significantly higher pod length (7.30 cm) overcontrol which was 11.93 % more. This might be due to

Table 1. Number of pods/plant, pod length, number of seeds/pod, test weight, yields, protein content and net return of green gram asaffected by different treatments

Treatments No. of Pod No. of Test Seed Yield (kg/ha) Protein Gross Net return C : Bof pods/ length of seeds/ weight yield/ content realization (Rs./ha) ratio

plant (cm) pod (g) plant Seed Stover (%) (Rs./ha)

Fertility levels (F)F0 : Control 21.49 6.83 8.49 44.91 3.57 995 5189 20.98 32445 25389 3.59F1 : 50% RDF 22.90 7.20 9.04 45.03 3.57 995 5753 22.50 32727 25023 3.24F2 : 100% RDF 23.03 7.28 9.48 45.63 4.08 1138 5697 22.03 36989 28637 3.42C. D. (P=0.05) 0.70 0.20 0.57 NS 0.38 105 388 NS - - -Biofertilizer treatments (B)B0 : No biofertilizer 21.67 7.08 8.38 44.60 3.36 938 5130 19.47 30705 23649 3.35B1 : Rhizobium 22.30 7.00 9.03 45.11 3.80 1059 5616 22.83 34578 27447 3.84B2 : Rhizobium+PSB 23.08 7.30 9.38 44.85 3.72 1038 5578 21.63 33929 26723 3.70B3 : Rhizobium+VAM 22.85 7.02 9.20 46.19 4.07 1135 5860 23.42 36980 29499 3.94C. D. (P=0.05) 0.81 0.23 0.65 NS 0.44 122 448 2.27 - - -C. V. (%) 4.35 3.91 8.75 4.57 14.04 14.04 9.73 12.53 - - -

42 Choudhary, Sadhu and Gediya

more nitrate reductase and nitrogenage activity in rootnodules and more availability of N and P to the plant forbetter growth and development and, hence, greater podlength. These findings are in line with those reported byThakur and Panwar (1997).

The result pertaining to test weight showed non-significant response to different treatments of bio-fertilizer. This might be due to the fact that test weightof seed was governed by genetical characters of plants.

The seed and stover yields were remarkablyinfluenced due to different bio-fertilizer treatments. Themagnitude of increase in seed and stover yields underRhizobium+VAM was to the tune of 21.00 and 14.23%,respectively over control. The improvement in seed andstover yields could be attributed to the combined effectof significant increase in yield attributing characters likenumber of pods/plant, pod length and number of seeds/pod.

The increase in seed and stover yields due tobio-fertilizer inoculation may be attributed to solubilizationof native (insoluble) or applied phosphorus in soil bybacteria as well as VAM (by bacteria and fungi) thusmaking it available for plant use which in turn helps toput forth profuse growth and produced more seed yield.This was due to the fact that application of biofertilizertreatments enhanced the activity of absorption of N, Pand other plant nutrients and fixation of N leading tobetter synthesis and metabolic activities in plant partsand ultimately higher dry matter accumulation andtranslocation of photosynthesis resulting higher biomassyield with bolder seeds. Similar observations were alsomade by Maiti et al. (1998) and Jat and Rathore (1994).

Significantly higher protein content (23.42 %)was recorded under Rhizobium+VAM over control whichwas at par with Rhizobium (22.83) and Rhizobium+PSB(21.63%). Significantly lower protein content (19.47%)

was recorded under control. The increase in proteincontent may be due to increase in the availability andhigher content of nitrogen because of better nitrogenfixation due to increased and effective root nodulation(Rasal et al., 1988) and increased availability ofphosphorus due to phosphate solubilization, whichultimately increased nitrogen availability and therebyprotein synthesis (Rao and Rao, 1993). This might bedue to the fact that Rhizobium inoculation increased theroot nodulation through better root development andmore nutrient availability, resulting in better absorptionand utilization of all the plant nutrients, thus resulting inmore N content in seeds and stover and protein contentin seeds.

The interaction between fertility levels and bio-fertilizer treatments had significant influence on numberof pods/plant, length of pods and protein content in theseeds (Table 2). Treatment combination of F1B3 (50%RDF along with Rhizobium + VAM) registeredsignificantly higher number of pods/plant than othertreatment combinations except F2B3 (100% RDF alongwith Rhizobium+VAM). Treatment combination of F2B2(100% RDF along with Rhizobium+PSB) registeredsignificantly higher length of pods (7.60 cm) but was atpar with treatment combinations F2B0 (100%RDF+control), F1B0 (50% RDF+control) and F1B2 (50%RDF along with Rhizobium+PSB). With respect toprotein content of seeds, treatment combination F1B3(50% RDF along with Rhizobium+VAM) interacted in abetter way and produced the maximum protein contentin the seeds. Efficient bio-fertilizer treatments undertreatment combination F1B3 (50 % RDF along withRhizobium+VAM) enhanced the nutrient availability insoil for plant use resulted in increased growth and yieldattributing parameters, which ultimately resulted in higherprotein content in seeds.

Table 2. Interaction effect of fertility levels x biofertilizer treatments on number of pods/plant, pod length and protein content in seedof green gram

Treatments Number of pods/plant Pod length (cm) Protein content (%)

F0 F1 F2 F0 F1 F2 F0 F1 F2

B0 21.20 20.85 22.95 6.45 7.30 7.50 18.14 20.21 20.06B1 22.20 22.40 22.30 6.90 7.00 7.10 22.41 24.09 21.99B2 22.95 23.40 22.88 7.00 7.30 7.60 20.39 19.64 24.85B3 19.60 24.95 24.00 6.95 7.20 6.90 22.97 26.06 21.24C. D. (P=0.05) 1.41 0.34 6.45C. V. (%) 4.35 3.33 12.53


The data on economics (Table 1) revealed that100 % RDF recorded the maximum gross realization(Rs. 36989/ha) and net return (Rs. 28637/ha) with C :B. ratio value of 3.42. While control recorded the lowestgross realization (Rs. 32445/ha) and net return (Rs.25389/ha) with the maximum C : B. ratio value (3.59).This might be due to higher seed and stover yields under100% RDF ascribed due to higher yield attributingcharacters. However, later one i.e. control recorded thehigher value of C : B. ratio (3.59) as compared to 50 %or 100% RDF, of which the minimum cost of cultivationwas might be due to without fertilizer application resultinginto the minimum cost of cultivation. Among thebiofertilizer treatments, Rhizobium+VAM was foundsuperior by recording the highest value of net return(Rs. 29499/ha) and C : B ratio (3.94) followed byRhizobium and Rhizobium+PSB. The control showedthe lowest value of net return (Rs. 23649/ha) and C : Bratio (3.35). This might be due to higher seed as well asstover yields resulting into higher gross realization.

REFERENCES

Jat, R. L. and Rathore, P. S. (1994). Effect of sulphur,molybdenum and Rhizobium inoculation on greengram (Phaseolus radiatus). Indian J. Agron. 39 :651-654.

Maiti, S., Das, C. C., Chatterjee, B. N. and Sen Gupta (1998).Response of greengram and lentil to Rhizobiuminoculation. Indian J. Agron. 33 : 92-94.

Oad, F. C. and Burio, U. A. (2005). Influence of differentNPK levels on the growth and yield of mungbean.Industrial J. Plant Sci. 4 : 474-478.

Patel, J. J., Mevada, K. D. and Chotaliya, R. L. (2003).Response of summer mungbean to dates of sowingand levels of fertilizers. Indian J. Pulses Res. 16 :122-124.

Rao, V. U. and Rao, A. S. (1993). Dual inoculation of VAMand Rhizobium in black gram and green gram.Legume Res. 16 : 119-126.

Rasal, P. H., Patil, P. L. and Kalbhor, H. B. (1988). Effectsof VA mycorrhiza in groundnut and Rhizobiuminoculation on gram. J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ.13 : 359-360.

Rudreshappa, T. S. and Halikatti., S. I. (2002). Responseof greengram to nitrogen and phosphorus levelsin paddy fallows. Karnataka J. Agril. Sci.15 : 4-7.

Thakur, A. K. and Panwar, J. D. S. (1997). Response ofRhizobium-VAM symbionts on photosynthesis, Nmetabolism and sucrose translocation in greengram. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 67 : 245-248.

Yakadri, M., Ramesh, T. and Rao, L. M. (2002). Effect ofnitrogen and phosphorus on growth and yield ofgreen gram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek). LegumeRes. 25 : 139-141.

44 Choudhary, Sadhu and Gediya

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 45-46 (2010)

Response of semi rabi castor (Ricinus communis L.) cv. GCH-5 to nitrogen andphosphorus levels under middle Gujarat conditions

M. H. CHAUDHARY AND A. C. SADHU

Department of Agronomy, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand 388 110 (Gujarat)

Castor is the most important non-edible oilseedand industrial crop of India and has prestigious place inIndian sub-continent from time immemorial. In Gujarat,castor is mostly grown under irrigated conditions in latekharif/semi rabi season under fallow-castor cropsequence. Among the major nutrients, nitrogen andphosphorus are the most important as well as expensivenutrients in agriculture productions. Castor is a longduration crop and high yield potential of castor hybridGCH-5 may require higher dose of nitrogen andphosphorus. Further, the nutrient requirements of castorin fallow-castor are entirely different from that grownafter kharif crops. In the present study, an attempt hasbeen made to assess the effect of different levels of Nand P on the growth, yield and nutrient uptake of semirabi castor crop.

The field experiment was conducted during semirabi season of the year 2007 at the Agronomy Farm, B.A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University,Anand on loamy sand soil. The experimental soil had theavailable N, P and K content of 185, 44.40 and 353.80kg/ha, respectively with pH 7.8. Twelve treatmentcombinations comprising four levels of nitrogen (0, 40,80 and 120 kg N/ha) and three levels of phosphorus (0,20 and 40 kg P2O5/ha) were tested in a factorialrandomized block design with four replications. Thecastor hybrid GCH-5 was sown at a spacing of 120cm × 60 cm on 14th September, 2007. The N and P wereapplied in each plot as per the treatments. Full dose ofP2O5 and half dose of N were applied as basal dose as pertreatments,while the remaining half N was top dressedtwice at 30-35 DAS and 70-75 DAS in two equal splits.Four irrigations were given as per the requirement of thecrop.

Nitrogen levels produce remarkable effects onthe growth and yield attributes (Table 1). Plant height at90 DAS, secondary branches per plant, number of spikesper plant and number of capsules on main spike weresignificantly higher under application of 120 kg N/ha ascompared to 0, 40 and 80 kg N/ha (Table 1). Number ofprimary branches per plant, length of main spike (Table1) , nutrient uptake and test weight (Table 2) of castor

seed were significantly higher under application of 120kg N/ha over control and 40 kg N/ ha, but it wasstatistically at par with application of 80 kg N/ha.

The seed and stalk yields (Table 2) wereincreased with increasing nitrogen level up to 80 kg N/ha and it also gave the highest values of net realization(Rs. 48012/ ha) and BCR (3.51). Similar results werereported by Saila Sree and Reddy (2003) and Sardana etal. (2008). Application of 120 kg N/ha also producedsignificantly higher seed and stalk yields over controland 40 kg N/ ha, but it was statistically at par withapplication of 80 kg N/ha.

Number of capsules per main spike, number ofspikes per plant (Table 1), test weight of castor seed aswell as nitrogen uptake (Table 2) were significantly higherunder application of 40 kg P2O5/ha over control, but itwas statistically at par with application of 20 kg P2O5/ha.Singh (2002) and Sardana et al. 2008 reported simialrresults. Plant height at 90 DAS, number of primarybranches per plant, number of secondary branches perplant, length of main spike were significantly the highestunder application of 40 kg P2O5/ha over the control and20 kg P2O5/ha treatments (Table 1).

The seed and stalk yields as well as phosphorus andpotassium uptake (Table 2) were also increased with increasingphosphorus level and application of 40 kg P2O5 /ha producedsignificantly the highest seed and stalk yields and phosphorusand potassium uptake over control and 20 kg P2O5/ha andgave the maximum net return (Rs. 38710/ha). These findingsare in agreement with those reported by Sutaria et al.(1998).

REFERENCES

Saila Sree, S. P. and Reddy, B. B. (2003). Effect of differentlevels of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth andyield of summer castor after kharif rice. J. OilseedsRes. 20 (1): 93-95.

Sardana, V., Singh, J. and Bajaj, R. K. (2008). Investigationon sowing time, plant density and nutrientrequirements of hybrid castor (Ricinus communis

L.) for the non-traditional area of Punjab. J. OilseedsRes. 25 (1): 41-43.

Singh, I. (2002). Performance of castor (Ricinus communisL.) variety GCH 4 at varying nitrogen andphosphorus levels under irrigated situation. AnnalsArid Zone. 41 (1): 101-103.

Sutria, G. S., Hirpara, D. S., Akbari, K. N., Khokhani, M. N.and Yusufzai, A. S. (1998). Response of castor tonitrogen and phosphorus fertilization under dryfarming condition. Indian J. Agric.Res. 32 (3): 185-189.

Table 1. Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth and yield attributes and economics

Treatments Plant Number of branches/ Length of Number of Number of 100-seedheight at plant main of of spikes weight90 DAS spike capsules per (g)

(cm) Primary Secondary (cm) of main plantspike

Nitrogen levels (N kg/ha)N0 : 0 107.4 3.5 6.5 52.9 58.8 9.1 30.2N1 : 40 135.8 3.8 6.9 60.4 64.1 10.7 30.6N2 : 80 151.6 3.8 7.0 66.4 66.7 10.6 32.1N3 : 120 170.3 4.1 7.4 67.8 71.5 11.6 32.8C. D. (P=0.05) 6.65 0.35 0.35 4.39 4.11 0.63 0.98Phosphorus levels (P2O5 kg/ha)P0 : 0 131.9 3.6 6.7 59.5 62.8 10.1 30.9P1 : 20 142.8 3.7 6.9 60.3 65.1 10.4 31.6P2 : 40 148.9 4.1 7.3 65.7 68.0 10.9 31.9C. D. (P=0.05) 5.76 0.30 0.30 3.80 3.56 0.54 0.85

Table 2. Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on quality, nutrient uptake by seed, yield and economics

Treatments Seed Stalk Nutrient uptake (kg /ha) Net BCR Oilyield yield returns content

(kg/ha) (kg/ha) Nitrogen Phosphorus Potash (Rs./ha) in seed(%)

Nitrogen levels (N kg /ha)N0 : 0 2280 4338 64.3 15.2 27.8 36627 3.03 48.7N1 : 40 2895 4901 90.1 19.6 34.0 40318 3.07 48.9N2 : 80 3422 5833 109.4 24.3 41.1 48012 3.51 49.0N3 : 120 3560 5974 116.0 25.5 44.7 47961 3.37 49.0C. D. (P=0.05) 263.7 470.3 11.49 2.87 4.50 - - NSPhosphorus levels (P2O5 kg/ha)P0 : 0 2658 4468 81.6 17.4 32.7 36627 3.03 48.8P1 : 20 3078 5382 96.5 21.0 37.0 31703 2.45 48.8P2 : 40 3382 5936 106.8 25.1 41.0 38710 2.85 49.0C. D. (P=0.05) 228.4 407.3 9.95 2.48 3.90 - - NS

46 Choudhary and Sadhu

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 47-48 (2010)

On-farm performance of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) genotypesunder different fertility levels

N. K. JAIN1, S. R. MALOO2 AND HARI SINGH3

All India Coordinated Research Project on Integrated Farming Systems (On-Farm Research),Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur-313001, India

Fenugreek, commonly known as methi(Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), is an important seedspice crop of India whose every part is utilized as leafyvegetable, fodder and condiment. It is cultivated over anarea of 40495 ha with the production and productivityof 47228 tonnes and 1166 kg/ha, respectively in Rajasthan(GOR, 2006). Its productivity is quite low as comparedto its genetic potential. Lack of information on suitablegenotypes and judicious nutrient management are thebasic reasons for low productivity. Hence, the presentinvestigation “On-farm performance of differentfenugreek genotypes to different fertility levels wasundertaken.

A field experiment was conducted during rabiseason of 2006-07 at farmer’s field in Gumanpura villageof Vallabhnagar tehsil of Udaipur district situated in Sub-humid, Southern Plain and Aravalli Hills Zone of Rajasthan.The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture,having pH 8.2 with 0.53 % organic carbon, 12.3 kg/haavailable phosphorus and 290 kg/ha available potassiumstatus. The experiment was laid out in randomized blockdesign with 3 replications, consisting of 5 genotypes (RMt1, RMt 143, PRM 70, PRM 45 and PRM 57) and 3fertility levels (75, 100 and 125 % recommended dosesof N and P2O5). The crop was sown in the first week ofNovember, 2006 and harvested in the last week of March,2007. The gross plot size was 5m x 3m. Therecommended dose of fertilizers was 20 kg N and 40 kgP2O5/ha. Full amounts of nitrogen through urea andphosphorus through single super phosphate were appliedat the time of sowing as per treatments. A pre-sowingirrigation of 5 cm depth was applied. Besides, the cropwas raised with recommended package of practices. Thecrop was evaluated in terms of growth and yieldattributes, seed and straw yields as well as net returnsand benefit : cost ratio.

Among genotypes, PRM 45 recordedsignificantly taller plants (75.8 cm) as compared to restof the genotypes except RMt 143 (Table 1). Yieldattributes viz., number of pods/plant (36.4), pod length(9.9 cm) and number ol seeds/pod (14.8) were alsosigniticantly higher in genotype PRM 45 over rest of thegenotypes except RMt 143. Genotype RMt 1 recordedthe lowest values of all growth and yield attributes.Because of the highest values of all the yield attributes,genotype PRM 45 significantly outyielded over all thegenotypes tested except RMt 143. The per cent increasein seed yield of PRM 45 was 24.6, 17.9 and 12.6 overRMt 1, PRM 70 and PRM 57, respectively. Varietalvariation in yield and yield attributes might be due to thegenetic differences in the genotypes. Straw yield alsofollowed the same trend. PRM 45 also recorded themaximum net returns (Rs 28,906/ha) and benefit : costratio (3.01 : 1) over rest of the genotypes.

Successive increase in fertility levels up to 125%of recommended dose of N and P significantly increasedthe plant height, number of pods/plant, pod length andnumber of seeds/pod over the lower fertility levels. Thistreatment also produced significantly higher seed yield(2018 kg/ha) over the preceding levels. The improvementin seed yield was 19.8 and 8.7 per cent over 75 and100% of recommended dose of fertilizers, respectively.Straw yield also followed the same trend. This might bedue to increased availability of nitrogen and phosphorus,leading to better nutritional environment in the root zonefor plant growth. Increased vegetative growth providedmore sites for translocation of photosynthates andultimately resulted in higher number of yield attributesand yield. Jat et al. (2003) and Bhunia et al. (2006) alsoreported similar results. Application of 125 %recommended dose of fertilizers also recorded themaximum net returns (Rs 28,005/ha) and benefit : cost

1Principal Scientist (Agronomy). Directorate of Groundnut Research. Junagadh (Gujarat)-362 0012Director Research. Directorate of Research. MPUAT. Udaipur3Assistant Professor (Ag. Economics)

ratio (2.91:1) over the lower levels.Thus, it could be concluded that fenugreek

genotype PRM 45 along with 125 % of recommendeddose of fertilizers (25 kg N and 50 kg P can berecommended for cultivation in Sub-humid SouthernPlain and Aravalli Hills Zone of Rajasthan.

RE FE RENCES

Bhunia. S.R., Chauhan, R.P.S., Yadav, B.S. and Bhati, A.S.(2006). Effect of phosphorus, irrigation and

Table 1. Effect of fertility levels on performance of fenugreek genotypes

Treatment Plant No. of Pod No. of Seed Straw Net Benefit :height pods/ length seeds/ yield yield returns cost(cm) plant (cm) pod (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (Rs./ha) ratio

GenotypesPRM 70 69.7 33.8 8.3 12.9 1733 4346 22462 2.56 : 1PRM 45 75.8 36.4 9.9 14.8 2044 4789 28906 3.01 : 1PRM 57 71.6 34.0 8.7 13.4 1815 4440 24139 2.68 : 1RMt 1 (C) 68.7 31.8 7.7 12.3 1641 4260 20568 2.43 : 1RMt 143 (C) 73.8 35.6 9.2 13.8 2028 4517 28445 2.98 : 1C. D. (P=0.05) 2.1 1.5 0.82 1.4 196 148 3909 0.27Fertility levels (N : P2O5 kg/ha)75% RDF 69.7 32.4 8.0 12.5 1684 4295 21741 2.54 : 1100% RDF 71.9 34.5 8.8 13.3 1856 4467 24967 2.74 : 1125% RDF 74.0 36.0 9.5 14.5 2018 4649 28005 2.91 : 1C. D. (P=0.05) 1.7 1.2 0.63 1.1 152 114 3028 0.21

RDF : Recommended dose of fertilizers.

Rhizobium on productivity, water use and nutrientuptake in fenugreek (Trigonella foenum- graecum).Indian I Agron. 51 : 239-41.

GOR (2006). Directorate of Economics and Statistics (2005-06). Government of Rajasthan. Jaipur.

Jat, R. S., Sharma, O. P., Shivran, A. C. and Singh, Ummed.(2003). Growth, yield and economics of fenugreek(Trigonella foenum-graecum) as influenced byfeitility levels and biofèrtilizer. Agron. Digest 3 : 69-70.

48 Jain, Maloo and Singh

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 49-52 (2010)

Distribution of weed flora of wheat in south-western Haryana

SAMIR MONGA, O. P. NEHRA, ASHOK YADAV, S. S. PUNIA AND R. C. HASIJA

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, Haryana, India

Crop weed competition has been established asmajor deterrent for its low productivity. Weeds possessthe ability to change with the farm production practicesin a geographical area. The information on theoccurrence of weed flora in wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) under different production practices in south-westernHaryana was lacking. The present study was undertakento document information on composition of weed florainfesting wheat under different cropping patterns, soiltypes, and qualities of tube-well water and sources ofirrigation water in five districts viz., Sirsa, Fatehabad,Hisar, Bhiwani and Mahendergarh of south-westernHaryana. Knowledge regarding severity of weedinfestation and weed composition will help in formulatingsound weed management strategies.

A survey of weed flora of wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) was conducted during March, 2003 inSirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Mahendergarhdistricts of south-western Haryana. This period waschosen only because it depicted the most appropriaterepresentation of majority of weed species. The weedsby this time had cumulative effects of soil types,environmental factors and all agronomic practicesincluding fertilizer and irrigation applications and weedcontrol measures adopted during initial growth anddevelopment period. The road map of south-westernHaryana state was followed and the routes were plannedto establish sampling localities (fields) as equidistantlyas possible (about 10 kms) avoiding inhabited areas, brickkilns, canals and uncultivated land. Randomly fourobservations on the density of individual weed wererecorded per field from four fields at one spot by using

a quadrate of 0.5 X 0.5m, 80-100 meter deep inside thefields on either side of the road. Ninety eight fields havingnine cropping patterns were surveyed (Table 1). Weeddensity (No./m2), relative density (%) and occurrenceof weeds were calculated. Counting of individual weedspecies was done as per the method described by Mishra(1968).

The data revealed that maximum number ofsampling localities was recorded under cotton (48)followed by rice (21) and bajra (18) based crop rotations,respectively.

The data in Table 2 revealed that out of 26 weedspecies found in wheat crop throughout the five districtsof south-western Haryana, Chenopodium album L. (14plants/m2) was found to be the most dominant andaggressive weed whereas Phalaris minor Retz. (13plants/m2), Melilotus indica (11 plants/m2), Anagallisarvensis L. (9 plants/m2), Trigonella polycerata (9 plants/m2), Rumex dentatus L. (9 plants/m2), Vicia sativa L. (8plants/m2), Convolvulus arvensis L. (8 plants/m2),Spergula arvensis (7 plants/m2) and Fumaria parviflora(7 plants/m2) were found to be in descending order ofinfestation. Occurrence of weed species in differenttypes of soils was recorded in descending order ofmagnitude as: sandy loam > loamy sand > clay loam >sandy soils. Infestation of Chenopodium murale L. wasfound maximum under brackish tube-well water whereasthose of Circium arvense L. and Avena lodoviciana Dur.under moist loamy sand soil. The higher density and theoccurrence of weed species were recorded both undercanal water and good quality tube-well water. Malvaparviflora, a robust dicotyledonous weed, which was

Table 1. Sampling localities of wheat under different cropping patterns in 5 districts of south-western Haryana

Disrict Cropping patterns

Cotton Bajra Jowar Rice Guar Maize Moong G. nut Fallow Total

Sirsa 17 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 25Fatehabad 16 0 1 6 0 1 0 0 0 24Hisar 13 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 1 23Bhiwani 2 8 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 16Mahendergarh 0 7 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 10Total 48 18 4 21 1 1 1 1 3 98

considered to be weed of non-cropped areas, also showedits presence in this area with low density (4 plants/m2)whereas population of some other weed species wasobserved alike. The percentage of Circium arvense (67%)and Avena ludoviciana (50%) exhibited the highestpercentage in loamy sand soil. Chenopodium album(57%) and Chenopodium murale (56%) exhibited thehighest percentage under sandy loam soil. Infestation ofPhalaris minor, Chenopodium album, Melilotus indica,Anagallis arvensis, Trigonella polycerata, Rumexdentatus,Convolvulus arvensis, Chenopodium murale,Polypogon monsplensis, Sonchus arvensis, Fumariaparviflora and Sisybrium irio ranged from 5 to 57 percent on all types of soils in the whole tract of 5 districts.The present results have close association with the earlier

observations of several research workers (Andreasen etal., 1991; Singh et al., 1995; Punia et al. 1996; Kumariet al. 1999; Panwar et al., 2000 and Sardana et al.,2001).

Circium arvense (70), Polypogon monspeliensis(62), Cyperus rotundus (60), Medicago denticulata (54),Lathyrus aphaca (54), Vicia sativa (54), Anagallisarvensis (52), Malva parviflora (52), Sonchus arvensis(52), Poa annua (50), Phalaris minor (50) and Cynodondactylon (50) marked their presence in descendingorder and exhibited >50 % occurrence under canalirrigation water (Table 3). Whereas, Chenopodiummurale (64), Asphodelus tenuifolius (43) andChenopodium album (40) recorded >40% occurrenceunder tube-well water. Melilotus indica (50), Anagallis

Table 2. Weed density (No./m2), relative density (%) and per cent (%) occurrence of weeds with respect to soil types, sources of irrigationand quality of tube well water

Weed species Weed Relative Per cent (%) occurrence of weedsdensity density(No./m2) (%) Soil types Sources of irrigation Quality of tube well water

Sandy Sandy Clay Loamy Canal Tube Both Good Marginal Brackishloam loam sand well

Phalaris minor* 13 9.0 7 48 20 25 50 10 40 50 29 21Avena ludoviciana* 5 3.5 0 40 10 50 44 6 50 50 50 0Chenopodium album** 14 9.7 9 57 9 25 30 40 30 40 40 20Melilotus indica** 11 7.6 11 45 13 31 30 20 50 50 50 0Melilotus alba** 2 1.4 0 35 33 32 34 32 34 50 50 0Anagallis arvensis** 9 6.3 9 44 19 28 52 16 32 60 40 0Trigonella polycerata** 9 6.3 5 49 30 16 34 16 50 50 50 0Asphodelus tenuifolius** 3 2.1 60 30 0 10 27 43 30 30 50 20Spergula arvensis** 7 4.8 0 44 28 28 42 12 46 50 50 0Convolvulus arvensis** 8 5.5 5 45 22 28 32 32 36 37 45 18Vicia sativa** 8 5.5 0 45 39 16 54 12 34 67 33 0Circium arvensis** 3 2.1 0 0 33 67 70 0 30 100 0 0Rumex dentatus** 9 6.3 5 40 13 42 35 14 51 32 52 16Lathyrus aphaca** 6 4.2 0 51 17 32 34 16 30 67 33 0Chenopodium murale** 3 2.1 11 56 19 14 9 64 27 0 28 72Poa annua* 2 1.4 0 44 37 19 50 22 28 67 33 0Malva parviflora** 4 2.8 0 42 34 24 52 16 32 67 33 0Medicago denticulata** 2 1.4 0 36 40 24 54 6 40 67 33 0Polypogon monspeliensis* 4 2.8 11 44 26 19 62 19 19 50 50 0Coronopus didymus** 6 4.2 0 48 35 17 37 18 45 67 33 0Sonchus arvensis** 2 1.4 9 36 37 18 52 24 24 50 50 0Fumaria parviflora** 7 4.8 7 52 26 15 33 22 45 50 50 0Euphorbia dracunculoides** 2 1.4 0 46 23 31 44 11 45 100 0 0Cyperus rotundus*** 2 1.4 0 20 40 40 60 0 40 100 0 0Cynodon dactylon* 2 1.4 0 0 50 50 50 10 40 100 0 0Sisybrium irio** 1 0.7 9 46 18 27 31 35 34 100 0 0

*Grassy weed, ** Broad leaf weed, *** Sedge.

50 Monga, Nehra, Yadav, Punia ans Hasija

Table 3. Per cent (%) occurrence of weeds in wheat under different cropping patterns

Weed species Per cent (%) occurrence of weeds in relation to cropping patterns

Bajra Cotton Fallow G.nut Guar Jowar Maize Moong Rice

Phalaris minor * 13 27 0 0 0 10 5 0 45Avena ludoviciana * 12 30 0 0 0 8 10 0 40Chenopodium album** 9 20 0 0 9 20 20 0 22Melilotus indica** 10 32 0 0 8 14 18 0 18Melilotus alba** 10 20 10 10 10 10 0 10 20Anagallis arvensis** 18 18 10 10 12 0 17 0 15Trigonella polycerata** 10 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 18Asphodelus tenuifolius** 30 60 0 0 0 0 10 0Spergula arvensis** 9 10 10 12 0 15 12 10 22Convolvulus arvensis** 14 14 20 25 13 5 0 9 0Vicia sativa** 15 18 12 12 18 0 0 12 13Circium arvensis** 16 36 0 0 0 0 12 0 36Rumex dentatus** 9 36 0 0 0 20 10 0 25Lathyrus aphaca** 18 15 0 0 20 15 15 0 17Chenopodium murale** 35 22 0 0 0 21 0 0 22Poa annua* 18 20 9 0 0 20 15 0 18Malva parviflora** 15 20 10 15 10 0 15 15 0Medicago denticulata** 13 15 0 14 0 0 18 25 15Polypogon monspeliensis* 10 9 15 12 15 14 15 0 10Coronopus didymus** 25 25 0 0 0 15 0 10 25Sonchus arvensis** 8 0 12 20 20 20 20 0 0Fumaria parviflora** 10 0 0 10 10 10 10 40 10Euphorbia dracunculoides** 10 0 15 0 35 20 20 0 0Cyperus rotundus*** 16 15 0 0 20 23 10 0 16Cynodon dactylon* 20 22 0 0 10 18 20 0 10Sisybrium irio** 46 17 0 0 19 18 0 0 0

arvensis, Trigonella polycerata, Rumex dentatus, Viciasativa, Convolvulus arvensis, Spergula arvensis,Fumaria parviflora, Avena ludoviciana,Coronopusdidymus and Euphorbia dracunculoides recorded morethan 45% occurrence under both types of water.Chenopodium album, Convolvulus arvensis andSisybrium irio recorded almost at par occurrence underthree sources of irrigation water.

Chenopodium murale (72%), Phalaris minor(21%), Chenopodium album (20%), Asphodelustenuifolius (20%), Convolvulus arvensis (18%) and Rumexdentatus (16%) exhibited occurrence in descending orderunder brackish quality of tube-well water .Whereas, theother weeds did not occur. Spergula arvensis, Anagallisarvensis and Melilotus indica exhibited 50, 40 and 50%occurrence under marginal quality of water, respectively.Melilotus alba occurred under both good and marginalquality. As high as 67% occurrence was noticed for

Coronopus didymus, Medicago denticulata, Malvaparviflora, Poa annua, Lathyrus aphaca and Vicia sativawhereas 60% occurrence was recorded for Anagllisarvensis under good quality tube well water. Roy et al.(1980) and Voigt et al. (1981) also reported alike findingson weed population.

The highest percentage of both Phalaris minor(45%) and Avena ludoviciana (40%) was found underrice-wheat cropping system whereas that of Rumexdentatus was recorded 35, 25 and 20% under cotton-wheat, rice-wheat and jowar-wheat cropping patterns,respectively. Chenopodium murale exhibited 35, 20, 20and 20% infestation under bajra, cotton, jowar and rice-wheat cropping patterns, respectively. Saavedra et al.(1990) also found significant influence of croppingpattern, type of irrigation, weed control measures andenvironmental factors on the intensity and compositionof weeds.


REFERENCES

Andreasen, Streibig, J.C. and Hass, H. (1991). Soilproperties affecting the distribution of 37 weedspecies in Danish fields. Weed Res. 31 : 181-187.

Kumari, Kanin; Pandey, M.K. and Kanna, K. (1999). Surveyof weeds in wheat (rabi) at Rohtas district during1996-97. Environ. and Ecology. 17 (1): 222-223.

Mishra, R. (1968). Ecological Work Book. Oxford and IBHPublishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi p. 44.

Panwar, L.G., Yaduraju, N.T. and Ahuja, K.N. (2000).Population dynamics of weed flora and their growthin tall and dwarf wheat as influenced by sub optimallevels of irrigation and nitrogen. Indian J. WeedSci. 21(3-4): 25-28.

Punia, S.S., Malik, Y. P. and Singh, B. P. (1996). Weedflora of rabi crops in different farming situationsin Jind and Hisar districts of Haryana. Indian J.Weed Sci. 28(1-2): 8-10.

Roy, G. P., Shetty, B. V. and Mann, H. S. (1980). The impactof canal irrigation on the flora of Rajasthan desert:Arid Zone Res. Develop : 183-189.

Saavedra, K., Torres, L.G., Bermejo E. H. and Hildago. B.(1990). Influence of environmental factors on theweed flora in crop in the Guadalquivir Valley. WeedRes. 30 : 363-374.

Sardana, Virender; Walia, U.S. and Mahajan, Gulshan.(2001). Management of broadleaf weeds in wheat(Triticum aestivum). Indian J. Weed Sci. 33 (1&2) :69-71 .

Singh, Samunder ; Malik, R. K. ; Balyan, R. S. and Singh,Samar. (1995). Distribution of weed flora of wheatin Haryana. Indian J. Weed Sci. 27 (3-4): 114-121.

Voigt. H., Feyerabend, G., Voges, M., Ethrenpfordt. V. andFischer, W. (1981). Effects of irrigation on weedpopulation. Archiv-furphytopathologia-und-pflanzenschulez. 17(6): 397-404.

52 Monga, Nehra, Yadav, Punia ans Hasija

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 53-54 (2010)

Prospects of agri-tourism in Haryana

DAVENDER KUMAR, S. K. MEHTA, A. K. GODARA, R. S. HUDDA AND SHRUTI SHARMA

Department of Extension Education, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004

Agri-tourism is the holiday’s concept of visitinga working farm or any agricultural, horticultural, or agri-business operations for the purpose of enjoyment,education, or involvement in the activities of the farm oroperation. Agri-tourism on the farms enables farmers todiversify their activities while enhancing the value of theirproducts and property. This tourism also helps to reconcilefarming interests and environmental protection throughintegrated land management in which farmers continueto play a key role (Gopal et al., 2008). Agri-tourism offerfarmers the opportunity to earn higher profits bydiversifying/replacing their traditional operations. Tourismdevelopment in India has been very interesting. India hasentered amongst the top 10 tourist destinations list (CondeNast Travellor – A leading European Travel Magazine).India is already established as one of the top touristdestination in the world and is also becoming more andmore popular for Medical Tourism and Agri-Tourism(Aneja, 2005). In Haryana state, farm tourism wasformally launched on World Tourism Day i.e. 27September, 2003. The concept of farm tourism envisagesinvolvement of private sector farmers/farm house ownersbased on public-private partnership. The farm-houses haveclean, hygienic environment with modern facilities forcomfort of visitors. Preference is given to farm that haveagricultural land attached. The farm house owner issupposed to provide home cooked food, stay facilitiesand show to the visitor the agricultural practices such asfloriculture, bee keeping, dairying, different agriculturaloperations e.g. harvesting etc. and introduce to him thevillage way through various participatory activities.

The state of Haryana has location advantage beingnearer to national capital, Delhi. There are five NationalHighways that pass via Haryana to different states of thecountry and such type of agriculture looks more feasibleon the sides of National Highways. Moreover, the farmersare resourceful and innovative in Haryana and they canstart this new agriculture concept. Therefore, keeping inview the above facts, the prospects of agri-tourism inHaryana were studied. The study was conducted during2009 in Haryana state. Innovative farmers having theirown farms situated on the following five national highwayspassing through Haryana to the other parts of the country

were taken as respondents for the study.

1. National Highway No. 1 Delhi to Amritsar.2. National Highway No. 2 Delhi to Mathura.3. National Highway No. 8 Delhi to Jaipur.4. National Highway No. 10 Delhi to Fazilka.5. National Highway No. 65 Ambala to Pali.

For the selection of the respondents, officialrecords were reviewed and personal contacts were madewith the extension functionaries of Haryana. A surveyof farms was conducted on the above mentionedhighways. Agri-tourism being a new concept, it wasdifficult to find large number of farmers who had optedthis profession. As many as 80 farmers, who wereregistered with Haryana tourism or having equivalentcapacity to provide all types of facilities on their farms,were taken as the respondents of the study. ‘Prospects’as a variable were measured by constructing a structuredschedule. After discussion with the faculty of extensioneducation, extension workers and running agriculturaltourism owners, eighteen statements were preparedhighlighting the prospects (Table 1). These statementswere adjudged on a three-point continuum i.e. veryserious, serious and not so serious having the score of3, 2 and 1, respectively. In this way, a total score foreach statement was calculated separately and based uponthese total scores the mean score for each statementwas worked out and the rank orders were allotted toevery statement.

‘Prospects’ mean the future or further scopeof any thing. If there is no future scope, no farmer isgoing to adopt this profession. Therefore, the agri-tourism owners were enquired about the prospects ofagri-tourism. For this, they were provided with a list ofeighteen statements which was prepared after giving adeep thought and a detailed discussion with the expertsand the owners of the farms. The respondents wereasked to rate these statements on a three point continuumas a multiple choice answer. A mean score for eachstatement was worked out based upon the total scoresit obtained and accordingly rank orders were allotted toall the statements. Tourists who choose farm

accommodation rather than other kinds ofaccommodation facilities look for genuine ruralatmosphere where they can share intimacy of thehousehold they live in, learn traditional crafts and skillswith their hosts, make friends which is a quality, moderntimes have almost forgotten and above all enjoy homemade food and drinks. Some specific food labels canhelp consumers establish a local produce and can beused as a selling point to tourist who want to taste homegrown quality food and drink.

The table highlights that additional income fromthe agri-tourism was the most important prospect witha mean score 2.20 and was ranked at the top. The agri-tourism may do better for health and environment wasanother important area of prospects with a mean scoreof 2.17 and was given the second rank. Small scaleagri-tourism industry growth and providing of fresh farmproduct to consumer were also the important areas andwere ranked third and fourth with a mean score of 2.15and 2.11, respectively.

The other important prospects of agri-tourismwhich were also rated by the respondents were closenesswith nature (1.94), satisfaction with agri-tourism (1.88),better infrastructure development (1.88), desire for peaceand tranquility (1.74) and provide local culture & heritageto tourists (1.66).

The data in table 1 further indicates that therespondents gave 10th rank to the better life style with amean score of 1.58 followed by curiosity in natural

Table 1. Prospects of agri-tourismN=80

S. Statements Total Mean RankNo. score score order

1. Additional income from the agri-tourism 176 2.20 I2. Better for health and environment 173 2.17 II3. Small scale agro-industry growth 172 2.15 III4. Available of fresh farm products to consumer 168 2.11 IV5. Closeness with nature 155 1.94 V6. Satisfaction with agri tourism 150 1.88 VI7. Better infrastructure development 150 1.88 VII8. Desire for peace and tranquility 139 1.74 VIII9. Apprises about local culture and heritage to tourists 132 1.66 IX10. Better lifestyle 126 1.58 X11. Curiosity in natural environment 116 1.46 XI12. Provides diversification into agriculture 105 1.32 XII13. Identity with agri-tourism 96 1.21 XIII14. Employment opportunity 89 1.12 XIV15. Rural recreation and entertainment 88 1.10 XV16. An inexperience gateway 86 1.08 XVI17. Awareness about sustainable development 85 1.06 XVII18. Efficient use of manpower 84 1.05 XVIII

environment (1.46), provides diversification in agriculture(1.32), identity with agri-tourism (1.21), employmentopportunity (1.12), rural recreation and entertainment (1.10)and an inexperience gateway (1.08). Awareness aboutsustainable development (1.06) was placed at the last butone position while efficient use of man power was kept(1.05) at the bottom with 17th and 18th ranks, respectively.

The first rank order given to additional incomefrom the agri-tourism will serve the purpose of prospectsmotivating other farmers to opt for this profession in away that majority of the farmers are concerned mainlywith the increase in economic returns/monitory benefits.Agri-tourism has not only increased the profit levels buthas also helped the farmers develop their self-esteemand also given them a new meaning to life. Agri-tourismhas also helped the farmers to effectively use the availableresources and it requires no special qualifications. Onthe basis of results obtained, it can be concluded thatprospects of agri-tourism as a diversified sector ofagriculture may be high in future.

REFERENCES

Aneja P. (2005). Tourism Growth in India, Kurukshetra,53(8) : 11-14.

Gopal R, Varma, S. and Gopinathan, R. (2008). RuralTourism Development: Constraints andPossibilities with a special reference to AgriTourism. Conference on Tourism in India-Challenges, 15-17 May 2008, IIMK.

54 Kumar, Mehta, Godara, Hudda ans Sharma

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 55-57 (2010)

Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum durum Desf.) tobiofertilizers under varying fertility levels

D. R. PATEL, A. U. AMIN1, A. M . PATEL2 and B. J. PATEL3

Wheat Research Station, S. D. Agricultural Research Station, Vijapur-382870, Distt. Mehsana (North Gujarat), India

1Professor (Agronomy), Centre of Excellence for Research on Spices, S. D. Agril. University, Jagudan-382710, Distt. Mehsana.2Associate Director (Crop Science), Office of the Director of Research, S. D. Agril. University, S. K. Nagar-385506, Distt. Banaskantha.3Asso. Res. Sci. (Seed Tech), Agril. Research Station, S. D. Agricultural Research Station, Ladol-382870, Distt. Mehsana.

The significant increase in crop productionachieved through green revolution came mainly by theuse of improved high yielding varieties and greater inputof fertilizers and plant protection chemicals, at the costof soil health. As a result, in spite of liberal application ofNPK fertilizers, a declining or stagnating yield trend wasfound which might be attributed to multiple nutrientdeficiencies and imbalance of nutrients. With the shortsupply and escalating price of chemical fertilizers, anincreasing awareness in favour of adopting biologicalroutes of soil fertility management for preventing soildegradation and for sustaining crop production invitedattention. In wheat, an integrated approach of nutrientsupplying by chemical fertilizers along with biofertilizersis gaining importance because this system not onlyreduces the use of inorganic fertilizers but is alsoenvironmental friendly. Hence, an experiment was plannedto study the effect of biofertilizer with different levelsof nitrogen and phosphorus on growth, yield andeconomics of wheat.

The field trial was conducted during rabi seasonof 2002-2003 at Main Wheat Research Station, S. D.Agril. University, Vijapur (North Gujarat). The soil ofexperiment was loamy sand with 8.35 pH. The availablesoil N, P and K were 160, 93.3 and 256 kg/ha,respectively at 0-15 cm depth. The experiment consistedof 18 treatments comprising combinations of twovarieties viz.; GW 322 (aestivum) and GW 1139 (durum),three levels of nitrogen i.e. 60 kg N/ha + Azotobacterchroococcum strain ABA 1, 90 kg N/ha + Azotobacterchroococcum strain ABA 1 and 120 kg N/ha and threephosphorus levels i.e. 30 kg P2O5/ha + PSB Bacilluscirculense strain PBA 4, 45 kg P2O5/ha + PSB Bacilluscirculense strain PBA 4 and 60 kg P2O5/ha alone wereevaluated in factorial Randomized block design with fourreplications. Prior to sowing the wheat seeds wereinoculated @ 30 g/kg seed with each of Azotobacterchroococcum strain ABA 1 and PSB (Phosphorus

Solublizing Bacteria i.e. Bacillus circulense strain PBA4).

Marked differences in the productive attributesviz.; spike length, number of spikelets/spike, number ofgrains/spike, grain weight/plant and test weight wererecorded in both the aestivum and durum wheat varieties(Table 1) did not differ appreciably with each other fornumber of effective tillers/m. The increase in spike length(7.39 cm), number of spikelets/spike (13.45), numberof grains/spike (48.65) and grain weight/plant (28.89 g)under the variety GW 322 were 36.85, 8.55, 20.83 and14.09 per cent higher, respectively than durum wheatGW 1139. Different genetic constituents might beresponsible for higher yield attributes in GW 322 (GAU,2002). Whereas, the test weight was higher in durumvariety GW 1139 to the tune of 40.51 per cent than GW322. Grain size was an inherent character of wheat cropwhich might have produced bolder sized grains in GW1139 as compared to GW 322 (GAU, 2002).

As compared to GW 1139 (durum), aestivumwheat variety GW 322 produced appreciably higher grainand straw yields. GW 322 yielded 47.15 q/ha grain and59.44 q/ha straw which was 20.37 and 22.02 per centhigher than those of GW 1139 respectively. The increasein grain and straw yields in GW 322 might be due to itssuperiority in yield attributes. The retuls corroborate thefindings of Narang et al., (2000).

The yield attributes viz.; number of effectivetillers/m, spike length, number of spikelets/spike, numberof grains/spike, grain weight/plant and test weightincreased with increase in nitrogen levels but significantimprovement was noted up to 90 kg N/ha + Azotobacter,except in case of test weight where the increase wasnoted up to 120 kg/ha. In comparison with 60 kg N/ha +Azotobacter, the extent of increase, in number of effectivetillers/m, spike length, number of spikelets/spike, numberof grains/spike and grain weight/plant under treatment of120 kg N/ha were 7.89, 64.47, 17.34, 10.84 and 7.78 per

Tabl

e1. Y

ield

and

yie

ld a

ttrib

utin

g ch

arac

ters

of w

heat

as i

nflu

ence

d by

diff

eren

t var

iety

, nitr

ogen

and

pho

spho

rus l

evel

s

Trea

tmen

tN

o. o

f tot

alN

o. o

fSp

ike

No.

of

No.

of

Gra

inTe

stG

rain

Stra

wH

arve

stN

etB

enef

it : C

ost

tille

rs/

effe

ctiv

ele

ngth

spik

elet

s/gr

ains

/w

eigh

t/w

eigh

tyi

eld

yiel

din

dex

real

izat

ion

ratio

m ro

wtil

lers

/m(c

m)

spik

esp

ike

plan

t(g

)(q

/ha)

(q/h

a)(%

)(R

s./ha

)(B

CR

)(g

)

Vari

ety

GW

322

111.

7510

4.46

7.39

13.4

548

.65

28.8

942

.38

47.1

559

.44

44.2

424

317

2.30

GW

113

910

9.76

103.

205.

4012

.39

40.2

625

.32

59.5

539

.17

48.7

144

.62

2233

42.

16C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

1.98

NS

0.33

0.46

1.89

0.65

1.01

2.31

2.72

0.34

--

Nitr

ogen

leve

ls (

kg/h

a)60

+Azo

toba

cter

chro

ococ

cum

106.

8498

.98

4.56

11.7

041

.60

25.9

749

.45

40.5

249

.15

45.2

320

878

2.11

90+A

zoto

bact

er ch

rooc

occu

m11

1.93

105.

737.

1313

.26

45.6

627

.35

51.0

844

.37

55.4

444

.45

2448

62.

2912

011

3.50

106.

797.

5013

.80

46.1

127

.99

52.3

644

.58

57.6

443

.61

2461

12.

28C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

2.43

2.04

0.40

0.56

2.32

0.79

1.23

2.84

3.33

0.42

--

Phos

phor

us le

vels

(kg/

ha)

30+P

SB i.

e. B

acill

us ci

rcul

ense

109.

6210

2.84

6.23

12.5

743

.45

26.8

650

.53

42.2

152

.75

44.5

422

667

2.21

45+P

SB i.

e. B

acill

us ci

rcul

ense

110.

4510

3.99

6.42

13.0

244

.32

27.1

751

.05

43.4

754

.31

44.4

523

607

2.24

6011

2.19

104.

676.

5513

.16

45.6

027

.29

51.3

143

.79

55.1

844

.30

2370

12.

23C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

NS

--

56 Patel, Amin, Patel and Patel

cent, respectively except test weight which was at parwith 90 kg N/ha + Azotobacter. Increased trend in yieldattributes due to higher doses of nitrogen might have helpedin better translocation of photosynthetes from source tosink. Simultaneously inclusion of Azotobacter spp. mighthave helped in synthesis of growth promoting substances,and also added the readily available nitrogen in soil byasymbiotic nitrogen fixation which fulfill the nitrogenrequirement of crop resulted in vigorous growth andconsequently produced higher effective tillers/m, longerspikes, grains/spike, grain weight/plant and test weight.The findings are in close accordance with the report ofPatel et al., (1991) and Shushila and Giri (2000). Thesimilar trend was also observed for grain and straw yields.In comparison with 60 kg N/ha + Azotobacter, the extentof increase in grain and straw yields were 10.0 and 17.27per cent, respectively and it was also at par with 90 kg N/ha + Azotobacter. Azotobacter has the ability to fixappreciable amount of molecular nitrogen and make itavailable for plant growth and also increase the supply ofplant hormones (auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins) by themicro-organisms or by roots as a result of reaction tomicrobial colonization which might have resulted in higheryield attributes consequently grain yield (Avivi and Feldman1982). Similarly the increased production of food helpedin increasing plant height and number of total tillers/mwhich ultimately resulted in higher dry matter production(Sharma and Dhillon, 1993). The harvest index wasremarkably influenced by increasing levels of nitrogenbut it decreased with further increase in levels of nitrogen.Higher application of nitrogen might be responsible forbetter translocation of assimilates from leaves to sink i.e.grains which ultimately decreased harvest index.

Non-significant effect on number of effectivetillers/m, spike length, number of spikelets/spike, numberof grains/spike, grain weight/plant and test weight wererecorded due to phosphorus application, whichconsequently had no marked effect on grain and strawyields as well as harvest index. The poor response of Pmight be due to higher status of soil P which fulfills thephosphorus need of crop. Moreover, phosphatessolublizing bacteria increased P availability bysolublization of native as well as added phosphorusthrough production of organic acids (Gaur, 1990). Thus,application of P greater than 30 kg+PSB may not bebeneficial for harvesting economical yield of wheat.

The higher net realization of Rs. 24317/ha andBCR (2.30) were obtained with aestivum variety GW 322.This might be due to higher potentiality of aestivum wheat

as compared to durum wheat. Likewise, Rs. 24611/hanet realization was recorded with application of 120 kgN/ha alone which was closely followed by 90 kg N/ha +Azotobacter. i.e. Rs. 24486/ha. This might be due tobiofertilizer strain of bacteria supplemented 25 per centof recommended dose of nitrogen in wheat; which notonly reduced nitrogenous fertilizers (30 kg/ha) but alsoimproved the yield. Sushila and Giri (2000) also reportedsimilar findings of increased grain yield of wheat withapplication of biofertilizers. Unlike this, the highest BCRof 2.29 was obtained with application of 90 kg N/ha +Azotobacter. Use of biofertilizer reduced the fertilizer needof crop and cost of production and increase grain yieldmight be responsible for higher BCR value. P fertilizationwith or without biofertilizer did not increase net realizationand BCR to considerable extent. This might be due tonon-significant effect of different levels of P with orwithout culture on grain and straw yields.

REFERENCES

Avivi, Y and Feldman, M. (1982). The response of wheat tobacteria of genus Azospirillum. Israel J. Botany31 : 237-245.

G. A. U. (2002). GW 322 aestivum wheat variety released byXXXI Joint Agresco of the Research Council Sub-Committee, Gujarat Agricultural University, pp.15.

Gaur, A. C. (1990). Phosphate solublizing micro-organismsas biofertilizers, Omega Scientific Publishers, NewDelhi, pp.7-8.

Narang, R. S., Gill, M. S., Gosal, K. S. and Mahal, S. S.(2000). Irrigation and N- fertilizer requirements formaximum yield potential of wheat. J. Res. PunjabAgricultural University 37 (1-2) : 20-27.

Patel, N. M., Patel, R. B. and Patel, K. K. (1991). Responseof wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties on nitrogenand phosphorus. Indian J. Agron. 36 (suppl) : 255-256.

Sushila, R. and Giri, G. (2000). Influence of farmyard manure,nitrogen and biofertilizers on growth, yieldattributes and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) under limited water supply. Indian J. Agron. 45(3) : 590-595.

Sharma, J. S. and Dhillon, S. S. (1993). Effect of seed ratesand nitrogen levels on new genotypes (PBW 154and PBW 222) of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)Indian J. Agron. 38 (1) : 111-112.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 58-59 (2010)

Effect of integrated nutrient management on quality and nutrient uptake bybarley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

MUKESH KUMAR, A. S. BANGARWA, SATISH KUMAR AND O. P. NEHRA

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an importantrabi cereal. It is not only used as human food and feedfor livestock but also is used in the manufacture of malt,which is further utilized for brewing, distillation, babyfoods, cocoa, malt drinks and ayurvedic medicines fordiabetic patients.

The field experiment was conducted during therabi season of 2004-05 at Agronomy Research Farm ofCCS Haryana Agriculutral University, Hisar on sandyloam soil having pH (8.3), low organic carbon (0.33%)normal available nitrogen (182.4 kg ha-1) medium availablephosphorus (13.3 kg ha-1) and normal potassium (365.3kg/ha-1). The experiment comprised of fourteentreatments was laid out in randomized block design withthree replications. The sowing of barley variety BH-393 was done on 23rd November, 2004. The fourteentreatments were as follows T1-100% N and P2O5 frominorganic fertilizer (RD 60 kg N + 30 kg P2O5 per ha),T2-100% N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer +Azotobacter (AB), T3-100% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer + Phosphorus Solubilising Bacteria (PSB), T4-100% N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer + AB + PSB,T5 -75% N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer, T6 -75%N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer + AB, T7 -75% Nand P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer + PSB, T8 -75% Nand P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer + AB + PSB, T9 -100% N and P2O5 from vermicompost (VC), T10 -100%N and P2O5 from vermicompost + 25% N and P2O5 frominorganic fertilizer, T11- 75% N and P2O5 from VC +25% N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer, T12 -50% Nand P2O5 from VC + 50% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer, T13 – 25% N and P2O5 from VC + 75% N andP2O5 from inorganic fertilizer and T14 – Control (nofertilizer/ manure and biofertilizer) (Table-1)

Application of 100% inorganic fertilizerinoculated with Azotobacter and PSB (T-4) significantlyincreased the malt quality of barley over control (Table1. Malt content was adversely affected by nitrogen dose,higher fertilizer dose of nitrogen led to significantreduction in malt. Malt Homogeneity, hectoliter weightwas significantly increased due to 100% inorganicfertilizer inoculated with Azotobacter and PSB. Similarresults were also reported by Satyajeet et al., (2003).Higher protein content was recorded under 100%inorganic fertilizer inoculated with Azotobacter and PSB.Protein content was found at par both under 100%inorganic fertilizer inoculated with either Azotobacter (T-2) and PSB (T-3), similar results were found by Birchand Long (1990). Treatment 100% inorganic fertilizerinoculated with Azotobacter and PSB also broughtsignificantly maximum total uptake of NPK over control(no fertilizer/organic manure and biofertilizer). Singh etal. (1998) have also reported similar results.

REFERENCES

Birch, C. J. and Long, K. E. (1990). Effect of nitrogen onthe growth, yield and grain protein content ofbarley. Australion J. Exptl. Agric. 30 : 237-242.

Satyajeet; Joon , R. K. and Yadav, B. D. (2003). Effect ofnitrogen alone in combination with biofertilizer ongrowth and yield of barley. Haryana J. Agron. 19: 134-135.

Singh, A. K., Singh, S. B. and Yadava, H. S. (1998).Correlation and path analysis in barley genotypesof hull-less barley (Hordeum vulgare l. L.) Ann.Agric. Res. 19 : 20-23.

Tabl

e 1.

Effe

ct o

f int

egra

ted

nutri

ent m

anag

emen

t on

qual

ity, y

ield

and

nut

rient

upt

ake

of b

arle

y

Trea

tmen

tPr

otei

n co

nten

tM

alt

cont

ent

Mal

t Hom

ogen

eity

Hec

to li

tre w

t.Yi

eld

(q/h

a)To

tal n

utrie

nt u

ptak

e (k

g/ha

)(%

)(%

)(g

)G

rain

Stra

wN

PK

100%

IF (R

D 6

0 N

+30

P 2O5 k

g/ha

)7.

7480

.33

91.2

562

.738

.853

.661

.34

16.7

822

.81

100%

IF+A

B9.

0877

.95

92.6

763

.640

.759

.178

.86

20.7

825

.310

0% IF

+PSB

9.03

77.1

792

.02

63.5

40.6

58.9

85.0

721

.12

24.8

310

0% IF

+AB

+PSB

9.85

73.2

196

.28

64.8

40.9

59.6

87.5

621

.45

29.1

675

% IF

7.45

84.3

488

.16

61.9

32.6

47.7

48.3

812

.89

19.4

475

% IF

+AB

8.82

82.3

590

.86

63.0

34.8

51.1

61.4

316

.22

21.2

375

% IF

+PSB

7.79

78.4

390

.57

62.1

34.7

50.9

57.0

315

.31

20.8

775

% IF

+AB

+PSB

9.68

74.5

494

.42

64.1

35.0

51.1

71.5

517

.78

22.1

910

0% V

C8.

2381

.20

90.9

162

.232

.146

.050

.52

14.3

919

.23

100%

VC

+25%

IF8.

4380

.06

93.2

963

.632

.845

.856

.83

14.9

419

.76

75%

VC

+25%

IF7.

6682

.98

91.3

562

.129

.450

.545

.02

12.2

616

.59

50%

VC

+50%

IF7.

8078

.15

90.2

263

.030

.241

.248

.66

12.2

716

.825

% V

C+7

5%IF

7.79

82.4

188

.27

62.6

31.8

41.8

50.5

212

.51

16.9

3C

ontro

l (no

F/M

BF)

7.10

90.9

984

.47

60.4

21.9

33.1

23.2

07.

7110

.61

C. D

. (P=

0.05

)0.

52.

072.

660.

572.

000.

522.

550.

620.

81

PSB=

Phos

phor

us so

lubi

lisin

g ba

cter

ia, R

D=R

ecom

men

ded

dose

, IF=

Inor

gani

c fe

rtiliz

er, A

B=A

zoto

bact

er, V

C=V

erm

icom

post

, M=M

anur

e, B

F=B

iofe

rtiliz

er, F

=Fer

tiliz

er


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 60-61 (2010)

Distribution of weed flora of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Sirsa andFatehabad districts of Haryana

S. S. PUNIA, DHARAMBIR YADAV AND SAMUNDER SINGH

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar -125004, India

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) has poorcompetitive ability against weeds due to its slow growthbehavior with prostate nature of growth, which permitsearly and vigorous crop weed competition and results inyield losses up to 80 % (Prusty et al., 1990). Themagnitude of loss as a result of crop-weed competitiondepends upon type of weed species, associated withcrop, their densities and duration of competition withcrop. Crop type and soil properties has great influenceon the occurrence of weed species (Andreasen et al.,1991). The type of irrigation, cropping pattern, weedcontrol measures and environmental factors has asignificant influence on the intensity and infestation ofweeds (Saavedra et al.,1990). So, knowledge of weedspecies associated with crops in a region is, therefore,pivotal and necessary to plan and execute a sound andeconomical weed management schedule depending uponvarious factors affecting weed distribution in differentareas. The present survey was the first attempt in totalityto cover groundnut growing districts of Haryana stateto study the composition of weed flora of groundnutcrop.

To study the floristic composition of weeds ingroundnut in South-Western Haryana, 24 fields weresurveyed in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts of state duringAugust, as this period depicted most appropriaterepresentation of majority of weed species as the weedshave cumulative effects of all agronomic practices, soiltype, fertilizer and irrigation application and weed controlmeasures adopted during initial crop growing period.The road map of Haryana state was followed and routeswere planned to establish sampling localities asequidistantly as possible (about 10 Kms) avoidinginhabited areas. Four observations on density of individualweeds were recorded per field at one spot by usingquadrate of (0.5 x 0.5 m), 100 meters deep inside thefields. Pooled average values of observations on weeddensity and relative frequency of individual weeds werethus calculated as per method suggested by Raju (1977)given below:

No. of individuals in all quadratesRelative density (R.D. %)=_________________________x 100 No. of all species in all quadrates

No. of occurrences of a species in a district

Relative frequency (R.F. %)=_______________________x 100 Total no. of occurrences of all species

IVI (Importance Value Index)=Relative density+Relative frequency

Eight weed species (3 grassy and 5 broadleaf)were found to be dominant weed species in the phyto-sociological survey of weeds in groundnut crop in Sirsaand Fatehabad districts of the state. Physallis minima,Digitaria sanguanalis, Dactyloctenium aegyptium,Corchorus tridens, Cleome viscosa, Crotolariamedicaginea, Eragrostis tenella and Callosus cucumisconstituted 14.5, 24.9, 17.1, 8.5, 9.7, 8.3, 8.9 and 7.9%, respectively of total weed flora. Based on IVIvalues, Digitaria sanguanalis with a density of 44.2plants/m2 was the most dominant and aggressive weedwith IVI values of 39.5 and relative frequency of 14.6% occurring at 87 % locations surveyed. Physallisminima was the second most dominant weed with IVIvalue of 31.2 and relative frequency of 16.7% occurredat 100% sites surveyed (Table 1). Grassy weedDactyloctenium aegyptium, which showed infestationin groundnut fields from early stages with a relativedensity of 30.5 plants/m2, was the third most importantweed with IVI value of 29.6. Broadleaf weeds Corchorustridens, Cleome viscosa, Callosus cucumis andCrotolaria medicaginea also showed significantpresence. Similar weed flora was also observed inclusterbean grown in light textured soils in Sirsa andFatehabad districts of state (Punia et.al. 2010). So,careful monitoring of the weed flora could be of muchpractical value in implementing an effective controlmeasure depending upon the threshold value to keepthe weeds at bay at an economical viable cost.

REFERENCES

Andreasen, Streibig, J. C. and Hass, H. (1991). Soilproperties affecting the distribution of 37 weedspecies in Danish fields. Weed Res. 31 : 181-187

Prusty, J. C., Lenkra, D, Bahera, B and Mishra, R. K.(1990). Chemical weed control in groundnut.Indian J. Weed Sci. 22 : 92-93.

Punia, S. S., Yadav, Dharambir., Brar, Amrit Pal., Malik,Yash Pal and Yadav, Ramesh (2010). Weed flora of

Table 1. Weed flora of groundnut in Haryana

Weed species Density/ R. D. Frequency R. F. IVIm2 (%) (%) (%)

Physallis minima 25.7 14.5 100 16.8 31.3Crotolaria medicaginea 14.8 8.3 62.5 10.4 18.7Digitaria sanguanalis 44.2 24.9 87.5 14.6 39.5Eragrostis tenella 15.8 8.9 6.87 11.5 20.4Cleome viscosa 17.3 9.7 64.3 10.7 20.4Corchorus tridens 15.1 8.5 68.7 11.5 20.0Dactyloctenium aegyptium 30.5 17.1 75 12.5 29.6Callosus cucumis 13.9 7.9 71 11.9 19.8

cotton and clusterbean in Haryana. Indian J. WeedSci. 42 (1&2): 37-41.

Raju, R.A. (1977). Field Manual for Weed Ecology andHerbicide Research . Agrotech PublishingAcademy, Udaipur, pp 288

Saavedra, K., Torres, L. G., Bermejo, E. H. and Hildago, B.(1990). Influence of environmental factors on theweed flora in crop in the Guadalquivir Valley. WeedRes. 30: 363-374.


Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 62-64 (2010)

Effect of row spacing and seed ratio on green forage yield and economics oflucerne and chicory under different mixed/intercropping systems

S. P. JAKHAR, B. S. PATEL1, B. J. PATEL2 AND D. R. PATEL2

C. P. College of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy,S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagr-385 506 (North Gujarat), India

1Chief Agronomist (AICRP-IFS), C. P. College of Agriculture, SDAU, S. K. Nagar-385 506, Distt. Banaskantha.2Agricultural Research Station, S. D. Agricultural University, Ladol-382 840, Distt. Mehsana (North Gujarat)

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is an importantperennial non-leguminous fodder crop propagated byseeds. Now-a-days farmers are impressed by its yieldpotential and a good number of cuttings. Cultivation offorage chicory (Pandadiu) with lucerne has been initiatedin pockets in the middle and north Gujarat where dairyindustry has stated flourishing. The spacing and seedratio play important roles in achieving the optimum forageproduction of chicory and lucerne as sole crop as wellas mixed, intercrop per unit area. The scientificinformation regarding mixed/inter cropping of lucerneand forage chicory were not available on row ratio andseed ratio under various spacings. Keeping this in view,the present study was planned.

A field experiment was conducted at AgronomyInstructional Farm, S. D. Agricultural University,Sardarkrushinagar during rabi 2003-04. The soil wasloamy sand having available nitrogen 150 and 142 kg/ha, available phosphorus 11 and 46 kg/ha, availablepotassium 283 and 278 kg/ha, pH 7.7 and 7.9 for thedepths of 0-15 and 15-30 cm, respectively. Theexperiment was laid out in a randomized block designwith three replications. The treatments tried in the studywere :

Sole lucerne broadcast (T1), Sole lucerne at 15cm (T2), Sole lucerne at 22.5 cm (T3), Sole chicorybroadcast (T4), Sole chicory at 15 cm (T5), Sole chicoryat 22.5 cm (T6), lucerne 33%+chicory 67% seed ratiobroadcast 9T7), lucerne 50%+chicory 50% seed ratiobroadcast (T8), lucerne 67%+chicory 33% seed ratiobroadcast (T9), lucerne 33%+chicory 67% seed ratio at15cm (T10), lucerne 50%+chicory 50% seed ratio at15cm (T11), lucerne 67%+chicory 33% seed ratio at15cm (T12), lucerne 33%+chicory 67% seed ratio at22.5cm (T13), lucerne 50%+chicory 50% seed ratio at22.5cm (T14), lucerne 67%+chicory 33% seed ratio at22.5cm T15, lucerne+chicory 1:1 row ratio at 15cm (T16),lucerne+chicory 1:1 row ratio at 22.5cm (T17),

lucerne+chicory 2:1 row ratio at 15cm (T18),lucerne+chicory 2:1 row ratio at 22.5cm (T19),lucerne+chicory 1:2 row ratio at 15cm (T20) andlucerne+chicory 1:2 row ratio at 22.5cm (T21).

The Percentage indicate the mixing proportionof recommended seed rates of lucerne and chicory.

The variety of multicut lucerne ( Anand 2) andchicory (local) were sown on Nov. 14, 2003. Therecommended seed rates for lucerne and chicory were15 and 8 kg/ha, respectively as sole crops. Lucerne wasfertilized with 20 kg N and 80 kg P2O5/ha as basalapplication whereas 30 kg N and 30 kg P2O5/ha wasapplied as basal dose for chicory crop. After each cut ofchicory, 30 kg N/ha was applied. The first cut was madeat 50 DAS and subsequent cuts (five cuts) were takenat an interval of 30 days. First irrigation was applied justafter sowing. Second irrigation was given at 4 days aftersowing. Subsequent irrigations were applied at 10-12days interval. Data on plant height, number of leaves/plant, leaf area and leaf : stem ratios and green forageyield of lucerne and chicory were recorded at each cut.The economic returns from the treatments were alsocalculated.

The mean plant height of lucerne indicated thatT1 (sole lucerne broadcast) recorded significantly shorterplants (35.8 cm). T20 (lucerne + chicory 1:2 row ratio at15 cm) treatment recorded significantly higher plants oflucerne (42.2 cm) than those of T1, T3, T7, T8, T9, T19and was at par with the rest of the treatments. Theshortest plants of chicory (34.0 cm) were noted in T4(sole chicory broadcast) followed by T9. Whereas, T20recorded significantly higher plants of chicory (40.2 cm)than those of T4, T6, T7, T8, T9, and T19 and it remainedat par with the rest of the treatments.

The number of leaves/plant and leaf : stem ratioof lucerne were not found significant under varioustreatments. For chicory, significantly the lowest valuesof these parameters (12.9 and 61.3, respectively) were

Tabl

e 1. E

ffect

of s

paci

ng, s

eed

ratio

and

row

ratio

s on

grow

th p

aram

eter

s (av

erag

e of 6

cuts)

, gre

en fo

rage

yiel

d an

d ec

onom

ics o

f diff

eren

t tre

atm

ents

Trea

tmen

tsPl

ant h

eigh

t (cm

)N

o. o

f lea

ves/

plan

tLe

af ar

ea (c

m2 )

Leaf

: st

em ra

tioG

reen

Gro

ssTo

tal

Net

Ben

efit

:fo

rage

real

iizat

ion

expe

nditu

rere

aliz

atio

nco

stL

CL

CL

CL

Cyi

eld

(Rs.)

(Rs.)

(Rs.)

ratio

(q/h

a)(B

CR

)

T 1: So

le lu

cern

e bro

adca

st35

.8-

79.5

-99

.0-

0.9

-39

1.80

3918

021

386

1779

40.

83T 2

: Sol

e lu

cern

e at

15

cm39

.8-

82.0

-10

2.3

-0.

9-

502.

1150

211

2116

429

047

1.37

T 3 : S

ole

luce

rne

at 2

2.5

cm38

.0-

80.9

-10

0.7

-0.

9-

497.

7049

770

2116

428

515

1.35

T 4 : S

ole

chic

ory

broa

dcas

t-

34.0

-12

.9-

170.

0-

61.3

698.

0269

802

2275

047

052

2.06

T 5 : S

ole

chic

ory

at 1

5 cm

-37

.4-

14.5

-18

4.6

-68

.880

3.21

8032

122

528

5779

32.

56T 6

: Sol

e ch

icor

y at

22.

5 cm

-35

.8-

13.8

-18

2.9

-69

.080

1.36

8013

622

528

5760

82.

55T 7

: Luc

erne

33%

+chi

cory

38.2

35.7

83.0

14.2

103.

917

9.3

1.0

82.1

394.

3189

431

2263

066

801

2.95

67%

seed

ratio

bro

adca

stT 8

: Luc

erne

50%

+chi

cory

37.6

35.1

82.7

14.1

103.

417

8.2

1.0

79.6

877.

1787

717

2245

765

260

2.90

50%

seed

ratio

bro

adca

stT 9

: Luc

erne

67%

+chi

cory

37.5

34.7

82.0

14.0

103.

017

8.4

0.9

77.2

844.

8084

480

2250

561

975

2.75

33%

seed

ratio

bro

adca

stT 10

: Lu

cern

e 33

%+c

hico

ry42

.039

.885

.816

.110

7.4

193.

41.

191

.010

00.2

010

0020

2240

877

612

3.46

67%

seed

ratio

at 1

5 cm

T 11 :

Luce

rne

50%

+chi

cory

50%

41.1

39.2

84.9

15.9

106.

519

2.5

1.0

87.4

982.

2498

224

2234

675

878

3.40

seed

ratio

at 1

5 cm

T 12 :

Luce

rne

67%

+chi

cory

40.5

38.3

84.5

15.5

105.

619

1.2

1.0

84.6

945.

6794

567

2228

472

283

3.24

33%

seed

ratio

at 1

5 cm

T 13 :

Luce

rne

33%

+chi

cory

40.5

38.8

85.1

15.8

106.

919

3.2

1.0

90.3

996.

1999

619

2240

877

211

3.44

67%

seed

ratio

at 2

2.5

cmT 14

: Lu

cern

e 50

%+c

hico

ry39

.637

.884

.915

.710

6.3

191.

41.

087

.397

9.10

9791

022

346

7556

43.

38

5

0% se

ed ra

tio a

t 22.

5 cm

T 15 :

Luce

rne

67%

+chi

cory

39.3

37.0

83.3

15.3

105.

218

9.7

0.9

85.0

943.

3194

331

2228

472

047

3.23

33%

seed

ratio

at 2

2.5

cmT 16

: Lu

cern

e+ch

icor

y 1

: 140

.539

.285

.315

.910

6.8

192.

61.

185

.398

3.44

9834

422

346

7599

83.

40

ro

w ra

tio a

t 15

cmT 17

: Lu

cern

e+ch

icor

y 1

: 139

.637

.384

.815

.710

6.3

191.

31.

085

.097

5.26

9752

622

346

7518

03.

36

ro

w ra

tio a

t 22.

5 cm

T 18 :

Luce

rne+

chic

ory

2 : 1

41.3

36.9

84.5

15.4

105.

619

0.2

1.0

82.3

946.

5494

654

2228

472

370

3.25

row

ratio

at 1

5 cm

T 19 :

Luce

rne+

chic

ory

2 : 1

38.9

36.5

84.2

15.2

105.

319

0.5

1.0

83.7

942.

0394

203

2228

471

919

3.23

row

ratio

at 2

2.5

cmT 20

: Lu

cern

e+ch

icor

y42

.240

.286

.316

.410

7.9

193.

81.

091

.310

09.7

310

0973

2240

878

565

3.50

1:2

row

ratio

at 1

5 cm

T 21 :

Luce

rne+

chic

ory

1 : 2

41.3

39.0

85.5

16.0

106.

919

3.2

1.0

90.5

994.

1099

403

2240

876

995

3.44

row

ratio

at 2

2.5

cmC

. D. (

P=0.

05)

3.1

3.2

NS

1.6

NS

14.2

NS

10.1

93.0

0-

--

-

Pric

e of g

reen

fora

ge :

Rs.

100/

q.


observed in T4. The higher number of leaves/plant andleaf : stem ratio (16.4 and 91.3, respectively) wererecorded under T20 compared to T5, T6, T7, T8 and T9and the remaining treatments were found at par.

Various spacings and seed ratios under differentmixed/inter cropping systems did not exert theirsignificant influences on leaf area/plant of lucerne.Whereas, in case of chicory, the lowest leaf area/plantwas recorded under T4 (170.0 cm2). The highest leafarea (193.8 cm2) was under T20 and it was significantlyhigher as compared to T4, T7, T8 and T9 but at par withT10, T11, T12, T13, T14, T15, T16, T17, T18, T19 and T21. Theoverall leaf area/plant of chicory was higher than thatrecorded under lucerne.

Lucerne and chicory crops sown at 1 : 2 rowratio at 15 cm spacing (T20) recorded significantly highertotal green forage yield from 6 cuts (1009.73 q/ha) thanthose harvested under T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8 andT9 but was found at par with T10, T11, T12, T13, T14, T15,T16, T17, T18, T19 and T21 treatments (Table 1). Thesefindings are in agreement with these reported by Patel(1988). It might be due to the beneficial effects of lucerne+ chicory 1:2 ratio at 15 cm on growth parameters viz.;plant height, number of leaves/plant and leaf area/plantdue to better management of line sown crops thanbroadcasteing.

The higher values of growth characters andgreen forage yield under T20 might be due to the factthat optimum adjustment of plants between rows and

within rows because of same seed ratio used in all thespacings, seed and row ratios which ultimately providedadequate space around the plant for its properdevelopment. Due to proper space adjustment, all theleaves of the plant intercepted sunlight for properphotosynthesis, plants covered the soil as early aspossible so as to intercept maximum sunlight, which isessential for net photosynthesis. The solar radiationinterception and dry matter production are directly related(Reddy and Reddi, 1992).

Treatment T20 gave higher net realization (Rs.78,565/ha) and BCR (3.50) followed by T10 (lucerne33% + chicory 67% seed row ratio at 15 cm) (Table 1).

The study indicated that lucerne and chicorycrops should be intercropped at 1 : 2 row ratio at 15 cmspacing for securing higher green forage yield, netrealization and BCR followed by mixed 33% lucerne seed+ 67% chicory seed ratio and sown at 15 cm row spacing.

REFERENCES

Patel, R. S. (1988). Effect of different levels of phosphorusand spacing on seed yield of lucerne (Medicagesativa L.). M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis submitted toGujarat Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar.

Reddy, T. Y. and Reddi, G. H. S. (1992). Principles ofAgronomy. 1st Edn, Kalyani Publication.

64 Jakhar, Patel, Patel and Patel

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 65-66 (2010)

Effect of integrated nutrient management on growth parameters, yieldattributes, yield and economics of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

MUKESH KUMAR, A. S. BANGARWA, SATISH KUMAR AND O. P. NEHRA

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004

Barley (Hordeum vulgare l.) is world’s fourthmost important cereal crop after wheat, rice and maize.It is grown throughout the temperate and tropical regionsof the world. It is known to give higher response tonitrogenous fertilizers than wheat. In recent years, theemphasis is being laid on bacterial fertilization throughutilization of efficient species of Azotobacter (AB) andPhosphorus Solubilising Bacteria (PSB). Presentinvestigation reports the effect of biofertilizersAzotobacter and PSB on barley crop.

The field experiment was conducted duringthe rabi season of 2004-05 at Agronomy Research Farmof CCS Haryana Agriculutral University, Hisar on sandyloam soil having pH (8.3), low organic carbon (0.33%),normal available nitrogen (182.4 kg/ha), mediumavailable phosphorus (13.3 kg/ha) and normal potassium(365.3 kg/ha). The experiment comprised of fourteentreatments was laid out in randomized block designwith three replications. The sowing of barley varietyBH-393 was done on 23rd November, 2004. Thefourteen treatments were as follows T1-100% N andP2O5 from inorganic fertilizer (RD 60 kg N + 30 kgP2O5 per ha), T2-100% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer+ Azotobacter (AB), T3-100% N and P2O5 frominorganic fertilizer+Phosphorus Solublising Bacteria(PSB) , T4-100% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer+AB+PSB, T5 -75% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer, T6-75% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer+AB, T7-75% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer+PSB, T8-75% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer+AB+PSB , T9-100% N and P2O5 fromvermicompost (VC), T10-100% N and P2O5 fromvermicompost+25% N and P2O5 from inorganicfertilizer, T11-75% N and P2O5 from VC+25% N andP2O5 from inorganic fertilizer, T12-50% N and P2O5 fromVC+50% N and P2O5 from inorganic fertilizer, T13-25%N and P2O5 from VC+75% N and P2O5 from inorganic

fertilizer and T14-Control (no fertilizer, manure andbiofertilizer) (Table 1).

Application of 100% inorganic fertilizerinoculated with Azotobacter and PSB (T4) recordedsignificantly the highest ear bearing tillers, ear length,number of grains per ear head, plant height, dry matteraccumulation, grain and straw yields over rest of thetreatments (Table 1). 100% inorganic fertilizer inoculatedwith Azotobacter or 100% inorganic fertilizer incolulatedwith PSB were at par with each other. The maximumgrain yield (40.9 q/ha) was recorded under 100%inorganic fertilizer inoculated with Azotobacter and PSB.The beneficial effect of Azotobacter and PSB on yieldand yield attributes could be attributed to properdecomposition, mineralization and availability of plantnutrient. Earlier results confirm it (Saini and Thakur,1999 and Yadav et al., 2000). This treatment alsorecorded significantly the highest net return over rest ofthe treatments. Similar results have also been foundearlier by Satyajeet et al. (2003).

REFERENCES

Satyajeet, Joon R. K. and Yadav, B. D. (2003). Effect ofnitrogen alone in combination with biofertilizer ongrowth and yield of barley. Haryana J. Agron.19(1) : 134-135.

Saini, J. P. and Thakur, S. R. (1999). Response of barley(Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties to nitrogen underdry temperate condition. Indian J. Agron. (1) : 123-125.

Yadav, K. S., Singh, D. P., Sunita, Suneja, Narula, N andLakshminarayana, K. (2000). Effect ofAzotobacter chrocoocum on yield and nitrogeneconomy in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) underfield condition. Environ. and Ecology. 18 (1) : 109-113.

Tabl

e 1. E

ffect

of i

nteg

rate

d nu

trien

t man

agem

ent o

n gr

owth

, yie

ld a

ttrib

utes

, yie

ld a

nd n

et re

turn

of b

arle

y

Trea

tmen

tPl

ant

Dry

mat

ter

Ear b

earin

gEa

rN

o. o

fTe

stG

rain

yie

ldSt

raw

yie

ldH

arve

stN

et r

etur

nhe

ight

(g p

er m

rl)til

lers

per

leng

thgr

ains

per

wei

ght (

g)(q

/ha)

(q/h

a)in

dex

(%)

(Rs./

ha)

(cm

)m

rl(c

m)

ear h

ead

100%

IF (R

D 6

0 N

+30

P 2O5 k

g/ha

)80

.224

1.30

85.2

8.19

64.8

38.0

38.8

53.6

42.0

5368

100%

IF+A

B88

.826

0.24

86.8

8.59

65.6

39.3

40.7

59.1

40.7

5667

100%

IF+P

SB88

.426

0.18

86.6

8.40

65.2

39.1

40.6

58.9

40.7

5857

100%

IF+A

B+P

SB89

.226

0.40

87.3

8.89

65.9

39.3

40.9

59.6

40.7

6232

75%

IF77

.520

3.58

79.5

7.29

61.3

38.3

32.6

47.7

40.6

1816

75%

IF+A

B84

.322

4.22

80.8

7.50

62.4

39.3

34.8

51.1

40.5

2157

75%

IF+P

SB84

.022

4.21

80.5

7.39

62.0

38.6

34.7

50.9

40.5

3461

75%

IF+A

B+P

SB84

.722

4.31

81.7

7.70

62.6

41.3

35.0

51.1

40.6

3249

100%

VC

76.4

201.

2777

.67.

3053

.438

.032

.146

.041

.017

6610

0% V

C+2

5% IF

79.3

202.

5178

.17.

1954

.039

.232

.845

.841

.818

9475

% V

C+2

5% IF

78.6

194.

5272

.37.

1050

.037

.629

.450

.541

.521

950

% V

C+5

0% IF

80.3

195.

7273

.77.

9051

.339

.930

.241

.242

.219

025

% V

C+7

5% IF

81.3

195.

8774

.87.

1052

.438

.831

.841

.843

.011

88C

ontro

l (no

F/M

BF)

81.4

162.

0743

.66.

9944

.236

.021

.933

.139

.099

2C

. D. (

P=0.

05)

2.8

2.12

2.62

0.05

1.45

NS

2.00

0.05

NS

PSB=

Phos

phor

us so

lubi

lisin

g ba

cter

ia, R

D=R

ecom

men

ded

dose

, IF=

Inor

gani

c fe

rtiliz

er, A

B=A

zoto

bact

er, V

C=V

erm

icom

post

, M=M

anur

e, B

F=B

iofe

rtiliz

er, F

=Fer

tiliz

er,

=mrl=

met

er ro

w le

ngth

.

66 Kumar, Bangarwa, Kumar and Nehra

Evaluation of neem cake-coated urea in rice at farmers’ fields

O. P. NEHRA AND A. S. DHINDWAL

Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar-125004 India

Judicious and efficient use of nitrogen is ofparamount importance for minimizing various losses ofapplied N and increasing its efficiency in production ofrice. Neem cake coated urea has been found to bebeneficial due to slow release of N which may help inmeeting the N supply as per the demand of crop (Singhet al., 1990). High yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.) ispossible by using modified forms of urea (Prasad et al.,1980). Testing of efficiency of neem cake coated ureaat the farmers fields was the need of hour for its wideradaptability.

Field demonstrations at five locations inFatehabad district of Haryana were conducted duringkharif season 2006 to evaluate the effect of neem cakecoated urea in comparison to normal urea on theproductivity. The trials were conducted at five locationsin Dholu near Bhuna, Dhani Issar, Bhima Basti DhaniBikaneri and KVK Fatehabad Farm located in a cluster.Comparison was made between normal and neem cakecoated urea at 80 and 100 % recommended dose of N(RDN) which is 150 kg/ha for rice crop keeping a plotsize of 2000 m2 for each treatment. N in the form ofnormal as well as neem cake coated urea was appliedin three equal splits i.e., at the time of transplanting(basal), active tillering (21 DAT) and panicle initiation

stage (42 DAT). About 30 days old seedlings of dwarfvarieties/hybrids of rice (HR72, Pusa 44, Hybrid Exceland PR 114) were transplanted at 20 x 15 cm spacingwith two seedlings/hill during 4th week of June to 1st

fortnight of July. Other fertilizers and plant protectionmeasures were followed as per recommendation.Harvesting of the crop was done during secondfortnight of October, 2006.

The highest and the lowest grain yields of ricewere recorded under location I and V, respectively. Thegrain yields differed substaitially at different locationwithin the same treatment. It varied from 6300 to 7920kg/ha under 80% RDN-normal urea and from 6462 to7983 kg/ha under 80% RDN-neem cake coated urea.Under 100% RDN, it varied between 6525 to 8028 kg/ha with normal urea and between 6669 to 8172 kg/hawith neem cake coated urea. On an average, the yieldadvantage at 80% RDN with neem cake coated ureawas 108 kg/ha over normal urea application. With 100%RDN, the grain in yield with neem cake coated urea was126 kg/ha than the normal urea application. The increasein grain yield of rice with the application of neem cakecoated urea have earlier also been reported by Patil et al.(1987); Raju G. and Reddy (1990); Saheb S. et al. (1990)and Sarmah and Baroova (1994).

Table 1. Effect of normal and neem cake coated urea on grain yield of rice at different locations

Location/site Grain yield (kg/ha)

80% RDN 100% RDN

Normal urea Neem cake coated urea Normal urea Neem cake coated urea

1 7920 7983 8028 81722 6840 6948 7065 71733 7335 7425 7470 75874 7290 7407 7452 75695 6300 6462 6525 6669Average 7137 7245 7308 7434

Haryana J. Agron. 26 (1 & 2) : 67-68 (2010)

REFERENCES

G. Sudhakar Raju and T. Yellamanda Reddy (1989). Effectof different forms of urea and their time ofapplication on yield attributes and yield of semi-dry rice (Oryza sativa) Indian J. Agri. Sci. 59(8) :537-538.

Patil B.N. Krishnappa A.M., Badrinath K, Kenchaiah K,Rao K.B., and Janardhana Gowda N.A. (1987).Efficiency of urea based fertilizers in coastal rice.International Rice Research Newsletter. 12(1) :27.

Prasad, R., Mahapatra, I. C. and Jain, H. C. (1980). Relativeefficiences of fertilizers for rice. Fertilizer News,

New Delhi 25(9) : 13-18.

Sarmah B.N. and Beroova S.R. (1994). Effect of sourcesand levels of nitrogen on yield and nitrogen uptakein low-land rice. Haryana J. Agron. 10(2) : 137-140.

S. Darvesh Saheb, S. Chandra Sekhar Reddy and T.Yelllamanda Reddy (1990). Effect of time ofapplication of modified urea materials on growth,yield components, nutrient uptake and yield oflowland rice (Oryza sativa). Indian J. Agri. Sci.60(4) : 275-277.

Singh, M. P. Singh, R. P. Singh, V. P. and Verma, S. C.(1990). Indian J. Agron. 35(4) : 384-390.

68 Nehra and Dhindwal

Agarwal, Subodh 34

Amin, A. U. 55

Bangarwa, A. S. 58, 65

Chander, Subhash 38

Chaudhary, M. H. 45

Choudhary, Roshan 41

Dhindwal, A. S. 67

Gediya, K. M. 41

Godara, A. K. 38, 53

Hasija, R. C. 49

Hudda, R. S. 38, 53

Jain, N. K. 47

Jakhar, S. P. 62

Kumar, Davender 53

Kumar, Jagdish 34

Kumar, Manoj 1

Kumar, Mukesh 58, 65

Kumar, Neeraj 21, 27

Kumar, Nirmal 34

HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMYAuthor Index

Vol. 26 June & December 2010 No. 1 & 2


Kumar, Pawan 1

Kumar, Rajnish 34

Kumar, Satish 58, 65

Kumar, Vinay 27

Malik, R. S. 12

Maloo, S. R. 47

Mehta, S. K. 38, 53

Midha, L. K. 18

Mishra, B. N. 21, 27

Monga, Samir 49

Nehra, O. P. 18, 49, 58, 65, 67

Partap, P. S. 23, 30

Patel, A. M . 55

Patel, B. J. 55, 62

Patel, B. S. 62

Patel, D. R. 55, 62

Punia, S. S. 12, 49, 60

Raghuwanshi, O. P. S. 9

Raghuwanshi, S. R. S. 9

Raghuwanshi, U. S. 9

Rana, V. S. 18

Sadhu, A. C. 41, 45

Shah, Fidda Hussain 38

Sharma, B. D. 18

Sharma, Shruti 53

Singh, Avtar 23, 30

Singh, G. 27

Singh, Hari 47

Singh, M. V. 21, 27

Singh, R. K. 21

Singh, Samunder 60

Suhag, K. S. 34

Umat, R. 9

Yadav, Ashok 49

Yadav, Dharambir 12, 60

Yadav, S. K. 1

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. O. P. Nehra, 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 final


size, 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, indate order, e. g. (Punia, 1994; Singh, 1998). Where there are three or more authors, the first name followed byet al. should be used. A list of references should be given at the end of the text listing, in alphabetical order,surname of authors and initials (in capitals), year of publication (in parentheses), title of paper, name of journal infull (in italics or underlined) as in CAB International Serials Checklist, volume, and first and last pages of thereference; the place of publication and publisher (and Editors(s) if appropriate) for books and conferencesshould 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.


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. O. P. Nehra

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. O. P. Nehra, hereby declare that particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledgeand belief.

Dated : 31 December, 2010 Sd/-

(Dr. O. P. Nehra)

HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY · HARYANA JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY Volume 26 June & December 2010 No. 1 & 2 CONTENTS 1-8 9-11 12-17 18-20 21-22 23-26 27-29 30-33 34-37 38-40 41-44 45-46 Influence

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