Effect of mulching and foliar application on yield attributes of white sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Introduction

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a very old crop, cultivated in India for the last over 5,000 years (Bedigian and Harlan, 2003; Ashri, 2007) [4,2] . It is the oldest oilseed belonging to the family Pedaliaceae with 46-52% oil and 20-28% protein content (Ashri, 2007) [1] . In spite of its nutritional value and wide usage, its productivity is quite low because it is heavily influenced by weeds, low soil fertility and rainfed condition (Debnath et al., 2015; Myint et al., 2020) [5,17] . One well-known agronomic technique for preserving soil fertility, reducing weed growth, and conserving soil moisture is mulching (Kader et al., 2017; Kader et al., 2020) [9,10] . Foliar application of biostimulants like moringa leaf extract, seaweed extract and fish meal gives promoting factors for plant growth, which affect physiological activity and attributes of yield (Fuglie, 2000; Khan et al., 2009) [7,11] . Synergistic effect on sesame productivity under moisture limited condition is predicted with the integration of mulching and foliar sprays. The application of mulching and foliar application is an outstanding agronomic strategy for boosting the yield performance of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), especially under resource limited conditions. While mulching will promote soil moisture availability, improving the soil microclimate and conditions at the root zone, the foliar application will supply nutrients effectively at specific stage of growth, to ensure rapid and efficient nutrient supply. Both the practices combined, create synergy which improve plant growth performance, physiological efficiency and yield response of sesame crop. Various reports on oilseed crops indicate that maintaining sufficient soil moisture by using mulches, coupled with timely supply of foliar nutrients supply enhances photosynthesis rate, uptake of nutrients and accumulation of biomass. The combination of these technologies will be effective especially in rainfed conditions where water and nutrients are limiting factors (Sarkar et al., 2007; Patil et al., 2017; Panda et al. 2001) [22, 19, 18] . In sesame, improved microclimate conditions created by the use of mulching alongside increased availability of foliar nutrients will increase yield attributes and nutrient use efficiency. By preventing evaporative losses and reduction of soil temperature fluctuation through mulching, the moisture conservation and availability in the root zone will increase; this along with timely supplied nutrients through sprays will be responsible to improve flowering and capsule formation along with seed filling as key yield attributes of the crop. Previous studies in some other crops have confirmed that adequate moisture conservation strategy coupled with foliar application significantly increased water use efficiency and nutrient use efficiency. This treatment can also increase plant vigor, boost dry matter accumulation and efficiently translocate photosynthates toward economical yield. Recent trend in sustainable agricultural research emphasizes integrated use of mulching with foliar application of bio stimulants and micronutrients to boost plant tolerance to climate change variability. Some recent reports have confirmed that use of organic mulches together with application of plant growth regulators or organic extracts as sprays have enhanced plant stress tolerance by stimulating antioxidant capacity, protecting cell membrane stability and metabolic activities. This will improve yield and seed quality along with financial return. It also reduces the necessity for soil applied fertilizers in order to protect environment. Despite the benefits, there is very limited information about the integration of mulching with foliar application on yield performance of sesame crop, indicating a wide gap for future research across different agro-climatic regions (Meena et al. 2017) [16] .

Materials and Methods

Study area description

The experiment was laid out during the Kharif season of 2025 at the Experimental Research Farm, Jollang, College of Agriculture, Himalayan University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. The location of the farm is situated at 27.14 N latitude and 93.62 E longitude at an elevation of 320 m above the mean sea level. The site is a part of Eastern Himalayan region under subtropical agro-climatic zone of Arunachal Pradesh.

Experimental Design and Analysis

The experiment was conducted in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications consisting of seven treatments, resulting in a total of 21 plots. Sesame variety GT 2 21 was used for the experiment during the Kharif season. Each plot measured 3 m × 3 m (9 m²), with bunds of 10 cm height and 20 cm width provided between plots to prevent nutrient and water movement. The crop was sown at intervals of 10 cm × 15 cm to maintain optimum plant population. The overall experimental field measured 30 m in length and 12 m in width, covering a gross cultivated area of 360 m², out of which the net cultivated area was 189 m² used for recording observations and yield data. All the observation recorded in this investigation were analyzed statistically with the help of ANOVA. The "F" (variance ratio) table was used to assess the significant and non-significant treatment effects, and the crucial difference at the 5% probability level was used to test the differences between the treatments. Stone mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3% T2 Stone mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -¹ T3 Stone mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5% T4 Biodegradable mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3% T5 Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -¹ T6 Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%

Crop husbandry

Capsules plant -1 (No.); for calculating number of capsules plant - 1 , capsules of tagged plants were counted. The average value for each treatment was calculated thereafter. Seed capsules -1 (No.); the total number of seeds capsules -1 from the five fresh capsules was counted and the average was expressed as number of seeds capsules -1 . At the end, the total yield of each treatment was calculated in t ha -1 . Economic yield (t ha -1 ); the crop harvested from the net plot were weighted and expressed in t ha -1 . Biological yield (t ha -1 ): The green fodder from the net plot was weighed and expressed in t ha -1 after the capsules were collected and the remaining plants were harvested to the base. By dividing the biological yield (grain + straw) by the economic yield (grain), the harvest index was calculated.

Results and Discussion

Number of capsules plant -1 was observed as a yield feature (table 2), indicating a significant impact of various treatments on the number of capsules plant -1 . However, the treatment had the highest quantity of capsules per plant recorded in T 6 (Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%) i,e.,(61.00) which is followed by T 5 (Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal (Fish amino acid) @ 2 t ha⁻¹) i,e., (58.67). Lowest number of capsules plant -1 recorded at T 0 (47) and second lowest is T 1 (50.67). The probable reason for recording higher number of capsules plant -1 under treatment T₆ may be attributed to the synergistic effect of biodegradable mulch and seaweed extract, which improved soil-moisture conservation, nutrient uptake, and physiological efficiency, thereby enhancing reproductive development and capsule formation. The present observation was in full agreement with that of Patil et al. (2017) [19] , who observed that integrated use of mulching and foliar biostimulants significantly increased capsule number and yield in sesame by improving moisture conservation, nutrient availability, and assimilate translocation toward reproductive organs. Maximum number of seed per capsule (66.67) were recorded in T 6 (Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%) where it performed better over all other treatments, followed by T 5 (Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -1 , 63.00) and T 4 (Biodegradable mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3%, 61.33). Minimum number of seed per capsule (55.00) were recorded in T 0 (Control, no mulch, no foliar spray). The increasing effect of seed number under T might be because of the cumulative effect of biodegradable mulch and seaweed extract which has a positive impact on the soil moisture, nutrients availability and reproductive efficiency thereby contributing for better seed set and fill up of capsules. According to Khan et al. (2009) [11] , seaweed extracts are abundant in hormones that promote growth and trace elements which are involved in stimulation of physiological activities that can lead to the improved yield traits such as number of seeds and capsules of oil seed crops. The significant and highest economical (grain) yield was recorded in treatment T 6 (Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%, i.e., 1.66 t ha - 1 ) which was significantly higher than rest of the treatments followed by T 5 (Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -1 , i.e., 1.59 t ha -1 ) and T 4 (Biodegradable mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3%, i.e., 1.35 t ha -1 ) whereas minimum economic yield was recorded at T 0 (Control, no mulch, no foliar spray). The significant increase in economic yield under T 6 may be due to synergism of biodegradable mulch and seaweed extract which ultimately maintained optimal moisture level, increased nutrient content, promoted photosynthetic efficiency and thereby increased seed yield. This is in corroboration with Patil et al.

(2017) [19] who observed that foliar application of seaweed-based biostimulants significantly increased seed yield and productivity of sesame by augmenting the uptake of nutrients and chlorophyll content and translocate to reproductive sinks. Biological (Stover) Yield (t ha -1 ), which was measured at harvest, shows that several treatments had a notable impact on the yield (t ha -1 ). The significant and highest biological yield (3.50 t ha -1 ) was found in T 6 (Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%), followed by T 5 (Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -1 , i.e., 3.32 t ha -1 ) and T 4 (Biodegradable mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3%, i.e., 3.12 t ha -1 ). The minimum biological yield (2.54 t ha -1 ) was found in T 0 (Control, no mulch, no foliar spray).

It was observed that the substantial increase in biological yield in T 6 could be due to combined effect of biodegradable mulching and foliar seaweed extract, which enhanced moisture retention in the soil, increased uptake of nutrients and maintained better photosynthesis, and eventually resulted in high accumulation of total dry matter. Mulching helped in maintaining the favorable soil temperature and reduced transpiration losses, and the foliar application of biostimulant induced high level of physiological process and allocation of assimilate toward vegetative as well as reproductive stage of development of the plant. This is in line with the work done by Debnath et al. (2015) [5] which stated that integrated nutrient management combined with organic mulching practices may significantly improve total biomass and biological yield of sesame through improved soil moisture retention and higher nutrient availability, as well as photosynthetic performance. Harvest index (%); the harvest index (%) at harvest indicates that the harvest index (%) was significantly impacted by various treatments. T₅ (Biodegradable mulch + Fish meal @ 2 t ha -1 ) had the greatest and most notable harvest index (47.95%), closely followed by T₆ (Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%, i.e., 47.48 %) and T₄ (Biodegradable mulch + Moringa leaf extract @ 3%, i.e, 43.38 %). The lowest harvest index (38.45 %) was recorded in T₀ (Control, no mulch, no foliar spray). The significant variation among treatments indicates that the combination of biodegradable mulch and foliar biostimulants effectively improved the partitioning of assimilates toward economic yield. The higher harvest index under T₅ and T₆ reflects efficient translocation of photosynthates from vegetative parts to reproductive organs, resulting in better seed formation and yield efficiency. The increase in harvest index values under organic and biodegradable mulching conditions may be because of optimum conservation of soil moisture and moderate temperature and favorable conditions for uptake of nutrient ultimately leading to assimilate partitioning in favouring conditions. This is confirmed by Kumawat et al. (2022) [12] , that integrated agronomic practice combining organic mulching and nutrient supply considerably enhanced the harvest index and yield efficiency of sesame due to better utilization of resources and improving soil condition

Conclusion

On the basis of research findings, the experiment clearly demonstrated that the combined application of biodegradable mulch and seaweed extract T₆ Biodegradable mulch + Seaweed extract @ 0.5%) was most effective in enhancing yield attributes of sesame under rainfed conditions. The treatment improved soil-moisture retention, nutrient uptake, and photosynthetic efficiency, resulting in superior vegetative growth, reproductive development, and higher economical yield (1.66 t ha -1 ), biological yield (3.50 t ha -1 ) was observed.

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