EFFECT OF TILLAGE AND MULCHING ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF PIGEONPEA (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.)
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Date
2004-09
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JAU, JUNAGADH
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Effect of tillage and mulching on growth and yield of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.)” was carried out on clayey soil of Instructional Farm, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during kharif 2003. Twenty treatment combinations were evaluated in strip plot design with four replications. The treatments comprised of 4 tillage methods (T1 = conventional tillage, T2 = 15 cm ploughing in row by bullock plough, T3 = 30 cm ploughing in row by tractor plough and T4 = 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough) and 5 mulches (M0 = no mulch, M1 = soil mulch, M2 = wheat straw mulch @ 5 t ha-1, M3 = groundnut shell mulch @ 10 t ha-1 and M4 = castor shell mulch @ 10 t ha -1).
The experimental results revealed that tillage of 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough significantly improved the growth parameters viz. plant height, number of branches per plant, number of root nodules per plant, root dry matter per plant and enhanced maturity periods, that did not differ statistically from 30 cm ploughing in row by tractor plough. However, plant spread was significantly more with 30 cm ploughing in row by tractor plough and remained statistically at par with 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough. While yield attributes like number of matured pods per plant, number of grains per pod, grain yield per plant and 100 seed weight were significantly higher with 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough than conventional tillage and 15 cm ploughing in row by bullock plough.
Protein content was not significantly affected by tillage treatments. While 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough resulted in numerically higher soil moisture content at 0-15 and 15-30 cm depth, lower bulk density was observed with 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough.
The highest grain and straw yields were registered with the 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough. The significantly higher gross return of Rs 21957 ha-1 and net return of Rs 13444 ha-1 were also observed in this treatment and they were statistically at par with 30 cm ploughing in row by tractor plough.
Mulching with wheat straw @ 5 t ha-1 followed by groundnut shell mulch @ 10 t ha-1 resulted in significantly higher plant height, plant spread, number of branches per plant, number of root nodules per plant, maturity days and root dry matter per plant, and higher yield attributes such as number of matured pods per plant, number of grains per pod, grain yield per plant and 100 seed weight and grain and straw yield over no mulch.
Higher soil moisture content was recorded with wheat straw mulch @ 5 t ha-1 followed by groundnut shell mulch @ 10 t ha-1 over no mulch. Similarly, both mulches registered lower bulk density and higher seed protein content over no mulch.
The highest gross return of Rs 22215 ha-1 and net return of Rs 13750 ha-1 were registered with the application of wheat straw mulch @ 5 t ha-1, closely followed by groundnut shell mulch @ 10 t ha-1 in case of gross return.
Based on the results of this one year’s experimentation, it could be concluded that the higher production with higher gross and net realization from kharif pigeonpea can be obtained by adopting 30 cm ploughing by tractor plough and applying wheat straw @ 5 t ha-1 as mulch in clayey soils of South Saurashtra Agro- Climatic region of Gujarat.
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Agronomy