HEETA SAREEN, G. L. SHARMA AND P. C. CHAPLOT*
Department of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur-313 002 (Rajasthan), India
*(e-mail : pcchaplot@gmail.com)
(Received : November 29, 2017; Accepted : January 20, 2018)
ABSTRACT
A field experiment was conducted at the Instructional Farm (Agronomy), Rajasthan Collge of Agriculture, Udaipur (Rajasthan) to evaluate the effects of plant densities on sorghum under different fertility and zinc levels. Results indicated that as plant density increased from 1.5. to 2.90 lakh plants/ha, increased plant height, leaves/plant and LAI but decreased dry matter accumulation by each plant part and it was highest at plant density of 1.50 lakh plants/ha. Plant density at 2.20 lakh plants/ha gave significantly higher grain, stover yield, N, P and Zn uptake by grain and stover over plant density of 1.50 and 2.90 lakh plants/ha. Application of 80 kg N + 40 kg P2 O5 /ha was found an optimum dose as it significantly improved growth, yield and nutrients uptake. Crop fertilized with 25 kg ZnSO4 /ha significantly enhanced dry matter accumulation by each plant parts, yield and uptake of nutrients by sorghum.
Key words : Plant density, fertility levels, sorghum, growth, nutrient uptake