Influence of seedling age, planting pattern and number of seedlings per hill on the growth and yield of finger millet

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during Kharif season of 2019 (July to November) with the objective to evaluate the effect of seedling age, planting pattern and number of seedlings per hill on growth, yield attributes and yield of irrigated finger millet (Eleusine coracana). The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with seedling age (Main plot factor M) and planting pattern with number of seedlings per hill (Sub-plot factor S) with three replications. The main plot factor M consisted of three seedling age (14, 17 and 20 days old) and the sub-plot factor S consisted of two planting patterns viz., rectangular (30 cm× 10 cm) and square (25 cm × 25 cm) planting with one and two number of seedlings per hill. The experimental results showed that seedling age had significant effect on the yield of finger millet, while planting pattern with number of seedlings per hill had significant influence on growth, yield attributes and yield of the crop. Transplanting of finger millet seedlings at 20 DAS recorded higher grain and straw yields as compared to 14 and 17 days aged seedlings. Rectangular planting pattern (30 cm x 10 cm) with two seedlings per hill recorded higher grain yield and straw yields. It was statistically on par with square planting pattern (25cm x 25 cm) with two seedlings per hill. Significantly lower grain and straw yields were observed with square planting pattern (25 cm × 25 cm) with single seedling per hill, irrespective of the seedling age.