Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
AK Saini, Lalita H Saini, HS Chaudhary, Brihma Nand and Jaykumar P Patel

Abstract:
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is king of cereals and one of the most important staple food crops. Wheat belongs to Gramineae family and second important food grain crop of India being next to rice. This crop is mainly responsible for the green revolution and mitigating the problem of food insecurity in India. An adequate supply of nitrogen is associated with vegetative growth and maintains genetical material, while its deficit results in yellowing and stunted plant growth thereby, adversely affecting quantity and quality of crop produce. A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2020-21 on loamy sand soils of Agronomy Instructional Farm, Chimanbhai Patel College of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Gujarat to assess the impact of vermicompost, biofertilizer and nitrogen levels on growth, yield and economics of wheat. The soil was low in organic carbon (0.22%) and available nitrogen (165.8 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus (43.8 kg/ha) and high in potash (330.9 kg/ha). The results indicated that significantly higher growth and yield parameters viz., plant height (85.1, 81.6, 82.5 cm), number of tillers per plant (3.72, 3.56, 3.62), dry matter accumulation at harvest (261.0, 242.5, 249.4 g/mrl), length of spike (10.9, 10.2, 10.4 cm), number of seeds per spike (40.16, 37.74, 37.93), grain weight per spike (1.52, 1.45, 1.48 g) and test weight (38.54, 37.28, 37.65 g) with individual application of 4 t/ha vermicompost, Azotobacter chroococcum inoculation @ 5 ml/kg seed and 100% RDN, respectively. Combined application of 4 t/ha vermicompost + 100% RDN produced significantly higher grain yield (5096 kg/ha) and straw yield (6362 kg/ha) over other combination but being at par with treatment combination 4 t/ha vermicompost + 75% RDN. Total N, P and K uptake as well as available N, P₂O₅ and K₂O after harvest were found the highest with higher level of inputs i.e., vermicompost, biofertilizer and nitrogen. The maximum net realization ₹ 58272/ha was secured with application of 2 t/ha vermicompost along with 100% RDN and biofertilizer inoculation.