Effect of Silicon nutrition on growth, yield and economics of Kodomillet
*Jawahar1, S., B. Prakash1, K. Arivukkarasu1 , D. Elayaraja2, C. Kalaiyarasan1 and K. Suseendran1
1Department of Agronomy, 2Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar-608002 (India) *Corresponding author Email: jawa.au@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
A field experiment was conducted at Ambagarathur Village, Thirunallar Taluk of Karaikal District during Kharif season (June - October, 2021) to study the effect of silicon nutrition on growth, yield and economics of kodomillet. The experiment consisted of ten treatments and were laid out in randomized block design and replicated thrice. The treatments comprised of T1 - RDF (44:22:0 kg NPK ha-1), T2 - RDF + 25 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash, T3 - RDF + 50 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash, T4 - RDF + 75 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash,T5 - RDF + 25 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash + Silicate Solubilizing Bacteria (SSB),T6 - RDF + 50 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash + Silicate Solubilizing Bacteria (SSB), T7 - RDF + 75 kg Si ha-1 through fly ash + Silicate Solubilizing Bacteria (SSB), T8 - RDF + 25 kg Si ha-1 through Silicon Enriched Farmyard Manure (SiEFYM), T9 - RDF + 50 kg Si ha-1 through Silicon Enriched Farmyard Manure (SiEFYM), T1 0 - RDF + 75 kg Si ha-1 through Silicon Enriched Farmyard Manure (SiEFYM). Among the different treatments tried in this study, application of 75 kg Si ha-1 through SiEFYM along with RDF (T10) recorded higher growth attributes (plant height, number of tillers hill-1, leaf area index, dry matter production), yield attributes (number of panicles hill-1, filled grains panicle-1 and test weight) and yields (grain – 2502 kg ha-1 and straw- 3996 kg ha-1) of kodomillet. Regarding economics, the highest gross income ( 79056), net income ( 43998) and BCR ( 2.25) were also recorded under application of 75 kg Si ha-1 through SiEFYM along with RDF (T10). Therefore, it can be concluded that application of 75 kg Si ha-1 through SiEFYM along with RDF (44:22:0 NPK kg ha-1) holds immense potentiality to uplift the productivity and profitability of kodomillet.