Crop management practices influence the nodule characteristics, yield attributes and yield of groundnut

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy farm, College of Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner (Rajasthan). The treatment comprises of three tillage practices in main plots viz. T1 – minimum tillage (MT), T2 – deep tillage (DT) and T3 – conventional tillage (CT) and six fertilizer management practices in sub plots i.e. (i) control (F0)(ii) recommended dose of NK fertilizer (F1) (iii) recommended dose of NPK fertilizer (RDF) (F2) (iv) RDF + phosphate solubilizing bacteria(PSB) 2.5 Kg ha-1 (F3) (v) RDF + PSB 2.5 Kg ha-1 + Arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi (AMF) 2 Kg ha-1 (F4)(vi) RDF + PSB 2.5 Kg ha-1 + AMF 4 Kg ha-1 (F5). A total of 18 treatment combinations were laid out in split plot design and replicated four times. Deep tillage (DT) produced significantly higher number of pods per plant, kernels per pod, number and dry weight of root nodules, pod yield and seed index as compared to minimum tillage. DT also recorded higher net return and B:C ratiocompared to MT. Among various fertilizer management practices,RDF along with seed inoculation with PSBand AMF recorded significantly higher growth, yield and yield parameters compared to RDF without seed inoculation. Also recorded the maximum net return and B:C ratio over rest of the fertilizer management practices. Thus, deep tillagealong with RDF + PSB + AMF (4 kg ha-1) enhanced groundnutyield attributes, yieldsand net returns.