Vol. 10, Issue 7 (2021)

Author(s):
Srinivasa Rao MMV, Roy GS, P Seetharamu and K Lakshmana

Abstract:
In agriculture, green manure is created by leaving uprooted or sown crop parts to wither on a field so that they serve as a mulch and soil amendment. The plants used for green manure are often cover crops grown primarily for this purpose. The green manuring is the easiest and cheapest way to enrich the soil fertility besides adding huge amount of organic carbon to the soil and also which prevents soil erosion. The non-availability of green manure seed preceding to paddy is major a constrain at farmers level. In rice fallow pulses the yields are declining due to severe incidence of YMV and farmers are unable reap the pulses in rice fallow situations. Keeping in view of the present scenario in rice fallow pulses, this study on performance of seed production of green manure crops for seed availability and profitability were taken up in farmers fields as On Farm Testing. In the present study the performance of these two crops viz., Sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) and Dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata L.) were studied for seed yield in rice fallow situation during Rabi, 2015-16 and Rabi, 2016-17 under rainfed ecosystem by DAATT Centre, Vizianagaram District, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Vizianagaram. The On-Farm Trails (OFTs) were conducted at farmers fields in 7 locations randomly covering entire district in Rabi, 2015-16 and Rabi,2016-17. Observations were recorded on Days to maturity and Seed yield. The results revealed that significantly higher seed yield was observed in Sunhemp when compared to Dhaincha. Seed yield increase was achieved to a tune of 84.00% in Sunhemp crop (1179 kgha^-1) over Dhaincha crop (641 kgha^-1). The increase in seed yield could be attributed to the performance of Sunhemp crop in-terms of more growth and yield components when compared to Dhaincha crop. The Sunhemp crop matured a week before Dhaincha crop. The farmers realized that, Sunhemp is best suitable green manure crop for seed production in Vizianagaram District of North Coastal Zone, Andhra Pradesh.