Effect of Initial soil Fertility and Integrated Plant Nutrition System on Yield and NPK Uptake by Barnyard Millet

Abstract

This study examined the effect of soil fertility and Integrated Plant Nutrition System (IPNS) on the yield of barnyard millet (var. MDU 1) on the field of Eastern Block Farm in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Coimbatore. based on the inductive technique (fertility gradient concept). Among the three fertiliser strips, the first phase of the experiment involved adding graded fertilisers and growing fodder sorghum as a gradient crop to develop soil fertility variations. During the second phase, the barnyard millet test crop experiment included four levels each of N, P2O5, and K2O fertilizers, plus three levels of farmyard manure (FYM). The results show that overall yield recorded in the highest initial fertility  strip III. The highest yield of 2966 kg ha-1 was obtained with 60:30:40 kg ha-1 of N, P2O5, and K2O along with 12.5 t ha-1 of FYM in strip II with initial soil available NPK status 198, 31, and 521 kg ha-1, respectively. The lowest yield 1056 kg ha-1 was recorded in strip I under absolute control and the initial soil test values were 157, 13 and 470 kg ha-1 of KMnO4-N, Olsen-P and NH4OAc-K, respectively. Application of 12.5 t ha-1 of FYM alone increased yield of barnyard was 27.73 per cent over absolute control. Barnyard millet grain production and NPK uptake rose when initial soil fertility and fertiliser N, P2O5, K2O, and FYM levels increased.