Search

The availability of quality fodder is becoming a major concern in India. To address this, a field experiment was conducted on bajranapier hybrid grass CO (BN) 5 (Interspecific hybrid between Cumbu (Pennisetum glaucum) and Napier (P. Purpureum Schumach) during 2018-19 in strip plot design with 3 replications. Treatment comprises of main plot viz., Irrigation methods sub plot viz., Crop establishment methods. The results showed that in water use studies, higher WUE (23.74 t/ha/mm) was recorded with sbsurface drip irrigation. Similarly, higher water productivity (WP) (0.024 t/m3) and economic WP (474.78 ₹/ha/mm) were also with the same. In crop establishment methods, horizontal planting of setts with settling treatment recorded higher WUE (21.47 t/ha/mm), WP (0.021 t/m³) and economic WP (429.43 ₹/ha/mm). Significantly higher (0.05 %) green (335.0 t/ha/year) and dry fodder yields (71 t/ha/year) were registered with subsurface drip irrigation (M3). In crop establishment, horizontal planting of setts with settling treatment (S2) registered higher green (331.5 t/ha/year) and dry (71.4 t/ha/year) fodder yields. On postharvest soil available nutrients, higher N (172.3 kg/ha), P (22.2 kg/ha) and K (591.5 kg/ha) were observed with surface irrigation. Vertical planting of setts without settling treatment recorded higher N (172.1 kg/ha), P (23.3 kg/ha) and K (604.8 kg/ha). By adopting this subsurface drip irrigation with horizontal planting of setts with sett treatment, the bajranapier hybrid grass cultivation can be optimized for the betterment of cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]