Performance assessment of bio-decomposer and nitrogen management on emergence and NDVI values under super seeder sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) following combine harvested rice

Abstract

Conservative tillage practises have recently grown in popularity in India, particularly in the upper Indo-Gangetic plain under the rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS). The management of combine harvested rice is the most challenging task for Indian farmers in the RWCS. Among all the on-farm management of rice residue viz., surface retention, incorporation (in-situ) and composting (ex-situ) and the recent practice i.e., use of bio-decomposer, are the promising options to address the issue of burning as well as maintaining soil health for long-term sustainability of RWCS. For which there were several issues that needed to be addressed with the incorporation of crop residues. Management on emergence performance is one such issue that must be addressed for increased grain yield. Furthermore, the incorporation of organic crop residues into the soil would result in a higher C:N ratio, which could contribute in nutrient immobilisation during seedling growth. As a result, to address the aforementioned issues a field experiment was carried out for two years on performance assessment of bio-decomposer and nitrogen management on emergence and NDVI values under super seeder sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) following combine harvested rice at G. B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar 2020-21 and 2021-22. The experiment conducted was laid in split plot design consists of 12 treatments with two factors as main: with and without bio-decomposer and nitrogen levels (Nitrogen @180 kg/ha and nitrogen @150 kg/ha) and one factor as sub-plot: three nitrogen splits as 50% + 25% + 25%; 40%+30%+30%; and 30%+35%+35%. Significantly higher emergence and NDVI value was observed under Nitrogen @180 kg/ha and similarly higher emergence and NDVI value was recorded significantly when nitrogen was schedule as 50% + 25% + 25% during both the years of experimentation. Although the inclusion of a bio-decomposer had no significant effect on either parameter, a numerical increase was observed in addition to benefiting the sustainable environment.