Influence of Phosphorus and Sulphur on Growth and Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

The present field experiment was conducted during Rabi season 2024–2025 at the Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj (U.P.), using a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with ten treatments and three replications. The treatments comprised different combinations of Phosphorus (20, 40 and 60 kg/ha) and Sulphur (10, 20 and 30 kg/ha) along with a control (NPK 20-60-20 kg/ha). The results revealed that the application of Phosphorus at 60 kg/ha with Sulphur at 30 kg/ha (T9) recorded significant improvement in growth parameters, viz., plant height (52.02 cm), number of branches per plant (26.33), number of nodules per plant (32.96), plant dry weight (24.20 g) and crop growth rate (24.09 g/m²/day). The same treatment also produced the maximum yield attributes such as number of pods per plant (33.49), seeds per pod (1.33), test weight (5.93 g), which ultimately resulted in the highest grain yield (2.44 t/ha) and straw yield (4.93 t/ha). Economic analysis indicated that treatment T9 also fetched the maximum gross return (₹1,51,430/ha), net return (₹1,03,816.02/ha) and benefit cost ratio (2.18).