Effect of Need-based Nitrogen Scheduling on the Growth and Productivity of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum)

Background: Under the present context of global warming and climate change, the choice of an ecologically hardy crop is having prime importance. Nutrient management is an important approach for improving crop growth and productivity. Among all the nutrients, nitrogen helps in the overall growth of the plant. Nitrogen helps to synthesize chlorophyll and thereby supports building the protein units that enhance plant growth. As nitrogen is highly mobile, it is lost through different ways such as volatilization, leaching, nitrification, etc. Split application of nitrogen through proper scheduling is an important approach to reduce nitrogen loss as well as to improve nitrogen use efficiency. Hence, the investigation was conducted to find out how the scheduling of nitrogen is affecting pearl millet growth and productivity. Methods: The present study was conducted in kharif season of 2022 on pearl millet at Post Graduate Experimental Farm, M. S. Swaminathan School of Agriculture. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design with 3 replications and 9 treatments, namely, T1: control, T2: 50% basal RDN, T3: 100% basal RDN, T4: 50% basal RDN + 50% at 30 DAS, T5: 50% basal RDN + 25% at 30 DAS and 45 DAS, T6: 50% nitrogen as basal + topdressing @10 kg nitrogen/ha at sufficiency index less than 95%, T7: 50% nitrogen as basal + topdressing @10 kg nitrogen/ha at sufficiency index less than 90%, T8: 50% nitrogen as basal + topdressing @10 kg nitrogen/ha at sufficiency index less than 85%, T9: 50% nitrogen as basal + topdressing @10 kg nitrogen/ha at sufficiency index less than 80%. Result: The results showed that the application of 50% nitrogen as basal + topdressing @10 kg nitrogen/ha at sufficiency index less than 95% gave the maximum growth, yield, and income was also significantly higher with this application. So, it could be recommended to the farmers for growing pearl millet during kharif season in southern Odisha to achieve higher growth and productivity.