Response of Phosphorus and Biofertilizers on Growth, Yield Attributes and Economic Indices of Black Gram (Vigna mungo L. Hepper)

Abstract

Field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of year 2019 to study the response of phosphorus and biofertilizers on growth, yield attributes and economic indices of black gram (Vigna mungo L. Hepper). The initial soil parameter status were pH 4.6, OC 1.16%, medium in available soil N (256.99 kg ha-1), low in available P (18.95 kg ha-1) and medium in available K (212.56 kg ha-1). The soil was well drained and sandy loam in texture The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The treatments consisted of four levels of phosphorus i.e. 0, 20, 40, 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 and four levels of biofertilizer i.e. uninoculated, Rhizobium, PSB, Rhizobium + PSB. Among the various treatment levels and sources, 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 with dual inoculation of seeds along with Rhizobium + PSB significantly increased the growth and yield attributes such as plant height, plant population, Leaf Area Index (LAI), number of leaves plant-1, number of branches plant-1, Crop Growth Rate (CGR), number of pods plant-1 (30.72), pod length (4.68 cm), number of seeds pod-1 (7.20), seed yield (1120.35 kg ha-1), stover yield (2401.54 kg ha-1) and harvest index (31.80 %) over rest of the treatments. Results further indicated that a higher net return of ₹ 39,811 and B:C ratio of 1.45 were also observed with the application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 along with dual inoculation of seeds with Rhizobium and PSB.