Abstract

      A field experiment was conducted at Department of Agronomy, Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchirapalli, during Kharif, 2017 to study the effect of land configuration and nitrogen management on the productivity of finger millet (TRY 1) under sodic soil. The experiment was laid out in split plot design and replicated thrice. The main plot treatments consisted of land configurations viz., flat bed (M1), ridges and furrows (M2) and broad bed furrows (M3) and the sub plot consisted of N levels viz., 100 per cent Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (RDN) (60 kg ha-1) (S1), 125 per cent RDN (75 kg ha-1) (S2) and 150 per cent RDN (90 kg ha-1) (S3). The entire dose of recommended phosphorus (30 kg ha-1) and potassium (30 kg ha-1) were applied as basal and nitrogen was applied in two equal splits during basal and 30 days after transplanting. The results revealed that ridges and furrows registered higher soil moisture content at 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm depth during all the stages of observations than broad bed furrows and flat bed. Significantly higher growth parameters viz., plant height, number of tillers and DMP and LAI and yield attributes viz., productive tillers, length of finger, number of grains per earhead, earhead weight and N uptake were registered under ridges and furrows than flat bed. Grain and straw yields (3428 and 6589 kg ha-1) were recorded significantly higher under ridges and furrows over broad bed furrows and flat bed. In nitrogen management, application of 150 per cent RDN registered significantly higher growth, yield attributes and grain yield (3604 kg ha- 1) over 125 and 100 per cent N application. Thus, land configuration through ridges and furrows and application of 150 per cent RDN (90 kg ha-1) could be recommended for higher productivity of finger millet under sodic soil condition.

Key Words: Broad bed furrows, Finger millet, Grain yield, Growth parameters, Ridges and furrows