RESPONSE OF PEARL MILLET (PENNISETUM GLAUCUM L.) VARIETIES TO NITROGEN LEVELS FOR HIGHER GREEN FORAGE YIELD AND QUALITY IN SOUTHERN DRY ZONE OF KARNATAKA
B. G. SHEKARA*, P. MAHADEVU, N. M. CHIKKARUGI AND N. MANASA
AICRP on Forage Crops & Utilization
Zonal Agricultural Research Station, V.C. Farm, Mandya, 571 405
University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
*(e-mail:bgshekar66@gmail.com)
(Received : 11 October 2019; Accepted : 28 December 2019)
SUMMARY
A field experiment was conducted at zonal agricultural research station, V. C farm, Mandya during kharif 2018 to know the response of pearl millet varieties to nitrogen levels and to identify optimum level of nitrogen for higher green forage yield and quality. The study revealed that, variety TSFB 15-4 significantly recorded higher green forage, dry matter and crude protein yield (284.0, 64.0 and 4.7 q/ha, respectively) and superior over national check Giant bajra (262.8, 57.2 and 3.7 q/ha, respectively). The same variety recorded higher net monetary returns (Rs. 42074/ha). Application of 90 kg N/ha significantly recorded higher green forage, dry matter and crude protein yield (292. 8, 71.8 and 5.4 q/ha, respectively) and net monetary returns (Rs.43194/ha) over other levels.
Key words:Green forage, dry matter and crude protein yield and agronomic efficiency of nitrogen