Effect of FYM and sulphur levels on nutrient uptake, yield of component crops and economics of chickpea + mustard intercropping system

Introduction

Pulses and oil seeds both are the important groups of field crops grown in India. Pulses provide protein while oilseeds provide fat for human consumption. Besides pulses are also known to reform soil fertility by fixation of atmospheric nitrogen through root nodules, deep tap root system and major leaf fall whereas oil seeds play an important role in Indian industries trade. In the Central and Northern region of India, the most commonly grown winter pulse and oil seed crops are chickpea and mustard. Inter cropping utilizes the interspaced of widely space crops like mustard and chickpea. Chickpea cultivation with mustard crop augments the production and profitability. In intercropping of chickpea + Mustard. Suitable row ratio, suitability of varieties, date of sowing and nutrient management of both the component crops are essential aspects. FYM have been traditionally used in agriculture for maintaining soil fertility and due to nutrient content, higher organic matter, increased water solving by capacity and increased uptake of nutrients and yield stability. Sulphur play direct role in fatty acid synthesis. It is a constituent of amino acids Cysteine and methionene. It is also required for synthesis of chlorophyll and vitamins like biotin and thiamine. Thus in present investigation different levels of FYM and sulphur were under taken in chickpea + mustard intercropping.

Materials and Methods

The present experiment was conducted at C.S. Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur during Rabi season of 2009-10 and 2010-11. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in texture having slightly alkaline (pH 7.4) in reaction. It contained 0.40% organic carbon, 169 kg/ha available N, 16.2 kg/ha available P 2 O 5 , 180 kg/ha available K 2 O and 18.2 kg/ha available sulphur. The treatment included 3 cropping system viz. sole chickpea, sole mustard, chickpea + mustard (4:1) which were tested with three levels each of FYM (0, 5 and 10 t/ha) and sulphur (0,30 and 60 kg/.ha). Thus 27 treatments were tested in a three replicated split plot design in which cropping system and FYM doses were kept in main plot and sulphur doses in subplots. Chickpea variety KPG-59 and mustard variety Vardan were used. A uniform application of 20 kg N + 40 kg P 2 O 5 + 30 kg K 2 O/ha in chickpea and 120 kg N + 60 kg P 2 O 5 + 40 kg K 2 O/ha in mustard was done in all treatment plots. In inter cropping plots; fertilizers were applied row wise on the basis of actual area sown under each component crop. FYM and sulphur doses were applied as per treatment. Chickpea and mustard crops was shown on Nov. 25, 2009 and Nov. 15, 2010 and seed rate used @ 80 kg/ha (chickpea) and 6 kg/ha (mustard) in sole and in intercropping on row basis. Seeds of gram and mustard were sown behind country plough keeping furrow distance 40 cm later on 20 cm plant distance was maintained by thinning in mustard crop after 20-25 DAS. Crop was irrigated twice i.e. 30-01-2010 and 10-03-2010 in first year and 20-1-2011 and 20-03-2011 in second year. The mustard crop was harvested on 01-04-2010 and 30-03-2011 while chickpea on 15-04-2010 and 14-04-2011 during both years, respectively. The N.P.K and S content in seed and straw of chickpea and mustard were estimated by standard procedure and later on calculated with the multiplication of their yields. The grain/seed and straw/stover yield of chickpea and mustard were recorded and cost of cultivation, gross income, net profit and B:C ratio were estimated on the basis of prevailing market rates of both the component crops and sum was used in intercropping system. Two years data were pooled and pooled value have been presented here under.

Result and Discussion

Effect of nutrient uptake by chickpea crop

It is evident from table-1 that N-uptake in grain and straw were worked out significantly higher in sole chickpea than inter cropping chickpea. N-uptake in intercropped chickpea reduced by 23.1% in grain and 24.5% in straw compared to sole chickpea. Increasing levels of FYM and sulphur application increased N-uptake in grain and straw uptake 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg S/ha but margin of increase due to sulphur beyond 30 kg S/ha was not found significant in case of Nuptake in straw. P-uptake in grain and straw of chickpea was recorded significantly higher in sole chickpea which reduced in intercropped chickpea by the margin of 23.8% in grain and 27.3% in straw. Application of FYM and sulphur increased p-uptake upto their highest level of 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg S/ha. K-uptake in grain and straw were worked out significantly higher in sole chickpea which reduced in intercropped chickpea by 24.2% in grain and 24.1% in straw. Application of FYM and sulphur increased K-uptake significantly upto 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg S/ha but K-uptake in straw could not show significantly increase beyond 60 kg S/ha. S-uptake in grain and straw was significantly higher in sole chickpea which reduced intercropped chickpea by 27.9% in grain and 29.9% in straw. In general S-uptake was found remarkable higher in grain and straw. Application of FYM and sulphur increased S-uptake in grain and straw upto their highest level of 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg S/ha. The N, P, K and S-uptake was more in sole chickpea due to higher absorption of nutrients and their translocation from source to sink because of favorable growth condition. It might be attributed mainly grain and straw yields and partly due to concentration of nutrients in grain and straw. The results are in accordance to those of Singh et al. (1997),Pariharet al. (2000) [1] and Tripathiet al. (2005) [2] . FYM increased the microbial activity in soil and thus availability of nutrients for plants properly and translocation from source to sink. Sulphur also improves absorption of other nutrients in plants. Higher level of FYM and sulphur application might be attributed to combined effect of grain and straw yields and NPKS concentration in grain and straw. Similar results were observed by Singh et al. (2004), Kumar et al. (2006) and Tanwaret al. (2010) [3] .

Effect on grain and straw and yield of chickpea

The data provided in table-1 revealed that sole chickpea produced significantly higher grain yield of 19.38 q/ha as against 15 q/ha of inter cropped chickpea. Grain yield increased significantly upto 10 t/ha FYM (20.69 q/ha). S-application @ 30 and 60 kg/ha increased grain yield over no sulphur by a margins of 1.43 and 2.14 q/ha, respectively. Sole chickpea recorded significantly higher straw yield which reduced in inter cropped chickpea by 7.54 q/ha. Increasing levels of FYM increased straw yield significantly upto 10 t/ha FYM. Sulphur application increased straw yield upto 60 kg/ha but increased beyond 30 kg S/ha was not found significant. Grain and straw yield were produced higher in sole chickpea. It might be attributed to higher plant population and no competition for light, space, nutrients and moisture. These results corroborate with the findings of Prasad et al.

(2006) [4] , Prasad et al. (2003) [5] , Tripathiet al. (2005) [2] , Kour et al. (2014) [6] . Grain and straw yield increased upto 10 t/ha FYM. It might be attributed to better growth and yield attributes. FYM enhanced soil health. These results are inconsonance with those of Kumar and Yadav (2003) and Tanwaret al. (2010) [3] . Sulphur increased grain and straw yield may be due to sulphur plays a vital role in vegetative structure for nutrient absorption and provide strong sink strength as well production to assimilate. The results in accordance with these reported by Kumar et al. (2006).

Effect of nutrient uptake by mustard crop

It is clear from table-2 that sole mustard taken upto significantly higher amount of nitrogen in seed and stover which reduced in intercropped mustard by a margin of 48.36 kg/ha in seed and 16.82 kg/ha in stover. Increasing levels of FYM or sulphur increased N-uptake significantly in seed and stover up to 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg S/ha. Sole mustard recorded much P-uptake which significantly reduced in intercropped mustard by the margin of 9.11 kg/ha in seed and 2.21 kg/ha in stover. Increasing levels of FYM application increased P-uptake in seed with upto 10 t/ha FYM and sotver upto 5 t/ha. Sulphur application @ 60 kg/ha could increase P-uptake in seed over no sulphur. Sole mustard recorded significantly higher K-uptake which reduced in intercropped mustard by 10.17 kg/ha in seed and 25.17 kg/ha in stover. Increasing levels of FYM upto 10 t/ha and sulphur upto 60 kg/ha in both seed and stover. Pure mustard had higher uptake in seed and stover which reduced significantly in intercropped mustard by 8.34 kg/ha in seed and 7.49 kg/ha in stover. Increasing levels of FYM increased S-uptake significantly upto highest level of 10 t/ha FYM but sulphur application increased S-uptake significantly only with upto 30 kg S/ha. Increased NPK and S-uptake seems to be due to the fact that uptake of nutrients is a product of biomass accumulation by particular part and its nutrient content. Thus sole mustard had more NPKS uptake. Similarly positive effect of FYM application both these aspects ultimately led to higher accumulation of nutrients (Kumawat et al., 2014) [7] . These results are in accordance with the findings of Chaurasia et al. (2009) [8] and Singh et al. (2011) [9] . Increase of nutrient uptake due to sulphur application might be attributed to balanced fertilization as recommended doses of NPK have been applied uniformly. S-improved nutritional environment in rhizosphere. These results confirm the findings of, Talwaret al. (2013) and Singh et al. (2013) [10] .

Effect on seed and stover yield of mustard

The result (Table-1) revealed that sole mustard produced significantly higher seed yield which reduced in intercropped mustard by the margin of 13.35 q/ha or 65.7%. Application of 5 and 10 t/ha FYM increased seed yield over no. FYM by 2.24 and 3.56 q/ha, respectively. Sulphur application also increased seed yield upto highest level of 60 kg S/ha which was found significant only yield without sulphur. Stover yield reduced significantly intercropped mustard by 19.52 q/ha or 71.1%. FYM application increased stover yield significantly upto 5 t/ha FYM while sulphur had no significant effect on straw yield and mustard. 5 and 10 t/ha FYM increased stover yield by 1.34 and 1.88 q/ha over no FYM. The reduction in intercropped mustard was due to lower plant population of mustard. The result was supported by the findings of Prasad et al. (2006) [4] and Tripathiet al. (2005) [2] . FYM enhanced seed and stover yield due to improvement in soil health and sulphur to may be positive effect of source to sink strength. The results are in accordance with the results reported by Prasad et al. (2006) [4] , Tripathiet al. (2005) [2] and Singh et al. (2019) [11] . [4] , Yadav et al. (2013) [12] and Kour et al. (2014) [6] . Margin of increases much lesser in cultivation cost than gross income. It might be due to increase in crop yield because of FYM or sulphur was much higher than cost in valued. Therefore net profit and B:C ratio increased with increasing FYM and Sulphur. Tanwar et al. (2010) [3] , Kunwaret al. (2014) [6] and Singh et al. (2011) [9] supported these findings.

Effect on economic parameters of chickpea + mustard system

Conclusion

The field experiment at C.S. Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur, during the Rabi seasons of 2009-10 and 2010-11, provides valuable insights into crop yield optimization. Sole chickpea cultivation outperformed the chickpea-mustard intercrop in grain and straw yield, along with N, P, K, and S uptake. The application of 10 tons per hectare of FYM notably enhanced these yields and nutrient uptakes. Similarly, sulphur application at 60 kg/ha improved yields and nutrient uptake, with comparable results at 30 kg/ha. In contrast, sole mustard cultivation resulted in the highest seed and stover yields and nutrient content, which were further elevated by applying 10 t/ha FYM and 60 kg/ha sulphur. Economically, the chickpea-mustard cropping system (4:1) achieved the highest gross income, net income, and benefit-cost ratio. These results underscore the significance of optimal FYM and sulphur application in enhancing crop yield and profitability, with the integrated chickpea-mustard system showing particular promise for maximizing economic returns.

References

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