MSc

The study entitled “Productivity enhancement of green gram (Vigna radiata
(L.) Wilczek) under system of crop intensification (SCI)” was conducted at College
of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2020-2022. The objectives were to standardize the
plant population and to assess the effect of foliar nutrition in enhancing the
productivity of green gram in summer fallows through a system of crop
intensification.
The field experiment was conducted from February 2022 to May 2022, in
farmer’s field at Southern Coastal Plain (AEU 1), Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram
district, Kerala. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with 16 treatment
combinations and four replications. The main plot treatment was spacing (S1-
spacing of 25 cm x 15 cm with single seedling hill-1
, S2 -spacing of 25 cm x 15 cm
with double seedling hill-1
, S3 -spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm with single seedling hill1
, S4- spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm with double seedling hill-1
) and the sub plot
treatment was foliar application (F1 - Urea @ 2%, F2 - DAP @ 2%, F3 - KNO3 @
0.5%, F4 - DAP @ 2% + KNO3 @ 0.5% at 15 and 30 DAS). All other management
practices were followed as per Package of Practices Recommendations of Kerala
Agricultural University (KAU, 2016). The green gram variety, CO 8 was used for
the experiment.
The growth attributes of green gram viz., plant height, number of leaves
plant-1
, number of branches plant-1
, leaf area and dry matter production were
recorded at 15 DAS, 30 DAS, 45 DAS, 60 DAS and at harvest. The growth
attributes were significantly higher with single seedling (S1 and S3) compared to
double seedling hill-1
(S2 and S4) at all the growth stages. Among the foliar
application treatments, F3 and F4 recorded significantly superior growth attributes.
The physiological parameters, viz., CGR, RGR, NAR and LAI also varied
significantly with spacing and foliar application.
The results indicated that the yield attributes viz., number of pods plant-1
(27.06), and number of seeds pod-1
(12.25) were higher with S3 whereas length of
130
pod (7.99 cm) was higher with S1. Among the foliar nutrition treatments, higher
yield components were recorded in F3. Spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm with single
seedling hill-1
(S3) recorded higher seed yield (899.44 kg ha-1
) and it was at par with
S1 and significantly superior to the other two spacings. Single seedling treatments
(S1 and S3) showed a yield increase of 10.7 per cent and 38.2 per cent, over double
seedling treatments (S2 and S4). Haulm yield was higher with S1 and it was on par
with S3. Foliar nutrition with KNO3 at 0.5% (F3) at 15 and 30 DAS recorded higher
grain yield and haulm yield (880.85 and 1854.29 kg ha-1
, respectively) and
remained at par with F4.
Weed density and weed dry weight were lower (9.75 m-2 and 18.54 g m-2
,
respectively) in S2 than S3 (15.94 m-2
and 28.92 g m-2
, respectively). Weed density
and weed dry weight were significantly lower in F2 and higher in F1.
Higher uptake of N, P and K were observed with S1 and S3. Among the
foliar nutrition treatments, higher N (49.60 kg ha-1
) and P uptake (10.11 kg ha-1
)
were observed with F4. K uptake (27.07 kg ha-1
) was higher with F3 and was at par
with F4. Post-harvest analysis of soil revealed higher available N (378.06 kg ha-1
)
and available K (193.60 kg ha-1
) in S1 and it was at par with S2. Available P was
higher (112.42 kg ha-1
) in S3 and was comparable with S2. Among the foliar
nutrition treatments, higher status of available N and P were observed with F4 and
available K with F3.
The economics of cultivation varied with spacing and foliar nutrition
treatments. Spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm with one seedling hill-1
(S3) along with foliar
nutrition of KNO3 at 0.5% (F3) at 15 and 30 DAS recorded higher net returns (₹
43868 ha-1
) and benefit cost ratio (1.75).
From the study it could be concluded that, planting green gram at a spacing
of 25 cm x 25 cm with single seedling hill-1 with recommended dose of fertilizers,
supplemented with foliar application of KNO3 at 0.5% at 15 and 30 DAS could be
recommended for higher productivity and profitability of the crop in summer rice
fallows under the system of crop intensification.