Effect of Phosphorus and Iron on Soil Health and Productivity of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)
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Date
2021
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Publisher
MPUT Udaipur
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Effect of Phosphorus and Iron on Soil Health and
Productivity of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)” was conducted at
Instructional Farm of Agronomy, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur during
rabi season of 2019-20 to find out the effect of phosphorus and iron on yield
attributes and yield, nutrient content and uptake by crop, physico-chemical properties
of soil and available N, P, K and Fe after harvest of the crop. The research was carried
out on clay loam soil which was slightly alkaline in reaction, medium in available
nitrogen and available phosphorus, high in available potassium and deficient in
available iron. Treatment comprises four levels of phosphorus viz. control (P1), 20 kg
(P2), 40 kg (P3) & 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 (P4) and four levels of iron viz. control (Fe1), 5 kg
(Fe2), 7.5 kg (Fe3) and 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1 (Fe4). These treatments were evaluated in
factorial randomized block design (factorial RBD) with three replications taking
fenugreek variety-PRM 45 as test crop.
The results revealed that application of phosphorus showed significant effect
on the growth characters viz. plant height at harvest, number of root nodules plant-1
and yield (seed, haulm and biological) and yield attributing characters (test weight,
seeds pod-1 etc.) of fenugreek crop. The maximum plant height (93.49 cm) at harvest,
total root nodule plant-1 (16.86 and 26.51) at 45 and 60 DAS, respectively recorded
with the application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1, which were statistically at par with the 40 kg
P2O5 ha-1. The maximum test weight (12.07 g), seed pod-1 (17.64) seed yield (2061 kg
ha-1), haulm yield (6980 kg ha-1) and biological yield (9040 kg ha-1) of fenugreek crop
were recorded with application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1, which were statistically at par with
the application of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1. The maximum N content of seed (3.23 %) and haulm (1.17 %), P content of seed (0.450 %) and haulm (0.238 %), K content of seed
(1.06 %) and haulm (1.24 %), Fe content of seed (42.42 ppm) and haulm (139.14
ppm) and protein content of seed (20.16 %) were obtained with the application of 60
kg P2O5 ha-1, which were statistically similar to the application of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1.
The maximum uptake of nitrogen (66.54 and 81.58 kg ha-1), phosphorus (9.26 and
16.67 kg ha-1), potassium (21.99 and 86.94 kg ha-1) and iron (87.62 and 972.83 g ha-1)
by seed and haulm, respectively, were also recorded with 60 kg P2O5 ha-1, which were
at par with the application of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1. The application of phosphorus
significantly improved the soil available nitrogen (280.49 kg ha-1) and phosphorus
(20.12 kg ha-1). The maximum gross returns (₹103373 ha-1) and net returns (₹77993
ha-1) were gained with the application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1, which were statistically at
par with the treatment application of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 (₹100389 ha-1) and (₹76096),
respectively. The maximum benefit-cost ratio (3.12) was gained with the application
of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1, which was significantly superior over rest of the levels but
statistically at par with the treatment application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 (3.07).
Application of increasing levels of FeSO4 from control to 10 kg ha-1
significantly improved the plant height (90.93 cm), number of root nodules 15.36 and
25.42 plant-1 at 45 and 60 DAS, respectively and yield attributing characters test
weight (11.89 g), number of seeds pod-1 (17.23), seed, haulm and biological yield
1957, 6650 and 8607 kg ha-1, respectively, which were statistically at par with 7.5 kg
of FeSO4 ha-1. The highest N content of seed (3.21 %) and haulm (1.16 %),
phosphorus content of seed (0.441 %) and haulm (0.235 %), K content of seed (1.03
%) and haulm (1.20 %) and iron content of seed (42.45 ppm) and haulm (139.54 ppm)
and protein content of seed (20.06 %) was obtained under the application of 10 kg
FeSO4 ha-1. The maximum uptake of nitrogen (62.98 and 77.39 kg ha-1 by seed and
haulm), phosphorus (8.67 and 15.79 kg ha-1 by seed and haulm), potassium (20.28 and
80.10 kg ha-1 by seed and haulm) and iron (83.38 and 929.95 g ha-1 by seed and
haulm) respectively, recorded under the application of 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1. The
application of 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1 significantly enhanced the soil available status of iron
at harvest, which was statistically at par with the application of 7.5 kg FeSO4 ha-1. The
maximum gross return (₹98237 ha-1) and net returns (₹74142 ha-1) were gained with
the application of 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1, which were statistically at par with the treatment
application of 7.5 kg FeSO4 ha-1. The highest BC ratio (3.07) was recorded under application of 7.5 kg FeSO4 ha-1, which was statistically at par with the treatment
application of 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1.
The Application of phosphorus and iron together influenced the test weight
and seeds/pod of fenugreek. The highest test weight (13.1g) was recorded with the
combined application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 + 10 kg FeSO4 ha-1 (P4Fe4) which was
statistically at par with the treatment combination of P4Fe3 and P3Fe3. The highest
seeds/pod was also recorded with the combined application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 + 10 kg
FeSO4 ha-1 (P4Fe4) which was statistically at par with the treatment combination of
P4Fe2 and P3Fe3. Therefore, under prevailing agro-climatic conditions of Rajasthan
(zone IVa: Sub-Humid Southern Plain and Aravalli Hills) fenugreek crop fertilized
with 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 + 7.5 kg FeSO4 ha-1 proved as most proficient in improving the
yield and also found economically viable treatment combination.
Description
Effect of Phosphorus and Iron on Soil Health and Productivity of Fenugreek
Keywords
Citation
Kumar V. And Yadav K.K.