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Preceding Rainy-Season Crops and Residue Management Practices on Root: Shoot Characteristics, Productivity and Profitability of Chickpea under Zero-Till Semi-Arid Ecosystem

Lal Prasad Amgain*, Ajit Ram Sharma, A Shrestha and S Kandel

Corresponding Author: Lal Prasad Amgain, Faculty Agronomy, Agronomy Division, Tribhuvan University, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS), Nepal

Received: April 01, 2019; Revised: January 06, 2020; Accepted: April 01, 2019

Citation: Amgain LP, Sharma AR, Shrestha A & Kandel S. (2020) Preceding Rainy-Season Crops and Residue Management Practices on Root: Shoot Characteristics, Productivity and Profitability of Chickpea under Zero-Till Semi-Arid Ecosystem. J Agric Forest Meteorol Res, 3(1): 255-265.

Copyrights: ©2020 Amgain LP, Sharma AR, Shrestha A & Kandel S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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To identify suitable chickpea-based cropping system, field experiment was conducted for two years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012) with three preceding rainy-season crops: pearl millet, cluster bean and green gram along with three treatments viz. no residue, crop residue and Leucaena twigs mulching. The rainy season crops and chickpea were grown under rainfed condition with zero-tillage. Chickpea showed higher root length density (RLD), root surface area (RSA), root volume density (RVD) and average root diameter under crop residues, followed by Leucaena twigs. The pooled analysis of data showed significant yearly variations on seed yield of chickpea. Pearl millet as preceding crop resulted in significantly higher yield of chickpea (1.31 t ha^-1 in 2010-2011 and 1.06 t ha^-1 in 2011-2012), followed by green gram and cluster bean. Pearl millet with Leucaena twigs showed significantly higher chickpea yield (1.68 t ha^-1), highest gross returns (37.72 × 10³IRs ha^-1), net returns (25.52 × 10³ IRs ha^-1) and net returns/IRS invested (2.09) in 2010-2011. However, higher chickpea yield (1.46 t ha^-1), the highest gross returns (44.02 × 10³IRs ha^-1), net returns (25.87 × 10³ IRs ha^-1) and net returns/IRs invested (1.42) were received after pearl millet with crop residues in 2011-2012. The same trend was followed for nutrient uptake. Chickpea after pearl millet with crop residues or Leucaena twigs resulted high-yield and profitable cropping system under zero-till semi-arid condition.

Keywords: Chickpea, Preceding rainy-season crops, Productivity, Profitability, Root: Shoot characteristics, Semi-arid rainfed, Residue management, Zero-till

INTRODUCTION

Zero tillage is trending as a changing way to the sustainability of intensive production systems under both irrigated and rainfed conditions which leads to management of water and soil for agricultural activities without disturbing the soil. Zero till improves the soil health as well as facilitates the timely sown crops to utilize the residual soil moisture [1]. Zero tillage improves the quality of soil by returning crop organic residues and influencing favorable effects on physio-chemical properties of soil. Furthermore, zero tillage leads to decrease weed infestation owing to favorable soil environment which are responsible for better crop growth and higher yield.

Mulching increases soil porosity which has direct effect on soil aeration, enhance root growth and crop development [2,3]. Also, mulching has favorable effect on soil organic carbon, water retention, temperature and increases water stable aggregates on surface layer [4,5]. Application of mulch of Leucaena leucocephala and other legume species in standing crops helps in conservation of soil moisture for proper growth and development [6-8].

Inclusion of legumes under cropping system fixes nitrogen to soil through atmosphere and adds soil fertility [9]. Pearl millet, cluster bean and green gram are grown as short duration crops during rainy season followed by long duration and drought hardy winter crop such as chickpea on preserved soil moisture [10].

This study was conducted for understanding the effects of preceding rainy-season crops and residue management practices on growth, productivity, nutrient uptake and profitability of chickpea under zero-till semi-arid rainfed condition.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of residue management and preceding rainy-season crops on growth, productivity, nutrient uptake and profitability of chickpea-based cropping systems. The cropping systems involved combinations of three crops (pearl millet, cluster bean and green gram) in rainy season followed by chickpea under zero-till rainfed condition. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with four replications and three treatments of surface cover management, viz. control (no-residue), crop residues @ 5 t ha^-1 and Leucaena twigs @ 10 t ha^-1.

Root samples were taken at flowering stage (60 DAS) in rainy and winter-season crops (80-90 DAS) with the help of root auger. Cleanliness and other procedures for root scanning were accomplished as per standard protocol [9]. The root parameters like root length density, surface area, root volume and diameter of different thickness of roots were recorded for all six crops. Scanning and image analysis using RHIZO system was operated in a computer mounted with the scanner of RHIZO system. Growth analysis like Leaf area index (LAI), net assimilation rate (NAR), relative growth rate (RGR) were calculated. Yield attributes viz. plant population at maturity, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plot, test weight, stover yield and harvest index were recorded. Pooled analysis of seed yield was done for evaluation of year and treatment interaction effect. Economic analysis was done and expressed as cost of cultivation, gross and net returns and B:C ratio. The biometric data on ancillary and yield parameters were analyzed by standard statistical techniques and regression and correlation analysis for major yield attributes and seed yield was done [11].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Root: Shoot growth and soil moisture

Root morphological parameters, viz. root length density (RLD), surface area density (RSD), root volume density (RVD) and average diameter of roots (AD) taken at flowering stages of chickpea during 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 are presented in Table 1. The residue management practices influenced root parameters of chickpea. The higher root morphological parameters of chickpea were recorded with crop residue, followed by Leucaena twigs and the least with no-residue. Chickpea showed higher root morphological parameters in 2010-2011 due to their vigorous growth in congenial environment under uniform application of residues.

Root is a vital component of plant system. To ensure normal plant growth and proper root development, the soil must have enough air, water and nutrients [12]. Root penetration to a greater depth is necessary for anchorage and uptake of water and nutrients from soil. It is the finer roots with larger length density (RLD) and surface area, which contribute to more water and nutrient uptake from surface as well as sub-surface than the thicker roots, which remained confined to upper surface layers especially under zero-tillage [13].

Tables 2 and 3 showed that crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) were higher in chickpea after pearl millet and green gram as preceding crops under crop residues mulching, followed by Leucaena twigs and no-residue from 0-30 DAS and 30-60 DAS in 2010-2011 and from 60-90 DAS and 90-120 DAS in 2011-2012.

Chickpea grown under rainfed did not follow definite growth pattern. The CGR was governed according to the pattern of profile soil moisture as given in Figure 1. The growth rate increases only after the availability of soil moisture through rainfall. Application of crop residues in chickpea after pearl millet and green gram and Leucaena twigs after cluster bean provided comparatively higher CGR, RGR and NAR than with and without residues. There was comparatively higher CGR during the period from 0-30 DAS in 2010-2011. The significant effect of retention of residues in moisture conservation was responsible for optimizing crop growth. Retaining crop residues and Leucaena twigs and following cluster bean and green gram as preceding crops increased crop growth indices in both years and that was due to favorable soil environment created by legume crops.

Higher CGR and RGR with crop residues under legume-based systems was reported [6,14]. Legumes can absorb more water from their deep root system, as a result, showed better performance even under rainfed condition [9]. More availability of soil moisture after legumes and crop residues mulching might be due to greater shoot and root biomass production owing to deep-rooted system and addition of more organic matter through leaf fall of legumes and helped to conserve more soil moisture, resulting in higher growth parameters. Residue retention ensured more water availability to the crop from the effective root-zone due to improving infiltration, less runoff and checking evaporation loss [15].

Yield performance

Preceding rainy-season crops and residue management showed significant influence on the seed, Stover and biological yield of chickpea (Figure 2). Leucaena twigs after pearl millet recorded significantly higher seed yield (1.68 t ha^-1) than other treatments in 2010-11. The seed yield was significantly higher (1.46 t ha^-1) with crop residues after pearl millet in 2011-2012. Pearl millet extracted more surface soil moisture, wherein, the sub-surface soil moisture was utilized better by deep rooted and hardy chickpea crop, leading to better productivity under pearl millet-chickpea system. Crop residues having high C:N ratio took more time to decompose, which in the first season did not add to soil fertility, but helped positively in absorbing moisture obtained either from rainfall or dew, resulting higher yield in second year. Addition of nitrogen through Leucaena twigs might result higher yields under Leucaena twigs over no-residue. Rapid decomposition of Leucaena twigs helped in quick release of nutrients, which increased growth and yield attributes, resulting in higher yield performance. Residue application improved the soil moisture, physico-chemical and biological environment of the soil through the addition of nutrients and enhanced microbial activity aiding the cropping system to be more productive [16]. Pearl millet-chickpea system was also found to be high yielding in Rajasthan [17].

Pooled analysis on data on economic yield of chickpea (Table 4) as affected by years, preceding crops and residue management showed a significant influence. The chickpea yield in first year was 9% higher than second year. The evenly distributed rainfall throughout the winter season during the first year (2010-2011) was beneficial to chickpea because of coincidence of rain with their flowering and fruiting period. The uniform distribution of 20 mm rainfall during 2012 was beneficial for pod filling. Conservation of soil moisture and increased fertility status after decomposition helped to increase the yield under crop residues in later years over Leucaena twigs and no-residue.

Regression analysis between yield and yield attributes of chickpea (Figure 3) showed highly significant positive correlation with plants m^-2 in 2011-2012. Significant positive correlation with plants m^-2 in 2010-2011 and number of pods plant^-1 was observed in both years.

Nutrient uptake

Tables 5 and 6 shows the nutrient uptake by chickpea for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

Significant result was found on interaction effect of preceding crop and residue management on nutrient uptake, and followed the same trend as that on seed and Stover yield. The higher uptake of N, P and K in seed and Stover after pearl millet as preceding crop was noticed in both years. Similarly, crop residues retention also showed significant variation in nutrient uptake in both years with maximum uptake under crop residues in 2011-2012. The result for NPK uptake under crop residues and Leucaena twigs in 2010-2011 was statistically at par.

The increased uptake of NPK under residue retention could be attributed due to greater availability of conserved soil moisture to the plants. Significantly higher seed and Stover yield with crop residues and Lecuaena twigs was due to higher nutrient uptake. Their crop growth was poor under no-residue; and, therefore NPK uptake was also less. Pearl millet as preceding crop gave higher dry mater yield and nutrient uptake of chickpea [9,18].

Economics

The economics of chickpea resulted in the higher returns with pearl millet and Leucaena twigs in first year and with crop residues in second year (Table 7).

The cost of cultivation was relatively higher in 2011-2012 than 2010-2011, while the gross and net returns showed almost consistent trend in both years. The increase in production cost in 2011-2012 was due to increase in labor wages (33% more compared with 2010-2011) and other input costs. Crop residues themselves have economic value and addition of their market price in the production costs increased the total cost of cultivation in second year. Leucaena twigs which were freely available around the farm periphery and only application costs were incurred.

The price of chickpea was increased by 32% in 2011-2012 which recorded comparatively higher net returns. The economic analysis exhibited the highest gross returns (37.72 × 10³IRs ha^-1), net returns (25.52 × 10³IRs ha^-1) and net returns/IRs invested (2.09) under pearl millet with Leucaena twigs treatment in 2010-2011. Similarly, the highest gross returns (44.02 × 10³IRs ha^-1), net returns (25.87 × 10³IRs ha^-1) and net returns/IRs invested (1.42) were recorded under pearl millet with crop residues in 2011-2012. Our findings are in conformity with those of other workers in pearl millet-based systems [19].

CONCLUSION

Pearl millet as preceding crops resulted in better growth, yields and nutrient uptake in chickpea over cluster bean and green gram. Both Leucaena twigs and crop residue after pearl millet led to higher returns and net returns/IRs invested in chickpea. Therefore, it was recommended to grow chickpea after pearl millet with crop residues or Leucaena twigs for higher productivity and profitability under zero-till semi-arid condition.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The research is the part of PhD (Agronomy) manuscript of the first author at IARI, Pusa New Delhi. Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Government of India and Tribhuvan University, IAAS Rampur Campus, Chitwan, Nepal are highly acknowledged for providing the financial assistance by the scheme of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operations (SAARC) Scholarship and granting the study leave, respectively to the first author.

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