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Pearlmillet, locally called as bajra is an important dual purpose crop as its grain is used for human consumption and its fodder as cattle feed. It ranks fourth after rice, wheat and sorghum and is grown in almost all the states of the country. Limited availability of land resources and the decline in the soil fertility has increased the importance of the ability of agriculture to sustain the increasing demand of the population both globally and locally.

To counter the demand, we have to look for ways which enhance the use of currently available resources than in the past. Intercropping is one promising practise which is effective to augment the total productivity per unit area of the land per unit time by growing more than one crop in the same field with an objective of better utilization of environmental resources. The basic concept of intercropping involves growing together two or more crops with the assumption that two crops can exploit the environment better than one and ultimately produce higher yield (Reddy & Willy, 1981). Cereal- pulses intercropping has attracted the attention of agronomists, possibly as a result of the established and theoretical advantages of intercropping systems (Ofori & Stern, 1978). Intercropping with pulses is a practice in which N fixed by latter enhances the qualitative and quantitative traits of the former to finally reach food security and sustainability (Swaminathan, 1998). Pulses such as cowpea, clusterbean and greengram are known to fix the atmospheric nitrogen with the help of rhizobium bacteria and it supplies the cereal crop with the required nitrogen. Fertilizer management is one of the important cost effective factors known to augment the crop production. Hence, inclusion of pulses in any intercropping system has becomes imperative with the overall view of maintaining soil fertility and for economizing fertilizer use.
Experimental materials and methods

The field experiment was conducted during summer season of both the years 2019 and 2020 at N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. The soil of the experimental field was clayey in texture, low in organic carbon content (0.41 %) and available nitrogen (199.86 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (39.43 kg/ha) and fairly high in available potassium (302.88 kg/ha). The soil was slightly alkaline in reaction (pH 7.9). The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with 12 combinations comprising of four intercropping treatments (pearlmillet sole, pearlmillet + greengram, pearlmillet + cowpea and pearlmillet + clusterbean) and three fertility levels (75%, 100% and 125% of RDF) replicated three times. The pearlmillet variety GHB-558, greengram variety GM-6, cowpea variety GC-5 and clusterbean Gujarat Guar -1were used as a test varieties. Pearl millet was sown in paired rows at 30 cm keeping 60 cm distance between 2 pairs to adjust 1 row of intercrop. Fertilizer application was done on area basis as per treatment to only pearlmillet crops (RDF is 120-60-00 kg NPK/ha for pearlmillet). Plant samples of grain and straw of pearlmillet collected at harvest were grind in willey mill to pass through 40 mesh sieve. The grounded material was collected in butter paper bags and later used for chemical analysis. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content from grain and straw were estimated using standard procedures given by Jackson (1963). Uptake of nutrients by grain and straw was calculated by using following formula:

Analysis of variance for factorial randomized block design and significance of variance was tested by F-test (Gomez & Gomez, 1984). Critical difference for examining treatmental means for their significance was calculated at 5% significance.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effect of intercropping
Nitrogen content and uptake by grain and straw were observed significantly higher in I2 (pearlmillet + greengram), it was at par with I3 (pearlmillet + cowpea) in pooled analysis. The reason for improvement in nutrient content of pearlmillet grown with pulses may be attributed to ‘‘mutual avoidance’’ which implies that the roots tend to avoid the areas that have already been depleted of resources by an associated crop. Pearlmillet and pulses differed in growth habits and duration. Thus the component crops have their peak demands for nutrients at different stages of growth; a temporal effect may ensure that the demand does not overlap. Above all, the more obvious cause of complementarily may have arisen from differences among component crops in their nutrient requirements. The findings are in accordance with Keshwa and Kumar (2012), Gaina et al. (2014) and Desai et al. (2014). Pearlmillet grain phosphorus content was significantly higher in pearlmillet + greengram (I2) intercropping system which was at par with pearlmillet + cowpea (I3). The findings are in close agreement with those obtained by Keshwa and Kumar (2012), Gaina et al. (2014) and Desai et al.(2014). Sole pearlmillet crop (I1) registered significantly higher potassium uptake by pearlmillet grain and straw during individual years and pooled analysis which was at par with pearlmillet + greengram (I2) intercropping system. These findings are in close conformity with those obtained by Kujur et al. (2010) and Hooda et al. (2015).
Effect of fertility levels
Crop fertilized with 125 % RDF (F3) recorded significantly higher values of Nitrogen, phosphorus and Potassium content and uptake in grain and straw during both the years and pooled data but it was found at par with pearlmillet crop fertilized with 100 % RDF (F2). The increase in Nitrogen concentration might be outcome of the increased availability of Nitrogen to plant. These results are in confirmation with Vari and Sadhu (2013), Gaina et al. (2014) and Kumar et al. (2014).
Interaction effect

The interaction between intercropping system and different fertility levels to pearlmillet was found non-significant for Nitrogen, phosphorus and Potassium content in pearlmillet grain and straw during individual years and pooled analysis. But in case of Nitrogen, phosphorus and Potassium uptake by grain and straw was found significant in pooled analysis.

Table 1: Effect of intercropping and fertility levels on N, P and K content in grain and straw of pearlmillet (Pooled data of two year)

Table 2: Effect of intercropping and fertility levels on N, P and K uptake in grain and straw of pearlmillet (Pooled data of two year)

Table 3: Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium uptake by pearlmillet grain as influenced by interaction of different treatments (Pooled data of two year)

Table 4: Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium uptake by pearlmillet straw as influenced by interaction of different treatments (Pooled data of two year)

 

CONCLUSION

The results of present experiment could be concluded that the cultivation of pearlmillet + green gram in intercropping of field with 75 % RDF increased nutrient content and uptake by pearlmillet grain and straw improved soil properties as well as farmers economy grown under summer condition of south Gujarat.

REFERENCES

Desai, D. S., Choudhary, R. A., & Khanpara, V. D. (2014). Effect of different intercrops on yield and yield parameters of pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum). Indian J. of Agron. 41(3), 452 - 455.
Reddy, M. S., & Willy, R. W. (1981). Growth and resource use studies in an intercrop of pearlmillet/groundnut. National Symposium, Indian Society of Agronomy, CSSRI, Karnal, 3-5 April, 1980, New Delhi.
Ofori, F., & Stern, W. R. (1987). Cereal±legume intercropping system. Advances in Agronomy. 41, 41-90.
Swaminathan, M. S. (1998). Crop production and sustainable food security. In Chopra, V. L., Singh, R. B., & Verma A. (eds). Crop Productivity and Sustainability - Shaping the Future. Proceedings of the Second International Crop Science Congress, New Delhi, India, 3-18.
Vari, S. D., & Sadhu, A. C. (2013). Influence of row ratios and fertility levels on yield attributes and yield of pearlmillet - greengram intercropping system and nutrient status of the soil. International J. of Forestry and Crop Improvement. 3(2), 144-146.
Gaina, G. K., Sharma, O. P., Shivram, A. C., Boori, P. K., & Meena, S. S. (2014). Productivity and nutrient uptake of pearlmillet influenced by intercropping with legumes and fertility level. Res. Envs. Life sci., 10(3), 209-212.
Hooda, R. S., Karma, A. L., & Shinde, H. K. (2015). Comparative performance of different intercropping systems in pearl millet in relation to nutritional requirements. Indian J. of Agron. 16(1, 2), 70-72.
Keshwa, G. L., & Kumar, K. P. (2012). Response of Pearlmillet varieties to nitrogen grown mixed with cowpea for forage production in summers. Haryana J. of Agon. 9(2), 177-185.
Kujur, S., Ahmad, S., Srivastava, G. P., & Singh, C. S. (2010). Performance of greengram (Vigna radiata L.) intercropping as influenced by row ratios and duration of pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) cultivars. Indian J. of Agron. 55(3), 209 - 214.
Kumar, A., Pareek B. L., Prasad, M., & Kumawat A. (2014). Performance of pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) + greengram (Vigna radiata L) intercropping systems in arid zone of Rajasthan. Annals of Agri Bio Research, 18(2), 124 -127.