Legume Res.

, 34 (3) : 196 - 201, 2011

AGRICUL TURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICA TION CENTRE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATION

www .ar ccjour nals.com / indianjour nals.com www.ar .arccjour ccjournals.com indianjournals.com

RESPONSE OF GROUND NUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA) TO BIOFERTILIZE R, GROUNDNUT BIOFERTILIZER, ORGANIC AND INORGANIC SOURCES OF NUTRIENT IN NORTH EAST INDIA
G.P . Singh*, P .L. Singh1 and A.S. P anwar Panwar
ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region Umiam 793 103, India. Received : 01-04-2011 Accepted : 15-07-2011

ABSTRACT
A field experiment was conducted during kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 to study the effect of ces of nutrient supply on the yield of groundnut. T reatments biofertilizer sources Tr biofer tilizer (s), organic and inorganic sour consisted of four biofertilizers viz. control, Rhizobium, PSM and Rhizobium + PSM in main plots and seven nutrient combinations viz. control, lime @ 500 kg/ha (furrow application), FYM @ 10 t/ ha, Lime + 50% NPK, FYM + 50% NPK, Lime + FYM + 50% NPK and recommended dose of NPK (20:60:40 kg/ha) in sub plots. Seed inoculation with Rhizobium + PSM significantly improved growth and yield of groundnut. Highest net return (Rs 22,755) and benefit cost ratio (1.49) was estimated with Rhizobium + PSM only . Application of Rhizobium or PSM improved r esidual nutrient status only. residual but marked improvement was observed with combined application of these biofertilizers. Application of Lime + FYM + 50% NPK increased growth, yield attributes, yield, available nutrient status, highest net returns (21,910 Rs /ha) and B: C ratio (1.23) over other nutrient levels. Integrated use of Lime + FYM + 50% NPK along with Rhizobium + PSM was the best for groundnut.

Key words : Rhizobium, PSM, INM, Productivity, Profitability, Groundnut. INTRODUCTION The demand for vegetable oil has been steadily increasing, which is more than the production of oilseed crops. To meet this demand, the production of oilseed has to be increased, besides expansion in non traditional area. Groundnut has shown its potential in North Eastern Region and can be a popular crop in this region. Although, the average yield of groundnut in the region is higher than the national average, still there is a scope of yield improvement of this crop. Groundnut is an exhaustive crop and removes large amount of macro and micro-nutrients from soil which can not be met by single nutrient source. The supply
*Corresponding author e- mail: gps445@gmail.com)

of nutrients through, biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources has been found to be the best option for increasing productivity and maintaining sustainability, and hence there is ample scope of increasing productivity through combined use of various nutrient sources (Arora, 2008). Despite economic significance and maximum yield of groundnut, very meager information is available on the combined use of biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources in this region. Keeping in view, the present study on response of groundnut to biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources of nutrients was conducted at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya.
1

Nagaland University, Medziphema.

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MA TERIALS AND METHOD MATERIALS An experiment was conducted in acid alfisols during Kharif seasons of 2005 and 2006 at the experimental farm of ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam (950 meters above the mean sea level), Meghalaya. The soil was sandy loam in texture with pH 5.0 having organic carbon content 1.44%, available nitrogen 255.3 kg/ha, very poor in available phosphorus (4.30 kg/ha) and medium in available potassium (245.0 kg/ha). The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. Three biofertilizer treatments viz. Rhizobium, phosphate solubilizing micro-organisms (PSM) and Rhizobium + PSM and control were kept in main plot, while six organic and inorganic treatments viz. lime @ 500 kg/ha, FYM @ 10 t/ha, Lime + 50% NPK, FYM + 50% NPK, Lime + FYM + 50% NPK and recommended dose of NPK (20:60:40 kg/ha) and control were allotted in sub plots. The seed of ICGS-76 Cv of groundnut @ 100 kg/ha was sown on 15 th and 17th of May 2005 and 2006, respectively. The seed was divided in four seed lots for inoculation with bio-fertilizers. Out of these, one seed lot was kept uninoculated and rest three seed lots were inoculated separately with Rhizobium , PSM and Rhizobium + PSM. About 30 g gur was dissolved in 300 ml of boiled water. The medium was cooled to the room temperature before mixing with inoculants. The slurry of bio-fertilizers, as per treatment was prepared by mixing the carrier based inoculants in the cooled 10 per cent jaggery solution. The slurry of respective bio-fertilizer(s) was poured on the respective seed lots and thoroughly mixed to ensure uniform coating. The inoculated seed material was spread on a polythene sheet and allowed to air dry in shade for 3-4 hours. After air drying the seeds were sown immediately in the field. Far myard manure (FYM) as per treatments were applied and incorporated into the soil 15-20 days before sowing. Whole amount of NPK applied through urea, SSP and MOP at the

time of sowing. Lime as per treatment was applied in furrow along with other treatments. All packages of practices were followed for optimum growth and yield of crop. At the time of harvesting, all growth and yield attributes were recorded and the data of two years was pooled, analysed and presented in Tables 1- 4. RESUL TS AND DISCUSSION RESULTS Growth and yield attributes Plant height, number of branch and number of leaves were significantly improved with the application of biofertilizer (Table 1). Amongst the biofertilizers, Rhizobium significantly improved growth attributes as compared to control, but maximum values were recorded when Rhizobium and PSM were applied together. Yield attributes such as no. of pod/plant, pod weight, no. of kernels/pod and 100 kernel weight were also maximum with combined inoculation treatment. These results are in accordance with the findings of Peoples et al. (1995), who reported that biofertilizer increased the solubility and availability of N in the rhizosphore and elongation of internode, which increased cell division and cell elongation there by increased plant height, branches and leaves leading more photosynthetic area and finally yield of crop plant. Application of organic and/or inorganic sources, significantly improved growth and yield attributes. Tallest plant of 46.72 cm was recorded with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK which were 4.54 and 13.09 percent higher over FYM + 50% NPK and 100% NPK treatment, respectively. No. of branch and leaves followed the similar trend which resulted improvement in no. and weight of pods/ plant. These results are in agreement with the findings of Nayak et al. (1998), who stated that higher photosynthesis and their translocation to the fruiting sink due to integrated nutrient management. The increase in number of branch and number of leaves might be due to the continuous supply of nutrients due to the action of bio-fertilizers and release of nutrients from the organics (Manoharan et al., 1988).

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Yield Seed inoculation with Rhizobium and PSM alone or in-combination significantly improved the pod and haulm yield as compared to control (Table 2). Highest pod yield of 25.57 q/ha recorded with Rhizobium + PSM, which was 23.82 per cent higher over control. However, maximum haulm yield (41.47 q/ha) was recorded with sole application of Rhizobium and found statistically at par with Rhizobium + PSM. Single application of Rhizobium or PSM improved pod yield to the tune of 18.06 and 10.12 per cent higher over control indicated that the use of biofertilizer can improve pod yield upto 10-25 per cent. These results are in accordance with the findings of Panwar and Singh (2003). Application of lime or FYM significantly increased pod yield as compared to control. But maximum pod yield was recorded with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK which was 6.80 and 13.14 per cent higher over FYM + 50% NPK and 100% NPK, respectively which indicated beneficial effect of lime in improving pod yield of groundnut. Improvement

in pod yield might be due to improvement of soil pH due to lime and physico-chemical properties of soil due to FYM and instant availability of nutrients from inorganic fertilizers. Pod and haulm yield recorded with Lime + 50% NPK and 100% NPK were found statistically at par with each other showed beneficial effect of lime in economizing the dose of in-organic fertilizers. All the treatments found to improve Harvest Index as compared to control indicated the better source- sink relationship. The interaction of biofertilizer and organo-inorganic sources were significant in improving pod yield of groundnut (Table 3). Highest pod yield (30.32 q/ ha) was recorded with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK in the presence of Rhizobium + PSM which was 2.50, 11.92 and 21.71 per cent higher over with same treatments applied in the presence of Rhizobium, PSM and control, respectively. These results are in agreement with the findings of Panwar et al. (2001). Residual fertility and Economics Seed treatment with Rhizobium and / or PSM significantly improved residual N and P status

Table 1: Effect of biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources of nutrient on growth and yield attributes
of groundnut (Pooled data of 2 years). Treatments Plant height (cm) No. of No. of leaves/plant Pods (90 DAS) /plant Pod weight (g/plant) Kernels/pod 100 kernels weight (g)

Branches/plant Effect of biofertilizers Control 35.01 41.93 39.32 44.28 1.74 31.70 35.52 40.39 40.61 44.69 46.72 41.31 1.61 8.18 9.82 9.25 10.08 0.67 6.11 8.37 9.06 9.73 10.82 11.35 9.87 0.99

55.23 65.11 62.13 69.42 2.24 46.73 53.03 61.12 59.12 73.33 79.89 67.60 2.03

11.01 13.05 12.00 13.95 0.36 9.85 10.41 12.31 12.87 13.75 15.60 12.74 0.54

11.93 13.57 12.69 13.79 0.57 9.82 10.43 12.78 13.10 15.22 16.49 13.14 0.69

1.41 1.61 1.55 1.73 NS 1.38 1.44 1.57 1.53 1.72 1.78 1.60 NS

59.82 63.37 61.46 63.92 0.46 58.37 59.59 62.13 62.46 64.08 65.20 63.15 0.94

Rhizobium (RZ)
PSM RZ+ PSM CD (P= 0.05) Control Lime @500 kg/ha FYM @10 t/ha Lime + 50% NPK FYM + 50% NPK Lime +FYM+ 50% NPK 100% NPK CD (P= 0.05)

Effect of organo- inorganic sources

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Table 2 : Effect of biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources of nutrient on yield and economics of groundnut.
Treatments Pod yield (q/ha) Effect of biofertilizers Control 20.65 24.38 22.74 25.57 0.85 17.44 19.37 24.04 23.60 26.19 27.97 24.72 1.50 38.28 41.47 40.32 41.35 1.96 35.19 36.25 41.88 40.57 42.09 44.99 41.54 2.24 34.84 36.86 35.84 38.08 0.75 33.08 34.71 36.42 36.74 38.30 38.32 37.26 0.63 15300 15800 18300 17045 19545 20045 17790 10860 13255 17760 18355 19740 21910 19290 0.69 0.72 1.04 0.94 0.98 1.23 1.08 15300 15500 15500 15600 15675 21070 18610 22755 1.02 1.36 1.19 1.49 Haulm yield (q/ha) Harvest Index Cost of Net return (Rs/ha) B:C ratio Cultivation (Rs/ha)

Rhizobium (RZ)
PSM RZ+ PSM CD (P= 0.05) Control Lime @500 kg/ha FYM @10 t/ha Lime + 50% NPK FYM + 50% NPK Lime +FYM+ 50% NPK 100% NPK CD (P= 0.05)

Effect of organo- inorganic sources

Table 3 : Interaction effects of biofertilizer and organo-inorganic sources on pod yield (q/ha) of groundnut
(pooled data of 2 years). Treatments Control Lime @500 kg/ha FYM @10 t/ha Lime + 50% NPK FYM + 50% NPK Lime + FYM + 50% NPK 100% NPK CD (P=0.05) Control 14.93 15.75 22.16 21.43 23.51 24.91 21.84 Interaction 2.71

Rhizobium
18.49 20.35 25.24 24.88 27.02 29.58 25.21

PSM 17.26 18.67 23.23 23.33 25.24 27.09 24.32

Rhizobium + PSM
19.07 22.71 25.64 24.78 28.99 30.32 27.50

of soil only (Table 4). Residual nitrogen was maximum with Rhizobium + PSM followed by Rhizobium due to fixation of nitrogen by Rhizobium. Residual phosphorus was maximum with Rhizobium + PSM followed by PSM owing to the action of PSM. The status of available K and Ca although improved but extent of increase was not significant. Increased uptake by the Rhizobium + PSM could be due to better nodulation and grater availability of nutrient in the soil under the influence of

inoculation resulting in better growth and development which might be attributed to better mobilization of nutrients and increased partitioning of photosynthates towards the economic parts and also hormonal balance in the plant system (Menaria and Singh, 2004). Among the organic and inorganic sources, highest available N (274.30 kg/ha) recorded with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK being at par with FYM + 50% NPK (272.54 kg/ha) was significantly higher than other

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Table 4 : Effect of biofertilizer, organic and inorganic sources of nutrient supply on residual soil fertility.
Treatments N Effect of biofertilizers Control 266.61 269.30 268.11 271.42 2.31 263.50 264.92 267.60 268.01 272.54 274.30 271.10 2.07 6.400 6.940 8.239 9.203 0.501 5.630 5.867 6.917 7.233 9.357 10.88 7.983 0.342 248.91 250.40 249.90 251.83 NS 247.02 248.84 249.71 250.00 251.42 253.01 251.82 0.63 2.78 2.88 2.86 2.95 NS 2.58 2.73 2.73 3.00 2.96 3.14 2.93 1.00 P Available nutrient (kg/ha) K Ca

Rhizobium (RZ)
PSM RZ+ PSM CD (P= 0.05) Effect of organo-inorganic sources Control Lime @500 kg/ha FYM @10 t/ha Lime + 50% NPK FYM + 50% NPK Lime +FYM+ 50% NPK 100% NPK CD (P= 0.05)

treatments. However FYM + 50% NPK was at par with 100% NPK alone indicated beneficial effect of FYM in improving soil fertility status. The available P and K were maximum with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK. Improvement in nutrient uptake might be due to better foraging of soil and vigorus root growth, thus accumulating more nutrients in plant and enhanced dry matter accumulation (Radha Kumari et al., 2010). The residual Ca was found higher with lime treatment registering maximum value with Lime + FYM + 50% NPK might be due to residual effect of lime (Dixit and Sharma, 2004). Application of Rhizobium + PSM recorded the highest net return of Rs. 22755/- ha with benefit

cost ratio of 1.49 followed by Rhizobium (Table 2). Amongst organo-inorganic sources, application of Lime + FYM + 50% NPK gave maximum net return (Rs. 21910/- ha) and benefit cost ratio (1.23), might be due to the highest pod yield. From the present investigation it can be concluded that inoculation of Rhizobium + PSM in-combination with lime @ 500 kg/ha + FYM @ 10 t/ha + 50% NPK brought significant improvement in yield, residual fertility and more remuneration. This combination may be adopted for cultivation of groundnut in acid alfisols under mid hill altitude conditions of North East India.

REFERENCES
Arora, S. (2008). Balanced nutrition for sustainable crop production. Krishi World (Pulse of Indian Agriculture). pp. 1-5. Dixit, S.P . and Sharma, Pritam, K. (2004). Effect of lime and phosphorus on yield and phosphorus uptake by radish (Raphanus sativus) in mountain acidic soil of North-West Himalayas, India. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 74 (5): 239241. Manoharan, V., Sethapathi, R., Ramalingam and Sivaran, M.R. (1988). Correlation studies in Virginia bunch groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Indian J. Oilseed Res., 5 (2): 150-152. Menaria, B.L. and Singh, P . (2004). Effect of chemical and biofertilizers on yield attributing characters and yield of soybean (Glycine max L.). Legume Res., 27 (3): 231-232.

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Nayak, S.C., Pattnaik, R.N. and Mishra, M. (1989). Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and Rhizobium inoculation on groundnut. Orissa J. Agric. Res., 2 : 230-231. Panwar, A.S., Singh, N.P ., Patel, D.P . and Hazarika, U. K. (2001). Response of groundnut to phosphorus and bioorganics fertilizer in mid Hills of Meghalaya. (In) proceedings of Extended Summary of 5th Agricultural Science Congrees, held at Guwahati, April 4-7 pp. 137. Panwar, A.S. and Singh, N.P . (2003). Effect of conjunctive use of phosphorus and bio-organics on growth and yield of groundnut. Indian J. Agron., 48 (3): 214-216. Peoples, M.B., Herridge, D.G. and Ladha, J.K. (1995). Biological nitrogen fixation an efficient source of nitrogen for sustainable agricultural production. Plant and Soil, 174 174: 3-28. Radha Kumari, C., Srinivasulu, R.D. and Vineetha, V. (2010). Dry matter production and nutrient uptake of succeeding groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) as effected by cumulative residual effect of crop residue incorporation and nitrogen management practices. Legume Res., 33 (1): 33-37.

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