Effect of crop-establishment methods on growth, yield, and economics of lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) varieties in Vindhya Alluvial region of West Bengal

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, during the winter (rabi) season of 2020–21, to study the performance of 3 lathyrus varieties (‘Nirmal’, ‘Prateek’ and ‘Ratan’) under 3 establishment methods (broadcasting, line sowing and dibbling). Broadcast-sown lathyrus emerged early (4.9 days) with the highest emergence rate (96.5%) and recorded the maximum plant population (30.2/m² ) compared to line sowing and dibbling method. Lathyrus variety ‘Ratan’ recorded the highest aerial dry-matter (94.5 g/ m² ) at 80 days after sowing (DAS) and crop-growth rate (CGR) 1.74 g/m² /day at 60–80 DAS, but ‘Nirmal’ produced the tallest plants (110.9 cm) and maximum branches/plant (8.5) at harvesting. Lathyrus raised in line-sown plots yielded the highest (1,757 kg/ha), being 6.7 and 27.3% greater than dibbling and broadcasting methods, respectively. Among the 3 varieties, ‘Ratan’ gave the highest grain yield (1,672 kg/ha) mainly owing to greater number of pods/plant (59.4), maximum net income (`34,989/ha) and benefit: cost ratio (2.06) compared to ‘Prateek’ (1,605 kg/ha) and ‘Nirmal’ (1,507 kg/ha).