Effect of Cultivars and Phosphorus Levels on Nutrient Uptake and Quality of Moth Bean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal]

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on moth bean during kharif, 2016 at Agronomy Farm, College of Agriculture, Bikaner. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The treatments consisted of four varieties namely, RMO 40, RMO 225, RMO 435 and RMO 257 and four levels of phosphorus viz., 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg P2O5 ha-1. Variety RMO 257 found superior to RMO 225 and RMO 435 in terms of nitrogen uptake in grain, straw, total nitrogen uptake and phosphorus uptake in grain however, it was at par with RMO 40 in all these characters. Different varieties of moth bean did not show significant variations in nitrogen and phosphorus content of grain and straw, protein content of grain, phosphorus uptake in straw and total phosphorus uptake. Nitrogen content in seed and straw, protein content in seed, nitrogen uptake in straw, total nitrogen uptake, phosphorus uptake by seed and straw and total phosphorus uptake were significantly higher with 80 kg P205 ha-1 compared with preceding levels but found at par with 60 kg P205 ha-1 while nitrogen uptake by seed was significantly higher with 40 kg P205 ha-1 compared to preceding level.