Effect of conservation agricultural and nutrient management practices on castor (Ricinus communis)sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) cropping system in rainfed Alfisols
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v58i2.4189Keywords:
Castor, Conservation agricultural practices, Customized fertilizers, Nutrient management, Nutrient-use efficiency, Soil fertility, SorghumAbstract
A fixed-plot field experiment was conducted during 2010 and 2011 at Hyderabad, to study the effect of conser- vation agricultural (minimum tillage, crop residue and cover crop) and nutrient management practices (recom- mended dose of fertilizers, integrated nutrient management, organic nutrient management, fertilizers based on soil test crop response, and customized fertilizers) on the productivity, soil fertility, nutrient uptake and nutrient use ef- ficiency of castor {Ricinus communis (L.)}sorghum {Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench} cropping system in rainfed Alfisols. There was no significant difference between the conservation and conventional agricultural practices with reference to yield attributes, seed yield and quality of either castor or sorghum. However, conservation agricultural practices resulted in higher castor equivalent yield, CEY (2.24 t/ha), economic returns (benefit cost ratio 1.72) be- sides improving soil organic carbon (0.41%) compared to conventional practices (2.081 t/ha of CEY, 1.60 B:C ratio and 0.37% soil organic carbon). Among nutrient management practices, customized fertilizers and fertilizers based on soil test crop response (STCR) resulted in about 18 and 15% increase in castor and sorghum seed yields, respectively compared to recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF). Application of customized fertilizers re- sulted in the highest system productivity (2.426 t/ha of CEY) followed by STCR (2.403 t/ha of CEY) compared to RDF (2.068 t/ha of CEY). Economic returns also followed trend similar to CEY. Organic nutrient management re- corded the highest soil organic carbon (0.42%), soil available N (220 kg/ha) and K (434 kg/ha) compared to the control. Customized fertilizers recorded the highest uptake of nutrients in both castor (64.120.637.3 kg NPK/ha) and sorghum (118.339.3152.5 kg NPK/ha) compared to RDF. Agronomic efficiency of N, P and K was in gen- eral, higher in either STCR or customized fertilizer treatments, whereas physiological efficiency of N, P and K was higher in INM, especially in castor.References
Bhale, V.M. and Wanjari, S.S. 2009. Conservation agriculture: A new paradigm to increase resource use efficiency. Indian Journal of Agronomy 54(2): 16777.
Duncan, R.R. and Baligar, V.C. 1990. Genetic, breeding and physiological mechanisms of nutrient uptake and use efficiency: An overview. In: Crops as Enhancers of Nutrient Use, pp.3
Baligar, V.C. and Duncan, R.R. (Eds.), Academic Press Inc., San Diego, California.
Hegde, D.M. 2010. Castor research and development in India: An overview. In: Research and Development in Castor: Present Status and Future Strategies (Ed. Hegde, D.M.), Indian Society of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, 125.
Nagendra Rao T. and Rahman, M.H. 2011. Customized Fertilizers towards balanced plant nutrition solutions for food security and soil health. In: Abstracts of National Symposium on Innovative and Modern Technologies for Agricultural Productivity, Food Security and Environmental Management (Eds. Biradar, D.P., Sangeetha, J. and Thangadurai D.) held on 22 23, July 2011 at Mangalore, Karnataka, Society for Applied Biotechnology (India), pp. 1314.
Raghavaiah, C.V., Murthy, I.Y.L.N. and Riazuddin Ahmad, S. 2008. Soil test crop response calibration studies on rainfed castor in alfisols. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 78(9): 81012.
Ramesh, P. and Hegde, D.M. 2010. Conservation agriculture for sustainable castor production. Journal of Oilseeds Research 27(Special Issue): 19194.
Ramesh, P., Panwar, N.R. and Singh, A.B. 2010. Crop productivity, soil fertility and economics of soybean, chickpea and blond psyllium under organic nutrient management practices. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 80(11): 96569.
Ramesh, P., Panwar, N.R, Singh, A.B., Ramana, S. and Subba Rao
A. 2009. Impact of organicmanure combinations on the productivity and soil quality in different cropping systems in central India. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 172(4): 57785.
Ramesh, P. and Sammi Reddy, K. 2004. Productivity and nutrient-use efficiency of soybean and sorghum inter cropping at different levels of nitrogen in rainfed deep Vertisols. Indian Journal of Agronomy 49(1): 3133.
Singh, D, Chhonkar, P.K. and Dwivedi, B.S. 2005. Manual on Soil, Plant and Water Analysis, Westville Publishing House, New Delhi, p. 200.
Subba Rao, A. and Srivastava, S. 2002. Soil test based nutrient management in sustainable crop production. In: System Approach to Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Crop Production. Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, 2232.
