Vol. 10, Special Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Murali Bellamkonda, Shanti Madaraju, Shailaja Kola, Shashikala Tummanepally and Susheela Ravipati

Abstract:
Lucerne is an important legume fodder crop that supplies nutritious and palatable fodder for livestock. Green fodder supply is a problem in the rabi and summer seasons in India. Lucerne can be a better option for addressing this problem. Hence many farmers showing interest in growing Lucerne. However, the availability of sufficient Quantiles of quality seed is a big problem in Lucerne due to its poor seed setting nature. Nutrients and plant growth regulators play a vital role in improving seed setting for enhancing seed yield in many crops is well studied. With this background, field experiments were carried out in rabi 2017-118 and 2018-19 at Agricultural Research Institute Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University Rajendranagar Hyderabad. Eight treatments, consisting of three nutrients and four growth regulators, and control tested in an RCBD with three replications. Two-year pooled analysis results revealed that foliar application of brassinolide @ 100 ppm twice, one at 50% flowering and the second at 15 days after the first recorded highest seed yield of 201.1 kg/ha, with a net return of Rs. 78,959/ha, and BC ratio of 1:2.22 followed by mepiquat chloride @ 500 ppm sprayed twice with 186.5 kg/ha, Rs. 68,239 and 1:1.97 seed yield, net returns and B:C ratio respectively compared to the other treatments viz., ZnSO4 @ 0.25%, K2SO4 @1.0%, MAP @1.0%, Salicylic acid @100 ppm, TNAU pulse wonder @ 1.0%, and control.