Impact of Establishment Techniques and Maturity Duration of Pigeon Pea Cultivars on Yield, Water Productivity and Properties of Soil

Abstract

India is the leading country with respect to area and production of pulse crop pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.). However, the productivity of this crop is too low and almost static for the last five decades due to cultivation of long-duration cultivars that are prone to climatic variations causing temporary water logging, drought and frost. Proper selection of the cultivar and use of appropriate crop establishment may help in enhancing productivity. Therefore, a field investigation was carried out for 3 consecutive years to determine the impact of establishment techniques on cultivars of two maturity durations-long (250-280 days; cv. JA-4) and short (130-145 days; cv. ICPL-88039), grown using the conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), zero tillage (ZT) and broad bed furrow (BBF). The BBF method significantly improved the growth, biological yield, harvest index ratio, water productivity and physicochemical properties compared to the CT, MT and ZT. The yield of pigeon pea seed and stalk under the BBF increased 9.9 and 4.1% compared to the CT. The short-duration cultivar produced higher yield (16.8%) in frost-affected year (2012-2013) but was at par with the long-duration cultivar during the normal climatic condition year (2013)(2014)(2015). Overall, the short-duration cultivar produced significantly higher yield. Land use efficiency and total water use were significantly higher for the long-duration cultivar a compared to the short-duration cultivar, whereas production efficiency and water productivity were higher for the short-duration cultivar. Compared to the other tillage practices, BBF showed significantly higher organic carbon and infiltration rate but decreased pH. The trend of infiltration rate was in the order BBF [ ZT [ MT [ CT. The bulk density of surface (0-15 cm) and sub-surface (15-30 cm) layers were significantly lower under the BBF compared to the other tillage practices. Maximum increment of available N, P, K and S in surface soil (0-15 cm) was recorded under the BBF. For the short-duration maturity cultivar of pigeon pea the BBF method appeared beneficial in terms of assured higher yield, improved water productivity and physicochemical properties of soil under variable climatic conditions in Central India.

Influence of Wheat Establishment Techniques and Previous Kharif Season Crops on Productivity, Profitability, Water Use Efficiency, Energy Indices and Soil Properties in Central India

“…Similarly, net returns were significantly higher with BBF and ZT compared with CT. Additional net returns of wheat were 157 US$ with ZT and 200 US$ with BBF compared with total net returns of 843 US$ ha -1 with CT, respectively. Consistency of our result was due to higher net returns and reduction in cost of cultivation and higher yield with BBF and ZT [25,27]. The B/C ratio of wheat with different sowing techniques is also significantly higher under BBF (2.6) followed by ZT (2.4), MT (1.9) and CT (1.7), respectively.…”

“…The crop sowing techniques of ZT and BBF increased OC from 0.07 and 0.06 g kg -1 , IR 0.9 and 1.0 mm h -1 compared with values of CT treatment, respectively. Another study showed that raised bed planting helps to improve soil organic matter and physical characteristics owing to surface retention of more residues compared to other sowing techniques [27], whereas continuous tillage degrades soil organic matter which reduces soil fertility as well as structural stability [9,24]. The lower BD values under ZT due to higher root mass in surface soil and decomposition of crop residues [26,27].…”

“…Real challenges for today's Indian agricultural system are resource fatigue with stagnating productivity and profitability, decreasing human resources and their rising costs and socioeconomic changes [7,12]. The major portion of energy (25-30%) in crop production is utilized for either field preparations or crop establishment [27,30]. However, it has been established that intensive tillage operations are not actually required to obtain good crop yield [20,27].…”

“…The major portion of energy (25-30%) in crop production is utilized for either field preparations or crop establishment [27,30]. However, it has been established that intensive tillage operations are not actually required to obtain good crop yield [20,27]. The tillage operations are energy input intensive, lead to fast rate of decomposition of soil organic carbon and soil moisture loss as well as create problem in timelines saving of succeeding wheat crop.…”

Effect of Weed Management on Weed Interference, Nutrient Depletion by Weeds and Production Potential of Long Duration Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) under Irrigated Ecosystem

“…The Indian subcontinent alone contributes nearly 92% of the total pigeonpea production of the world , Kumar et al, 2016. In 2013-14, productivity was around 25% lower (730 kg ha -1 ) than the world average (910 kg ha -1 ) (Singh et al, 2018). Productivity of pigeonpea, however, continues to be low, as this crop are generally grown in rainfed areas under the poor management and face various kinds of biotic and abiotic stresses , Kumar et al, 2015a,b and Choudhary et al, 2013.…”