Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges & Opportunities
during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
two sources of crop nutrition viz., poultry manure and Pongamia oilseed cake, three level of crop
nutrition 25 %, 50%, and 100 % recommended dose of nitrogen (120 kg N/ha) and their various
combinations. The land was cleared off from forest vegetation in 2019 and sown with oat (Avena
sativa) in the rabi season of 2019; while in 2020-21 field was planted with a Maize–Pea–Linseed
cropping system. Maize variety DA-61-A was used while the crop was grown as rainfed. For
recording the observations, plant population was counted two times (60 DAS and at harvest);
while plants with tassel and cob were counted at harvest. Three plants from each plot were
randomly selected for dry matter partitioning measurement and separated into stem, leaf, root,
tassel, and cob. The dry matter accumulation in these parts was measured by sun drying followed
by oven drying at 60 ± 2 0 C temperature till constant weight was achieved.
Results
Plant population both at 60 DAS and at harvest was reduced drastically. At 60 days after sowing,
the mortality percentage varies between 36 to 68 %; while at harvest, it varies from 46 to 72 %.
In both cases, plant mortality was highest in control and lowest in poultry manure (100 % N) +
Pongamia cake (50 % N) indicating the nutrient stress as one potential reason. The development
of a strong root system and foliage and the increase in strength of plants to stresses are the
possible reasons for reduced mortality in manure-applied treatments. This higher mortality
indicates that, though the window of sowing maize is considered wider, the crop performance is
not uniform across the window of sowing. At the same time, plant stresses affecting crop growth
also vary across the window. Besides survival, the plant’s capacity to attend the reproductive
growth is also affected significantly by both planting time and nutrient endowments. Out of the
total plants that survived, 71–94% bear tassel; while 50–68 % bear cob. If expressed as a percent
of the expected ideal plant population, then 20–48 % and 14–28 % of plants bear tassel and cob,
respectively. Late planting leads to plant mortality and the application of manure is having to
alleviate the effect on plant mortality. The impact of sowing time on the growth and productivity
of maize was reported by Srivastava et al. (2022); while Ghosh et al. (2020) signifies the role of
manure application in crop growth. Plant height and dry matter partitioning were affected
significantly due to both late planting and manure application rate; while the source of manure
application didn’t show any significant variation in plant growth and development. The dry
matter production at harvest varies from 21.3 to 42.0 g/plant with the highest and lowest in PM
(100 % N) + Pongamia cake (50 % N) and control, respectively. The increase in the total dry
matter at harvest due to the application of 25 %, 50 %, and 100 % poultry manure over control in
6.5, 13.8, and 19.8 g/plant, respectively; while the same for Pongamia cake is 6.7, 13.4, and 19.7
g/plant. The combined application of PM (50 % N) + Pongamia cake (50 % N) and PM (100 %
N) + Pongamia cake (100 % N) remain on par in total dry matter production at harvest,
666 | Page Resource conservation and rainfed agriculture