Productivity and quality of arable crops and soil fertility as influenced by ley farm- ing in hot region of Rajasthan

Abstract

To assess the impact of 4 year ley farming with 2 grasses: i.e. Cenchrus ( Cenchrus ciliaris) and sewan ( Lasiurus sindicus), a field experiment was conducted on low fertile coarse sandy soil at Bikaner, Rajasthan during June 2000December 2004. Two cutting schedules (half yearly and yearly) and 3 varieties (CAZRI-75, CAZRI-358 and CAZRI-1106 of Cenchrus and CAZRI-30-5, CAZRI-317 and CAZRI-319 of sewan) were grown in split plot design with 3 replications. The impact of 4 years ley farming on arable crops viz., moth bean ( Phaseolus aconitifolius Jacq.) and pearl millet [ Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] were studied. The data reveal that sewan grass leys, half yearly cutting of leys have markedly higher biomass production than Cenchrus and yearly cutting schedules. Among the varieties, CAZRI-75 ( Cenchrus) and CAZRI-30-5 (sewan) produced significantly higher biomass when compared with other varieties. The nutrient uptake of leys followed the trend of yields. The ley crops, their cutting schedules and cultivars failed to exert any significant influence on succeeding arable crops performance. However, ley farming has 107.3 and 88.7% higher moth bean and pearlmillet yield than control (no ley) due to greater moisture retention and soil fertility improvement.