Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Response of no-till bio-mulching on growth and moisture conservation in winter pulses under maize-legume cropping systems

Author(s):

J. K. Dey, B. K. Saren, K. Pramanik, B. Duary

Recieved Date: 2021-01-22, Accepted Date: 2021-03-24

Abstract:

In Birbhum district of West Bengal lack of sufficient soil moisture limits the cultivation of winter crops in post rainy season. A vast area remains uncultivated during the post rainy season mainly because of unavailability sufficient soil moisture. Conserving soil moisture of the rainy season through agronomic measures is very suitable for the region because of their cost effectiveness and easy availability. In this region, after the maize harvest maize stalks are not used for fodder and are usually burnt or kept outside the field. Similarly, in post-rainy season, there is plenty of water hyacinth and paddy straw around cultivated areas. Retention of crop residues and weed biomass on the soil surface in combination with zero tillage initiates process that leads to improve soil quality and overall enhancement of resource use efficiency. A field trial was conducted at the experimental farm of Institute of Agriculture, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal, for consecutive two years i.e., 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. The trial was conducted in split plot design with three main plot treatments (cropping sequence), viz, i) Maize-chickpea, ii) Maize-lentil, iii) Maize-lathyrus; with five sub-plot treatments as soil moisture conservation measures i) No-mulching (Residue Removal), ii) In-situ Maize stalk mulching (MSM), iii) Insitu maize stalk mulch + water hyacinth (5 t ha^-1), iv) In-situ maize stalk mulch + paddy straw (5 t ha^-1), v) In-situ maize stalk mulch + water hyacinth (2.5 t ha^-1) + paddy straw (2.5 t ha^-1) and there were four replications. It was found from the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 data that higher plant growth parameters for plant height, dry matter accumulation, leaf area index and crop growth rate were recorded from MSM + paddy straw (5 t ha^-1). However, in case of MEY of system and water holding capacity higher results were observed in maize-chickpea and maize-lathyrus cropping system, respectively, as compared to other cropping systems and in bio-mulching significantly higher result was recorded in MSM + paddy straw (5 t ha^-1) for both MEY of System and water holding capacity as compared to no mulch plots.

Keywords:

Zero-till, bio-mulching, maize-legume sequence, cropping system, soil moisture conservation measures

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2021
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 41-46

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