EFFECT OF SODICITY AND NITROGEN LEVELS ON DRY MATTER
YIELD, PROTEIN AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE IN TEOSINTE
NIRANJAN SINGH*1, S. K. SHARMA, RAJPAUL, ROHTAS KUMAR AND ASHWANI KUMAR2
Department of Soil Science
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : nnirajan1234@rediffmail.com)
(Received : 16 June 2014; Accepted : 25 July 2014)
SUMMARY
The present study was carried out in the Department of Soil Science, CCSHAU, Hisar during kharif season in screen house. The experiments were conducted on a sandy loam soil having initial pH (1 : 2) 8.21 and ESP 7.88. Soil of different ESP (15, 30 and 45) was prepared. Observed ESP was 7.88, 13.86, 31.15 and 43.79, respectively. The first experiment was conducted in screen house to study the effect of different ESP levels (control, 15, 30 and 45) on teosinte with fixed 80 kg N/ha dose. In second experiment, different nitrogen levels, 0, 40, 80 amd 120 kg N/ha on pearl millet at an ESP of 45 were studied. The results showed decrease in the dry matter yield of teosinte crop with increasing ESP levels (control, 15, 30 and 45). The maximum (48.18, 45.97, 38.82 and 35.74 g/pot) and minimum (19.78, 25.18, 15.09 and 14.63 g/pot) dry matter yield of teosinte were observed at control and 45 ESP, respectively. The plant height and protein content also decreased with increasing ESP levels. The uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S decreased with increasing ESP levels. The reduction in N uptake over control was 10.83, 46.77 and 65.22 per cent at 15, 30 and 45 ESP levels, respectively. The uptake of micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe) in teosinte decreased with increasing ESP levels. The maximum uptake was observed at control, whereas minimum at an ESP of 45. The results of experiment conducted on different levels of N (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg/ha) on teosinte forage crop at a constant ESP level (45 ESP) indicated that dry matter yield increased with increasing N levels. The maximum dry matter yield (12.84 g/pot) at 120 kg N/ha and minimum (9.27 g/pot) was obtained at N control in teosinte. The plant height and protein content in these crops also increased with increasing N levels. Effect of different levels of N (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg/ha) on teosinte forage crop at a constant ESP level (45 ESP) indicated that uptake of nutrients N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe by teosinte increased with increasing N levels.
Keywords : ESP, nitrogen, nutrients uptake, dry matter yield, protein content, teosinte