EFFECT OF COWDUNG, NPK AND RHIZOBIUM INOCULA ON GROWTH, NODULES NUMBER ANDYIELD OF SUMMER MUNGBEAN IN ACID SOIL

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the farm of Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Khadim Nagar, Sylhet during kharif-1 season from April to August in 2014 to see the effect of cowdung, NPK and rhizobium inocula on growth, nodules number and yield of summer mungbean (var. Binamoog-8) in acid soil. The experiment was composed of seven treatments viz. T1= Control (without Rhizobium inocula and fertilizers), T2 = Cowdung (CD), T3 = CD+RI, T4 = NPK, T5 = NPK+RI, T6 = ½(NPK)+RI and T7 = Rhizobium inocula (RI). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The nutrients N, P and K were applied @ 14, 14 and 17.5 kg ha -1 from the sources of urea, TSP and MP, respectively; CD was applied @ 8 t ha -1 and RI was applied @ 45 g kg -1

, as seed inoculant. The data on growth, yield and yield contributing parameters were collected at different intervals of mungbean plant from 30 days after sowing to until final harvest at 15 days interval. The initial and post-harvest soils were collected and analyzed. The treatments had significant effects on all the growth, yield and yield parameters of mungbean at different sampling dates except for the number of flowers plant -1 at 30 DAS, percent sterile pods plant -1 at 75 DAS, number of seeds pod -1 and 1000 seeds weight. Application of cowdung @ 8 t ha -1 showed better performance in respect of the longest root, the highest plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf size (leaf length and breadth), number of branches plant -1 , fresh weight plant -1 , dry weight plant -1 , number of flowers plant -1 at 45 and 60 DAS. The cowdung applied plots had the highest number of pods plant -1 , the lowest percent of sterile pods plant -1 , the highest number of seeds pod -1 (5.44), heavier weight of 1000 seeds (39.31 g), the highest seed (705 kg ha -1 ) and stover (2031 kg ha -1 ) yields. However, application of CD+RI responded better in producing the highest number of nodules plant -1 and effective nodules plant -1 at 30, 45 and 60 DAS. The post-harvest soil analysis showed a slight higher pH and increased other nutrients status in soil due to CD+RI and CD application.

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