Influence of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth attributes of black gram (Vigna mungo) under Moringa (Moringa oleifera) based agroforestry systems

Introduction

Agroforestry is a sustainable land use system that integrates trees with agricultural crops to enhance productivity, soil fertility, biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Trees recycle nutrients from deep soil layers and deposit organic matter as litterfall. They can also offer farmers additional products and income. Agroforestry is practiced in 25.32 million ha (8.2%) of the geographical area of India and it indicates its importance in sustainable agricultural production (Dhyani et al., 2013) [6] . It helps to offset climate change by storing carbon as tree biomass and soil organic matter (Garrity, 2004) [9] . Moringa oleifera is a promising multipurpose tree for tropical and subtropical agroforestry systems due to its fast growth, drought tolerance, low input needs and wide range of nutritional, medicinal and economic uses (Fuglie, 2001) [8] . It has leaves rich in nutrients that decay quickly and may have a role in nutrient cycling and soil fertility. In addition, its potential for biomass production and carbon sequestration may offer further ecological benefits (Leone et al., 2015; Adekiya et al., 2020) [, 1] . Moringa based agroforestry system can contribute to diversify farm income through leaves, seeds and wood and thus increase resilience in smallholder farming systems (Foidl et al., 2001) [7] . Black gram (Vigna mungo L.) is an important short duration pulse crop which is highly preferred for its high nutritional value, adaptability and fixing atmospheric nitrogen. It contains 22-24% protein and 56.6-59.6% carbohydrate. It is best suited for tropical and sub-tropical agro-climatic zones, The short duration of its growth makes it suitable for multiple and intercropping systems with agroforestry (Tomar et al., 2011, Selvakumar et al., 2012) [19,16] .

However, the availability of nutrients is an important factor affecting crop productivity, especially where crops are grown in association with trees. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) is a practice of combined use of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers for increasing nutrient-use efficiency, maintaining soil health and ensuring long-term productivity (Meena et al., 2015; Dhakal et al., 2016) [13,5] . Organic amendments such as vermicompost, farmyard manure and poultry manure can improve the soil physical properties, microbial activity and nutrient availability, whereas Rhizobium inoculation may improve the biological nitrogen fixation in legumes (Vessey, 2003; Bhatt et al., 2013) [21,3] . Vermicompost as an organic source of nutrients provides slowly available nutrients and biologically active compounds which can improve root growth, nutrient uptake and crop productivity (Arancon et al., 2004) [2] . FYM improves soil aggregation, water holding capacity and microbial activity and contributes organic matter and nutrients (Gaur, 1999; Ghosh et al., 2004) [10,11] . Well composted poultry manure has the potential to enhance soil fertility and provide readily available nutrients because of relatively high nutrient concentration and rapid mineralization (Gupta & Sharma, 2010; Sridhar et al., 2013) [12,17] . Rhizobium also has a symbiotic association with leguminous crops and helps in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen which improves the nitrogen nutrition and crop productivity (Meena et al., 2016; Bhavya et al., 2018) [14,4] . Moringa oleifera based agroforestry system along with INM (integrated nutrient management) can be a promising approach for improvement of black gram productivity enhancement of soil health, resource use efficiency and sustainability. In this context, the present study was undertaken to assess the influence of integrated nutrient management strategies involving chemical fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers on growth of black gram grown under moringa based agroforestry system. The experimental objectives were to evaluate the growth attributes under different treatments and compare the efficiency of INM practices in agroforestry systems. The findings are intended to guide sustainable nutrient management strategies and optimize legume-based intercropping under integrated farming systems.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted during 2024-2025 at Forest Nursery and Research Center of College of Forestry, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj located at six km. from Prayagraj city on Rewa road south of Yamuna River. Prayagraj city is located at latitude 28.87 0 N and longitude 81.15 0 E at an elevation of 98 meters above mean sea level. Prayagraj is located in the southeast of Uttar Pradesh and has a tropical to sub-tropical climate with extremes of summers and winters. The temperature can drop to 5°C in winter especially in December and January. In summer it can get above 45°C. The bulk of the annual rainfall of 1100 mm is received during the monsoon autumn (July to September) with a few scattered showers in the winter. The experiment was conducted in a Moringa plantation having spacing of 9 × 9 m 2 . The experiment was carried out in randomized block design (RBD) with three replications under the moringa based agroforestry system with Black gram variety "Shekhar-2" as test crop. Each replication consisted of 22 treatment combinations and there were 66 plots of 2 × 2 m 2 . The 22 treatments were control; 0, 50 and 75% RDF along with Rhizobium culture; 0, 50 and 75% RDF in combination with 2.5 and 5 t ha -1 FYM, poultry manure and vermicompost supplemented with Rhizobium culture. The treatments were designated as T₁ to T₂₂ respectively. The black gram seeds were manually planted at a rate of 25 kg/ha in furrows between the alleys of the moringa trees. The growth parameters of black gram i.e. number of plants height, dry matter accumulation per plant, number of leaves per plant, and number of branches per plant was recorded at 20, 40 and 60 days after sowing (DAS).

Results and Discussion

The data presented in Tables 2 [20,17] . [18,15,12] . [18] and Pankaj et al., 2020 [15] . The number of branches plant⁻¹ increased with crop age and was significantly different among treatments. Branches at 40 and 60 DAS ranged from 2.22-5.03 and 4.02-6.73 plant⁻¹ respectively (Table 5). Maximum number of branches was recorded under T 22 (75% RDF + 5 t ha -1 vermicompost + Rhizobium culture 5.03 and 6.73 plant -1 respectively and minimum under T 1 (Control) i.e., 2.22 and 4.02 plant -1 . At 60 DAS, T 22 was followed by T 20 (6.69) and T 18 (6.65 plant -1 ). The increased branching under integrated nutrient management could be attributed to better availability and uptake of nutrients leading to luxuriant vegetative growth. Integrated nutrient management reported a similar improvement in branching in pulse crops by Singh et al., 2023 [18] and Pankaj et al., 2020 [15] . These results indicate that integrating RDF 75% + 5t/ha VERMICOMPOST +Rhizobium culture (T 2 2) consistently enhanced the growth of black gram, demonstrating the benefits of combined chemical and organic nutrient management under agroforestry (Figure 3).

Conclusion

The integrated nutrient management treatments significantly improved black gram growth characteristics compared to the control. T 22 (75% RDF + 5 t ha⁻¹ Vermicompost + Rhizobium culture) had the highest plant height, dry matter accumulation, number of leaves and number of branches at respective growth stages under all treatments, while lowest values were observed under T 1 (Control). The enhanced performance of T 22 might be due to the combined and synergistic effects of inorganic nutrients, vermicompost and Rhizobium leading to better nutrient availability, uptake and vegetative growth. Therefore, the treatment 75% RDF + 5 t ha -1 Vermicompost + Rhizobium culture was found to be the most effective treatment for enhancing the growth and biomass production of black gram under the experimental conditions

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