Modern Tillage and Integrated Nutrient Management Practices for Improving Soil Fertility and Productivity of Groundnut (<i>Arachis hypogaea</i> L.) under Rainfed Farming System

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted with four tillage and three nutrient management practices at Agronomy field unit, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The results of the study indicated that, higher groundnut pod yield (1307 and 1282 kg ha-1) and haulm yield (2733 and 2889 kg ha-1) was recorded with mechanical tillage + two intercultivations and integrated application of 50% organics and 50% inorganics, respectively as compared to rest of the treatments. Further, the same treatments noticed higher availability of N, P2O5 and K2O in soil after harvest of groundnut, but greater improvement in soil organic carbon content was observed with conventional tillage + one intercultivation (0.62%) as compared to rest of the tillage practices. The maximum net returns and benefit-cost ratio was recorded with mechanical tillage + two intercultivations (Rs. 11,287 ha-1 and 1.75, respectively) and integrated application of 50% organics + 50% inorganics (Rs. 10,462 ha-1 and 1.69, respectively). However, interaction effect of tillage and nutrient management practices were not influenced significantly on soil fertility and productivity of groundnut under rainfed farming system.