Impact of Biofertilizers on Yield and Economics of Rabi Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) under Rainfed Condition

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at All India Coordinated Research Project on sorghum, Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580050, Karnataka for two consecutive rabi season (2018 and 2019) to study the impact of biofertilizers on growth, yield and Economics of Rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) under rainfed condition in northern transition tract of Karnataka. The pooled results of the experiment indicated that, application of RDF (50:25:0 kg N:P2O5:K2O/ha+seed treatment with Azospirillum @4ml+PSB @ 4 ml kg-1 seeds recorded significantly higher grain (42.3 q/ha) and fodder yield (8.4 t/ha) of rabi sorghum compared to rest of the treatments. The higher grain yield was due to significantly higher values of yield components viz., grain yield g/plant (40.0) and 1000-grain weight (33.3g). Further, significantly higher gross returns (Rs.102133/ha), net returns (Rs.68232/ha) and BC ratio (3.0) were recorded due to application of RDF (50:25:0 kg N:P2O5:K2O/ha) +seed treatment with Azospirillum @4ml +PSB @ 4ml kg-1seeds compared to rest of the treatments.