Improving Growth and Yield of Green Gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] with Optimum Sowing Time and Bio Input Applications

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to examine the effects of sowing windows and nutrient management over two consecutive Summer seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24) at the Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University. The treatments consisted of four sowing windows for greengram D1: 1st Sowing (8th March and 14th March), D2: 2nd Sowing (15th March and 21st March), D3: 3rd Sowing (22nd March and 28th March), D4: 4th Sowing (29th March and 4th April) in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively and five nutrient management practices N1: 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) (15, 40, 20 kg NPK ha-1), N2: 70% RDF+ 15% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) through Poultry manure + Consortia of biofertilizers @ 10 ml kg-1 seeds, N3: 70% RDF+ 15% RDN through Poultry manure + Panchagavya @ 30 ml L-1 (2-spray), N4: 70% RDF+ 15% RDN through Poultry manure + Seaweed extract @ 2 ml L-1 (2-spray), N5: 70% RDF+15% RDN through Poultry manure + Consortia of biofertilizers @ 10 ml kg-1 seeds + Panchagavya @ 30 ml L-1 & Seaweed extract @ 2 ml L-1 both as tank mix (2-spray) thereby making twenty treatment combinations were tested in split plot design with three replications. Results revealed that the crop sown on March 8 and March 14 over two consecutive years yielded higher plant height (41.3 and 42.4 cm at harvest), number of primary branches plant-1 (5.60 and 5.74 at harvest), absolute growth rate (AGR) (g day-1), crop growth rate (CGR) (g m-2 land area day-1), relative growth rate (RGR) (g g-1 day-1), net assimilation rate (NAR) (g m-2 day-1) and grain yield (982 and 998 kg ha-1). Furthermore, under nutrient management application of 70% RDF+15% RDN through Poultry manure + Consortia of biofertilizers @ 10 ml kg-1 seed + Panchagavya @ 30 ml L-1 & Seaweed extract @ 2 ml L-1 both as tank mix (2-spray) exhibited significantly higher in growth parameters such as plant height (40.0 and 41.2 cm at harvest), number of primary branches plant-1 (5.60 and 5.78 at harvest), CGR (g m-2 land area day-1), RGR (g g-1 day-1) and grain yield (940 and 959 kg  ha-1). This research contributes valuable insights in optimizing sowing windows and nutrient management for enhanced growth and productivity of greengram (Vigna radiata L.).