RESPONSE OF PEARL MILLET TO IRRIGATION AND NITROGEN LEVELS

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1 International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research (IJASR) ISSN(P): ; ISSN(E): Vol. 7, Issue 2, Apr 2017, TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. RESPONSE OF PEARL MILLET TO IRRIGATION AND NITROGEN LEVELS R. K. SINGH 1 & C. V. SINGH 2 1 Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Hazaribag, India 2 ICAR-Central Rainfed Upland Rice Research Station (NRRI), Hazaribag, India ABSTRACT The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of nitrogen and irrigation on the growth and yield of pearl millet under both the rainfed as well as irrigated conditions. The numbers of days taken for reaching the anthesis varied between 1 to 5 days in irrigated and rainfed plots, with variable nitrogen treatments. The days to maturity increased with increasing nitrogen dose and observed more so in irrigated plots compared to rainfed plots. Irrigation treatments gave significantly higher values of LAI over rainfed plots. The effect of nitrogen was pronounced on LAI in all the stages. The biomass production of pearl millet followed an exponential pattern reaching a maximum around 70 DAS. Biomass accumulation due to nitrogen application was faster in irrigated plots than rainfed plots. Seed yield varied significantly with the nitrogen application as compared to those plots that received no nitrogen, irrespective of irrigation treatment. Seed yield increase was significant up to 120 and 80 Kg N ha -1 in irrigated and rainfed conditions, respectively. The increase in the yield of straw in rainfed plot was recorded up to 40 kg N ha -1 whereas in irrigated plots it was significant up to 80 kg ha -1. The incremental increase in 1000-seed weight was pronounced upto 40 kg N ha -1 in rainfed treatment and upto 120 Kg N ha -1 in irrigated though significant only upto 80 kg N ha -1. KEYWORDS: LAI, Crop Biomass, N application, Irrigation, Test Weight, Productivity & Pearl Millet Received: Mar 12, 2017; Accepted: Mar 29, 2017; Published: Apr 03, 2017; Paper Id.: IJASRAPR Original Article INTRODUCTION Uncertainty of monsoon rainfall both in respect of amount and distribution reduces agricultural productivity in India. This is more so in the dry climatic regions. The requirement of food grain has been estimated to be 279 million tones to feed the expected population of 1.3 billion by 2020 AD (Bhalla et al., 1999). Attainment of the required target in crop production calls for judicious and efficient management of the environmental resources-water, soil and climate. Arid and semi-arid regions comprised about 40 per cent of the world land area (Pal et al., 1990). Pearl millet (Pannisetumglaucum (L.) R. Br.) Is one of the major cereal crops grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world (Abdelrahman 2007, Abualiet al., 2012). It is the fourth food grain crop in average production, after rice, wheat and jowar and fifth in total cereal production. Of the total world area of 20 m ha under pearl millet, about 10 m ha is in India (Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, G.O.I ) and country is reported as the largest producer of pearl millet with an annual production of 10 m t and average productivity of 1.12 t ha -1 (AICMIP, 2014). However, cultivated area under this crop has remained static for last five decades and production has to be increased to meet the aforesaid increased food demand in near future. With an aim to study the effect of nitrogen and soil moisture on the growth and yield of pearl millet in the semi-arid region of country, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years. editor@tjprc.org

2 484 R. K. Singh & C. V. Singh RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research farm area of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi is situated at latitude of N and a longitude of E. The elevation is m above the mean sea level. The field, where present investigation was carried out, has a fairly leveled topography and the soil belongs to the major soil group of Indo-Gengetic alluvium classified as well drained, deep and yellowish in color sandy loam, non-acidic and mixed hyperthermic to typic ustochrept. The soil was medium to low in organic matter content, low to medium in nitrogen, medium in phosphorus and rich in potassium. The pearlmillet cv. HHB 67 was sown in the kharif season on 26 and 15 July in the first and second year of experimentation, respectively. Main plots comprising irrigation treatments viz., Irrigation (I1) and No irrigation or rainfed (I0) and sub-plots having 5 N rates (0, 20, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha -1 ) were replicated four times in a Split Plot Design (SPD). Single super phosphate (SSP) at the rate of 40 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1, muriate of potash at the rate of 25 kg K 2 O ha -1 and urea as per the N treatment were uniformly broadcasted in the field at the time of sowing and field was disked with tractor drawn harrow to mix the fertilizer in the soil. 50 per cent of nitrogen was applied through urea at vegetative stage. Delhi has a semi-arid climate with dry hot summers and cold winters. The normal annual rainfall is about 714 mm, most of which is received during the south-west monsoon season from July to September. Winter showers are occasionally received during the months from December to February from the western disturbances. May and June are hottest months with mean maximum temperature varying from C and January is coldest month with mean minimum temperature ranging from 6 to 8 0 C. The daily minimum and maximum temperatures increase from February onwards up to June. With the onset of the south-west monsoon temperature generally decrease from July to September and thereafter, attains the seasonal minimum values in January. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS In the présent investigation, the influence of irrigation and nitrogen Levels on growth and yield of pearlmillet is presented both in the tabular as well as graphical illustrations. Growth and Development In both the years, emergence of seedlings and beginning of panicle initiation was noticed on 5 and 26 days after sowing (DAS), respectively (Figure 1). The numbers of days taken for reaching the anthesis stages was 41 to 44 DAS in rainfed plots and it was 42 to 45 DAS in irrigated plots, with variable nitrogen treatments. The seed maturation took 65 to 68 DAS and 65 to 71 DAS in rainfed and irrigated plots, respectively. The days of maturity increased with increasing nitrogen doses. However, it was more in irrigated plots compared to unirrigated plots in conformity of the findings of Adam (2004) and Damame et. al., (2013). Data on above ground biomass production for different treatments of irrigation and nitrogenous fertilizer application are presented in the Figure 2. The biomass production reached the rapid growth phase after 60 DAS and continued till it reached maximum around 70 DAS. There was steady increase in biomass from 30 to 40 DAS during both the seasons attributable to maximum leaf area development because of maximum photosynthetic activity. Then from 40 to 50 DAS there was a steep increase in biomass accumulation. Again after 50 to 60 DAS the increase was not as steep as that of earlier growth period. Thereafter, the decrease was due to reduction in leaf area development. The increase in biomass accumulation was faster in irrigated plots than rainfed plots and it increased with nitrogen treatment. Among the different treatment highest biomass (1080 gm m -1 ) was recorded under highest N applied treatment (120 kg N ha -1 ) in irrigated plot Impact Factor (JCC): NAAS Rating: 4.13

3 Response of Pearl Millet to Irrigation and Nitrogen Levels 485 compared to 742 gm m -1 in no N applied treatment of unirrigated plots. Adam (2004) and Damame et. al., (2013) have reported similar results. Leaf area index (LAI) is an important crop growth parameter. It expresses the total leaf area development in relation to the total ground area on which the crop is grown. The data on the leaf area index computed is depicted in Figure 3. The LAI increased from about 0.75 to 1.0 around 30 DAS both in both the years, attaining a maximum during the middle of flowering stage and decreased thereafter up to the end of crop maturity confirming the results reported earlier by other researchers namely Singh and Singh (1995) and Adam (2004). The crop stage of maximum LAI attained was around 50 DAS in both the seasons, but with the onset of panicle initiation the growth became faster (Figure 3a & 3b). In both the years, irrigation treatments gave significantly higher values of LAI over unirrigated plots. The effect of nitrogen was pronounced on LAIin all the stages. Application of 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha -1 recorded higher LAI than plots with no N application, but the difference in 80 and 120 kg N levels was significant (Khapre et al., 1993, Ibrahim et al. 2014). In general, the LAI values in irrigated plots were higher compared to rainfed plots in all the N treatments. Similar findings have been reported by Rockstrom et. al., (1997). Seed and Straw Yield Data on seed and straw yield of pearl millet as influenced by irrigation and nitrogen, during the two years of experimentation are presented in Table 1. Seed yield varied significantly with the nitrogen application in comparison to plots receiving no nitrogen under both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions. Similar results were obtained by other researchers under similar conditions (Ibrahim et al. 2014, Bhuva and Sharma 2015). Significant increase in the seed yield was noted due to N levels up to 120 Kg N/ ha in irrigated plots whereas pronounced only up to 80 Kg N/ hain rainfed treatments. These findings are similar to those reported by researchers such as Bhuiva and Sharma (2015) and also by Ibrahim et al., (2014). Nitrogen being the constituent of protein and protoplasm, which naturally increased seed yield of the crop principally through formation of greater potential sites of ear head formation, as a result of enhanced growth. Adequate nitrogen supply produced extra protein that allowed the leaf tissues to grow larger, thereby providing larger surface area for photosynthetic activity to take place (Zerbini and Thomas, 2003; Yadav et. al., 2014). Effect of irrigation on straw yield of pearlmillet was similar to that observed for grain yield. In both the years, the straw yield increased significantly due to irrigation over rainfed. The nitrogen application increased the straw yield progressively and significantly with successive N doses in both the years. The increment in the yield of straw in rainfed plot was up to 40 kg N ha -1 whereas in irrigated plots the increase is significant up to 80 kg ha -1 and with 120 kg N ha -1 it was non-significant (Yadav and Kumar, 2013; Ibrahim et. al., 2014;Bhuva and Sharma, 2015,) Seed Weight Irrigated plants produced significantly heavier seeds compared to those of plants under unirrigated treatments (Table 1). The 1000-seed weight increased significantly with successive N levels in both the years of experimentation. These results are in agreement with those reported by Bhuva and Sharma (2015). The incremental increase in 1000-seed weight was pronounced upto 40 kg N ha -1 in rainfed treatment and up to 120 Kg N ha -1 in irrigated, but only the incremental increase in 1000-seed weight was significant upto 80 kg N ha -1. Similar results were recorded by Zerbini and Thomas (2003). editor@tjprc.org

4 486 R. K. Singh & C. V. Singh CONCLUSIONS It may be concluded that increasing the rate of N fertilizer application resulted in greater leaf area development, higher biomass, 1000-seed weight and higher seed and straw yield. Seed yield varied significantly with the nitrogen application in comparison to plots receiving no nitrogen under both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions. However, magnitude of increase in the seed yield varied to N application levels depending on the irrigation levels. Pearlmillet responded to N levels up to 120 Kg N/ ha in irrigated plots and up to 80 Kg N/ hain rainfed treatments as evident from pronounced effects of N application on the grain yield. REFERENCES 1. Abdelrahman, F.I. (2007). Effect of seed rate and NPK fertilizer on growth, yield and forage quality of Rhodes grass, M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, U. of K., Khartoum, Sudan. 2. Abuali AI, Abdelmulla AA, Idris AE Character Association and Path Analysis in Pearl Millet (Pennisetumglaucum L.). American Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 2 (3): Adam, M.Y. (2004), Effect of seed rate and nitrogen on growth and yield of teff grass, Ag. Sc. J. SS AICPMIP, 2014.Annual Report of all India Journal Coordinated Pearl Millet improvement Project (ICAR) University of Mysore, pp: Bhuva, H.M. and Sharma, S Influence of nutrient uptake by irrigation, nitrogen and phosphorus and their effect on quality parameters of rabi peal millet. American-Eurasian J. Agric. Environ. Sci., 15(3): Black, C.A. (1965). Bulk density. In: C.A. Black (ed.), Methods of soil analysis, Part I, Agronomy Mono. American Society of Agronomy. Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 9: Damame, S.V., Bhingarde, R.N. and Pathan, S.H. (2013). Effect of different nitrogen levels on nutritional quality and nitrate nitrogen accumulation in forage pearl millet genotypes grown under rainfed conditions. Forage Research, 39: Directorate of Economics & Statistics ( ). Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Indian. 9. Ibrahim, Y. M., Idris, A. E., Marhoum, M. A Effect of nitrogen fertilizer on irrigated forage pearlmillet. Universal J. Agril. Res. 2(2): Klute, A (1965) Laboratory measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated soil. In: C.A. Black (ed.), Methods of soil analysis, Part I Agronomy Monograph, Am. Soc. Agro., 9: Pal, M., Gautam, R.C., Kaushik, S.K., Singh, R.K. and Ahuja, K.N. (1990). Dryland technology- Potential and Priorities. Intensive Agric., 28(1): Yadav, A. K., Kumar, A., Singh, J., Jat, R. D., Jat, H. S. Datta, A., Singh, K. amd Chaudhary, R Performance of pearl millet genotypes under irrigated and rainfed conditions at Hissar, India. J. Applied and Natural Sc. 6(2): Yadav, A.K. and Kumar, A. (2013). Comparative performance of pearl millet genotypes in terms of yield and quality under different environment. Forage Research, 39: Zerbini, E. and Thomas, D. (2003). Opportunities for improvement of nutritive value in sorghum and pearl millet residues in south Asia through genetic enhancement. Field Crops Research, 84: Impact Factor (JCC): NAAS Rating: 4.13

5 Response of Pearl Millet to Irrigation and Nitrogen Levels 487 APPENDICES Figure 1: Occurrence of Phenological Stages in different Treatments (Mean of 2 Years) Figure 2: Crop Biomass as Influenced by Irrigation and Nitrogen Levels Figure 3a: Effect of Irrigation and N Levels on LAI of Pearl Millet at different Crop Stages (Year I) editor@tjprc.org

6 488 R. K. Singh & C. V. Singh Figure 3b: Effect of Irrigation and N Levels on LAI of Pearl Millet at different Crop Stages (Year II) Table 1: Grain and Straw Yield (q ha -1 ) of Pearl Millet as Influenced by Irrigation and Nitrogen Application Treatment Grain Yield (q ha -1 ) Straw Yield (q ha -1 ) Yr I Yr II Mean Yr I Yr II Mean N levels No Irrigation No Irrigation 0 kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha Mean Irrigation Irrigation 0 kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha Mean CD (5%) Irrigation (I) Nitrogen (N) I X N Irrigation (I) Nitrogen (N) I X N Year I Year II Table 2: Test Weight (g) of Pearl Millet as Influenced by Irrigation and Nitrogen Application Treatment Test Weight (g) Yr I Yr II Mean Yr I Yr II Mean N levels No Irrigation Irrigation 0 kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha kg N ha Mean CD (5%) Irrigation (I) Nitrogen (N) I X N Year I Year II Impact Factor (JCC): NAAS Rating: 4.13