CUMBU NAPIER HYBRID GRASS : YIELD, QUALITY AND SOIL FERTILITY STATUS AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT NUTRIENT SOURCES
K. SATHIYA BAMA*
Department of Agronomy
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), India
*(e-mail : kssoilscience@gmail.com)
(Received : 10 October 2017; Accepted : 17 November 2017)
SUMMARY
To study the impact of different nutrient sources (organics, inorganics INM) on yield and quality of important perennial fodder, cumbu napier hybrid grass CO (CN)4 an experiment was carried out. Three-year data of the experiment revealed that the basal application of FYM @105 t/ha (N equivalent basis)+2 kg Azospirillum+2 kg phosphobacteria recorded the highest green fodder yield of 360.7 t/ha/ year. The crude protein content got increased in the FYM applied treatment. The higher organic carbon content of 1.28 per cent from the initial carbon status of 0.62 per cent recorded in the FYM treatment. The poultry manure (PM) applied plot recorded higher available N content of 185 kg/ha from the initial soil available N content of 165 kg/ha. The higher available K content of 578 kg/ha was recorded in the same treatment. The higher uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu was recorded in the FYM applied plots. The PM applied plot recorded the highest net returns of Rs. 2, 70,000/ha/year and B : C ratio of 4.3/ha.
Key words: Cumbu napier hybrid grass, farm yard manure, poultry manure, fodder yield, quality, nutrient uptake, soil nutrients, economics