Enhancing Blackgram Yield through Optimized Irrigation Scheduling and Integrated Nutrient Management: Growth Characteristics and Yield Components

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at Soil Conservation and Water Management Farm of C S Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur during Zaid seasons i.e. 2022 and 2023 to assess the effect of irrigation scheduling and integrated nutrient management on blackgram.The experiment consisted of three irrigation schedulesviz.I1:0.4 IW/CPE, I2:0.6 IW/CPE, I3:0.8 IW/CPE, along with five integrated nutrient management options viz.F1: 100% RDF, F2:125% RDF.F3: 75% RDF + 2.5 ton FYM/ha,F4: 50 % RDF + 5 ton FYM/ha.F5: 50% RDF + 2.5 ton FYM/ha + 1 tonvermi-compost. The experiment was conducted in Split Plot Design replicated thrice irrigation scheduling systems in main plots and integrated nutrient management in sub plots. The result clearly revealed that significantly higher growth attributes viz plant height (35.25 cm and 37.56 cm), number of branches plant-1 (8.87 and 9.21), number of plant leaves (19.96 and 20.29) at harvest and yield attributes viz number of pod per plant (27.80 and 30.10) no of seed per pod (6.62 and 6.91) and also higher seed yield (9.30 q ha-1 and 9.90 qha-1 ), stover yield(23.21 q ha-1 and 24.03 q ha-1) were recorded with I3: 0.8 IW/CPE compared to I1: 0.4 IW/CPE and I2: 0.6 IW/CPE. Among the integrated nutrient management significantly higher growth attributes viz plant height (36.12 cm and 38.07 cm), number of branches plant-1 (9.01 and 9.32), number of plant leaves (20.05 and 20.45) at harvest and yield attributes viz number of pod per plant (28.44 and 30.17) no of seed per pod (7.05 and 7.37) and also higher grain yield (9.73 q ha-1 and 10.27 qha-1 ), stover yield(23.55 q ha-1 and 24.76 q ha-1) were recorded with F5:50% RDF + 2.5 ton FYM/ha + 1 ton vermi-compost as compared to other integrated nutrient management protocol.