EFFECT OF DIFFERENT NITROGEN LEVELS ON NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AND NITRATE NITROGEN ACCUMULATION IN FORAGE PEARL MILLET GENOTYPES GROWN UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS
S. V. DAMAME, R. N. BHINGARDE AND S. H. PATHAN1
AICRP on Forage Crops,
Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth,
Rahuri -413 722 (MS), India
*(e-mail: shivajidamame@gmail.com)
(Received: 6 January 2014; Accepted: 26 January 2014)
SUMMARY
The application of nitrogen levels on pearl millet genotype produced significantly higher green forage yield of 447.82 q ha-1 and crude protein yield of 6.60 q ha-1 in BAIF Bajra. Whereas, the genotype Gaint bajra recorded the highest dry matter yield of 75.88 q ha-1 and Raj bajra chari-2 with the highest crude protein content of 9.33 per cent. The application of 100kg N ha-1 noticed significantly higher green forage yield of 400.32 q ha-1, dry matter yield 75.34 q ha-1 and crude protein yield of 6.98 q ha-1. The application of 100 kg N ha-1 recorded significantly higher and toxic level of nitrate-N in case of BAIF bajra, JHPM-05-1 and NDFB-02 than all other genotypes. The genotype Giant bajra recorded non-toxic level of nitrate-N on application of 100 kg N ha-1 with the highest dry matter yield and green forage yield of 447.72 q ha-1 which is at par with BAIF bajra.
Key words: Forage pearl millet, nitrogen levels, nitrate nitrogen, yield, quality.