Effect of drip fertigation on growth and yield of castor + onion intercropping system

Abstract

Field experiments were carried out in the farmer's field at Kokalai village, Namakkal during Rabi 2011-12 and 2012-13 to study the effect of drip irrigation regimes and fertigation levels on growth yield attributes of castor and onion crops, castor equivalent yield in castor with onion intercropping system. Results revealed that drip irrigation at 80 per cent CPE recorded significantly better growth characters of castor like plant height, leaf area index (LAI), yield attributes viz., length of primary spike; number of capsule per primary spikes; total number of spikes per plant; 100 seed weight and castor equivalent yield than 60 per cent and 40 per cent CPE during both the years. Among the different fertilizer levels, application of 100 per cent RDF as water soluble fertilizer (WSF) registered better growth characters viz., plant height, LAI, yield attributes and castor equivalent yield during both the years compared to other treatments. The onion growth characters viz., plant height, number of leaf sheaths, single bulb yield and number of bulb per plant-1 were significantly influenced by drip irrigation at 80 per cent and 100 per cent RDF as water soluble fertilizer during both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Castor based nutri-cereals intercropping system on Weed density, Weed dry weight and Weed Smothering Efficiency

“…In India Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Orissa are the main states that grow castor. Enhancing castor productivity in India is necessary given the crop's potential for industrial applications and the constantly rising demand for castor oil and its derivatives around the world (Pushpanathan et al, 2017) [6] . Traditional field crops in India, millets are often referred to as "nutri cereals" due to their abundance in micronutrients, minerals, and vitamin B-Complex.…”