Influence of saline and sodic irrigation water on Bajra- I : Effect on yield and yield attributes

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted at Net House,Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science,Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh to assess four levels each of salinity (2, 4, 6 and 8 dS m-1) and sodicity (5.0, 10.0, 15.0 and 20.0 SAR) of irrigation water on Bajra by adopting factorial CRD with three replications.The results indicated that application of different levels of saline and sodic irrigation water produced significant effect on growth, yield attributes, yield and quality of bajra crop. The maximum plant height, number of effective and total tillersper plant, germination percentage, earhead girth, grain, fodder and biological yield and harvest index were observed with EC 2 dS m-1 and SAR 5.0 and the lowest with EC8 dS m-1and SAR 20.0 of irrigation water. The quality parameters like seed index and protein content were found maximum with saline irrigation water level of EC 2 dS m-1 and SAR 5.0 and the lowest with EC 8 dS m-1 and SAR 20.0 of irrigation water. The interaction effect between salinity and sodicity levels of irrigation water onfodder yield, harvest index were found significantly the highest with C1× S1(EC-2.0 dSm-1×SAR-5.0) and plant height were found significantly the highest with C2× S1(EC-4.0 dSm-1× SAR-5.0) at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest.