Vol. 12, Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Praveen Udapudi, Pushpa K, Sukanya TS, Yogesh TC and Krishnamurthy R

Abstract:
The experiment was carried out at the Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore with the aim of assessing the impact of nano urea on the growth and yield of finger millet under rainfed condition. The study employed a Randomized Complete Block Design encompassing eight distinct treatments. These treatments comprised of varying nitrogen levels, specifically 50%, 75% and 100% of Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (RDN) and the application of nano urea in different ways including seed treatment, foliar spray and combination of both the methods. Each treatment was replicated thrice to ensure robust and reliable results. Among the different treatments, application of 75% RDN + seed treatment with nano urea + foliar spray of nano urea at 30 and 50 DAS recorded significantly higher growth and yield parameters viz., plant height (79.52 cm), number of tillers hill^-1 (5.56), total dry matter accumulation (48.84 g hill^-1), productive tillers hill^-1 (5.20), ear head length (7.13 cm), grain yield (3397 kg ha^-1) and straw yield (6015 kg ha^-1) of finger millet over absolute control. Notably, this particular treatment also proved to be the most financially rewarding, generating higher gross returns (₹ 1,04,139 ha^-1), net returns (₹ 65,591 ha^-1) and benefit cost ratio of 2.70, outperforming all other treatment options. These findings underscore the potential of nano urea in improving finger millet growth and yield, particularly in rainfed agricultural system and highlight its economic benefits for farmers.