Influence of plant geometry, fertilizer level and cycocel on biometric growth parameters and yield of niger (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during kharif, 2014 in Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka under rainfed conditions. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The experiment consists of three factors viz., three fertilizer dozes (75%, 100% and 125% RDF), three plant geometries (30cm x10cm, 45cm x10cm and 60cm x10cm) and two cycocel concentrations (500 and 1000 ppm). The results revealed that the treatment combination of 45 X 10 cm plant geometry with fertilizer doze of 25: 50: 25 kg N, P2O5, K2O ha-1 (125 per cent RDF) and application of cycocel at 1000 ppm concentration recorded significantly higher total dry matter production (57.0 g plant-1), highest values of biometric parameters viz., LAI (0.761), NAR (0.827 g dm2 day-1), CGR (0.0015 g dm2 day-1) and RGR (1.704 g day-1), seed yield (726 kg ha-1), stalk yield (2606 kg ha-1) and harvest index (21.8 per cent) compared to other treatment combinations.