Impact of Crop Configuration and Microbial Liquid Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Oilseed Brassica

Abstract

Oilseeds are essential to the Indian economy. Rapeseed-mustard is one of the important edible oilseed crops in north India. Liquid fertilizers made from agricultural residues and waste are becoming increasingly popular due to their simple production process through fermentation Exploration of sustainable agricultural practices has led to the investigation of unconventional fertilizers for improving the stagnant oil seed yield. With this prior information, field experiments conducted at the Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar study the effect of crop configuration and microbial liquid fertilizers on growth and yield of oilseed Brassica during 2022-23 and 2023-24. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The experiment was consisting of one main factor i.e. crop configuration and a sub factor i.e. different types of microbial liquid fertilizers. Main plot consists of P1- Brassica juncea in 22.5cm apart rows with alternate row extraction 30 DAS, P2- Brassica juncea in 22.5cm apart rows with 50:50 alternate row extraction 20 and 40 DAS, P3- Brassica napus and Brassica rugosa in 22.5cm apart rows extracting Brassica rugosa 30 DAS, P4 - Brassica napus and Brassica rugosa in 22.5cm apart rows extracting Brassica rugosa 50:50, 20 and 40 DAS. Sub plot consist of L1 (liquid fertilizer 1), L2 (liquid fertilizer 2), L3 (liquid fertilizer 3), C (Control). Crop configuration and microbial liquid fertilizers significantly influenced growth and yield parameters. Plant height, dry matter production, leaf area index (LAI), no. of siliquae per plant and seed yield were significantly higher in plant configuration involving Brassica napus and Brassica rugosa in 22.5cm apart rows extracting Brassica rugosa 30 DAS and liquid fertilizer 3 in compare to others. Optimal crop configuration like P3 with tailored fertilizer, L3 improved the growth and yield of Brassica species in compare to others.