Integrated nutrient management obsequios for enhancing productivity of mustard- pearl millet cropping system under semi-arid region of Hisar

Introduction

In India, the area under pearl millet is about 6.93 million hectares with a production of 8.61 million tonnes and national average productivity of 1243 kg/ ha [1]. In Haryana, the area under this crop is 4.2 lakh hectares with production and productivity of 6.9 lakh tonnes and 1609 kg/ha, respectively [2]. Pearl millet is nutritionally better than many cereals and good source of protein having higher digestibility (12.1%), fat (5%), carbohydrate (69.4%) and minerals (2.3%). It is a fast-growing short duration crop that has high biomass production potential and mainly grown in arid and semi-arid regions where moisture is a limiting factor for crop growth [3]. It is an ideal crop with high tillering ability, high dry matter production, high protein content (10-12%) with excellent growth habit, high palatability and better nutritive value.

Oil seed crops, mainly mustard, are an important Rabi season crop in India’s agricultural economy. The productivity of mustard can only be raised through balanced fertilization and other management measures, with zinc and sulphur in arid regions of India.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) – mustard (Brassica juncea) cropping system got popularized during last several years under limited and assured irrigated conditions. The biodiversity with intensive cropping is a facetious condition as it causes a serious imbalance in the ecosystem [5]. There is an apprehension that the use of chemical fertilizers over the years might harm the soil fertility. Stagnation or decline in yield has been observed in many cropping systems in many parts of country due to nutrition depletion, imbalances in use of plant nutrients and sub-optimal addition of organic and inorganic fertilizers to soil [9]. There is an apprehension that the use of chemical fertilizers over the years might harm the soil fertility [8]. Integrated plant nutrient supply system has assumed a great importance and is of vital significance for the maintenance of soil productivity and is the need of hour. Organic manures, particularly FYM and vermicompost not only supply macronutrients (in smaller proportion) but also meet the requirements of micronutrients, besides improving soil health and beneficial microbial activities [4],[7]. Long-term fertilizer experiments may provide precise information on the change in soil fertility and productivity and could be of great help in solving the soil fertility problems are of the opinion that use of imbalanced nutrients (N or NP alone) through inorganic fertilizers without organic manure in continuous cropping cannot sustain the desired level of crop production. Integration of organic with organic manures will not only sustain the crop production but will also be effective in improving soil health and enhancing the nutrients use efficiency [10].

Material and Methods

The field experiment was conducted to study Influences of Integrated nutrient management on productivity of pearl millet- mustard cropping system under semi-arid region of Hisar, at Research Farm of CCS, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India, situated at 29°10′ N latitude and 75° 46′ E longitude at an elevation of 215.2 m above mean sea level, during kharif 2020 to Rabi 2020-21. Hisar has a semi-arid climate with severe cold during winter and hot dry and desiccating winds during summer. The maximum temperature is about 45°C during hot summer months of May and June, while during winter months of December and January, the minimum temperature may be subzero annual rainfall of the area is around 450 mm of which, 70-80 per cent is received during the monsoon period i.e., July to September and the rest is received in showers of cyclic rains during the winter and spring seasons. The mean relative humidity remains nearly constant at about 75 to 90 per cent from July to March, steadily decrease in April and remains around 40-50 per cent during hot summer months of May and June. The mean meterological data of crop season 2020-21 given in Fig 1. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in texture, with slightly alkaline in reaction with ph 8.0, soil organic carbon (0.34%), available N (162 kg/ha) were low, P₂ 0₅ medium (12.3 kg/ha), and high in K₂0 (330 kg/ha) and S (29 ppm).

The experiment consisted of fourteen treatments laid out in CRBD design with three replications. Crop were sown on October 22, 2020, with hand plough at a row-to-row distance of 30 cm. Thinning was done after about two weeks of sowing to maintain plant to plant spacing of 15 cm. Nitrogen was applied through urea in two splits (half as basal and half at flowering) and phosphorus at seeding through single super phosphate. The crop received only one post sowing irrigation at flowering. All other recommended package of practices was followed for raising the crop. The crop was harvested on March 12, 2021. Yield and yield attributes, oil and content were recorded to draw some valuable conclusions. The recommended dose of N P and K (80kg N 30kg P₂ 0₅ /ha and 20 kgK₂O)

Results and Discussion

Mustard yield: Mustard yield significantly affected by all the nutrient treatments. The application of 100 % NPK along with S 20 kg/ha, Zn 25 kg/ha and FYM 2.5 t/ha(T₁₄) produced significantly higher mustard yield (2211 kg/ha) Over control, 100 % PK, 100% NPK + Zn @ 25 kg/ha and 100 % NP.T₁₄ treatment produced 40.81, 24.70,17.01 and 16.64 % higher mustard seed yield over control, 100 % PK, 100% NPK + Zn @ 25 kg/ha and 100 % NK, respectively. There was a significant improvement in seed yield over control with increasing NPK upto 150 % RDF (46,48, 57& 67% at100 NPK, 100% NP, 100%NK & 150% NPK, respectively) in the nutrient management practices in long-term based cropping sequence (mustard-pearl millet).  100% PK (without addition of N) increased the seed yield by 27 % only, which was statistically like the control (1309 kg ha^-1) while, the addition of 100% NP (1939 kg ha^-1) and 100% NK (2061 kg ha^-1) were statistically superior to control (Table1). Application of S, Zn and FYM @2.5t ha^-1did not further result in significant increase in seed yield over 100% NPK (1903 kg ha^-1). Similar findings reported by workers [6] ,[3]. Improvement in seed yield of mustard was also observed with balanced fertilization, including micronutrient/organics as compared to nutrient in adequacy or imbalance fertilization.

Pearl millet yield: The seed yield of pearl millet was significantly enhanced under nutrient application over control. data revealed that pearl millet yield ranged from 2453 to 3833 kg/ha. T₁₄ treatment have 36.82 % higher grain yield over control. Application of 100 % PK enhances yield 5.98 % while the application of NP has 22.03 % And NK has 13.0 % more yield over control in both seasons (Kharif and Rabi). The increased pearl millet yield is mainly due to the availability of more nutrient and uptake throughout the crop stage, having a beneficial effect on yield contributing factors, also supported by scientists  [9].

Oil content and oil yield: Oil content did not differ significantly among all the fertilizer treatments. The highest oil content (39.95%) was found with treatment100%NPK+S@40kgha^-1 (Table2).

As oil yield is a product of seed yield and oil content, a similar trend was observed in the case of oil yield as that of seed yield. Maximum seed yield (2181 kg ha^-1) and oil yield (858 kg ha^-1) were obtained with 150%NPK which was statistically at par with 100% NP, 100% NK, 100 % NPK, the recommended dose of NPK (80+30+20) along with S @40 kg ha^-1, Zn @25 ZnSO₄ kg ha^-1, B @1kg Boron ha^-1 and with 2.5 tha^-1 FYM.

Mustard-pearl millet system: Mustard-Pearl millet system yield in terms of mustard ranged from 2258 to 3713 kg/ha (Table 3). T₁₄ treatment has maximum system yield because in this treatment mustard and pearl millet have a significantly higher yield, over to control. The system yield might be due to the availability of more nutrient (marco and micro) through both chemical and organic source (FYM) sources. These results are in conformity with the findings of some workers  [7],[3].

After 10 years of experiment, it was observed that T₁₄ treatment produced higher mustard seed yield and it was more than double to control (51.31 %), 37.15 % to T₂ and 13.72 % to T_{3 ,} while 100 % NPK +FYM@5t/ha produced 50.12, 35.52 and 11.50 %more yield over to control, 100 %PK and 100 % NPK, respectively(table 3).

Conclusion: It is concluded that over ten years of pearl millet–mustard cropping system, the treatment receiving organic manure along with optimal dose of chemical fertilizer provided the highest yield of both crops and improved soil fertility.

Future Scope: Responses of INM under different tillage conditions have also not been studied. Thus, in the future, the relationship between tillage and organic and inorganic fertilizer applications should be studied.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement:  Authors are thankful to, Project Coordinator, AICRP on Rapeseed and Mustard, for providing necessary facilities for conducting research experiments. Authors are also thankful to the Vice Chancellor of CCS HAU, Hisar, for providing me the opportunity to conduct research.

References

1. Anonymous 2021a : Agricultural statistics at a glance. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer Welfare. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare. Government of India, New Delhi.
2. Anonymous 2021b : Accessed from agriharyana.gov.in. Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare
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6. Shweta, R. S. Dadarwal, Rajbir Singh Khedwal and Anil Yadav (2023).  Influences of Integrated nutrient management on productivity of pearl millet- mustard cropping system under semi arid region of Hisar. International Conference on Climate Resilient Agriculture for food security and sustainability (INTCLMATE 2023) at CCSHAU, Hisar from 17-19 February,2023.
7. Singh B; Kumar A; Gupta, V; Abrol V; Singh A P.; Kumar J.; Singh, M.; Dadhich, H And Singh P. (2020). Effect of organic and inorganic nutrients on pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)- Gobi sarson (Brassica napus var. napus) cropping sequence. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 90 (2): 302–6, February
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9. Tomar., P.S. ; Verma, S.K.; Gupta, N and Bansal, K.N(2018). Effect of long term Integrated Nutrient management on productivity of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)- mustard (Brassica juncea) cropping system and soil fertility in an inceptisol. JISSS, 66(3): 295-299
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Table 1: Mustard and pearl millet seed yield under different fertility levels.

Table 2: Ten-year, average mustard yield, oil content and yield under different fertility levels.

Table 3: Mustard-pearl millet system yield under different fertility levels.

Fig: Agrometeorological weakly data of crop duration