Assessment of greenhouse gas emission pattern of climate resilient pearl millet withvaried plant population and fertility level under rainfed condition

In the present scenarios of changed climatic condition, the crop should thrive in challenging
environments and should have lower carbon footprints to establish climate resilient
agricultural system. Keeping in mind, a field experiment was conducted during kharif season
of 2022 and 2023 to find out the effect of plant population and fertility level on GHGs
from rainfed pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) in the research farm of Bihar Agricultural
College, Sabour, Bihar. There were nine treatment combinations comprised of three levels of
plant population (M 1 – cm, M 2 – cm and M 3 – cm) in the main plot and three fertility levels with
N:P:K (S 1 – 90:45:45, S 2 – 120:60:60 and S 3 – 150:75:75 kg N: P 2 O 5 : K 2 O/ha) as sub-plot
treatments. The experiment was laid out under a split-plot design with three replications.
Significant changes were recorded in the greenhouse gas emission pattern of pearl millet with
the variance of treatments. The optimum spacing ensured adequate sunlight and nutrient
access for individual plants and balancing fertilizer application helped to mitigate greenhouse
gas emission by promoting healthier growth of the plant. It was experienced that CO 2
emission was enhanced as the plant population and fertility levels increased. Meanwhile, N 2 O
gas emission was decreased with higher planting density but increased with increase in
fertility levels irrespective of all the observed stages. The most threatening factor global
warming potential was also higher with wider plant spacing and high fertilizer
application.Therefore, the optimum plant population of 45 X 20 cm along with the nutrient
level of N 120 P 60 K 60 kg ha -1 would be recommended for climate-enduring pearl millet cultivation
under rainfed condition. By agronomic intervention of optimizing spacing and fertility level
would make the pearl millet to be the part of sustainable crop diversification opportunity.