Integrated land configuration and organic mulching strategies for enhancing nutrient uptake and protein content in chickpea

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Agricultural College, Polasa, Jagitial, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Telangana, India during the rabi season (November, 2019 - March, 2020) to study the influence of land configurations and mulching on moisture conservation and nodulation effect on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Three land configurations were used in the experiment as the main plots namely; M1- Flat bed, M2- Ridge and furrow, M3- Broad bed and furrow and four mulching treatments were used as subplots viz., S1- Control, S2- Sesamum mulch, S3- Gliricidia mulch, S4- Paddy straw mulch. The experiment was set up in a split plot design and was replicated thrice. Broad bed and furrow land configuration and gliricidia mulch were most effective in enhancing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake at flowering and harvest stages. Thus, adoption of broad bed and furrow land configuration in combination with organic mulching can be recommended for improving nutrient uptake efficiency of chickpea in rainfed agro-ecosystems.