Productivity and energy dynamics of forage oats (Avena sativa L.) as influenced by liquid bacterial inoculants

Abstract

India possesses the world’s largest bovine population; however, milk and meat productivity remain lower than expected. At present, the availability of both green and dry fodder is far below the existing demand, and this gap is projected to widen further, underscoring the urgent need to enhance fodder production and management strategies. In addition, efficient energy use in agriculture is the need of the hour to minimize environmental impacts. In this context, the present investigation was carried out to study the impact of liquid bacterial inoculants on productivity and energy budgeting of forage oat (Avena sativa L.). The field experiments were conducted at Bathinda and Ludhiana with a total of 12 treatments of liquid bacterial inoculants in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated thrice. The treatment T11: RDF + Burkholderia seminalis + Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, recorded maximum growth and yield attributing traits at Bathinda and Ludhiana, respectively. Further, the correlation studies revealed a strong positive correlation between yield-attributing traits and productivity. The energy output varied from 781269.0 to 863972.0MJ/ha at Ludhiana and from 751460.5 to 851476.5 MJ/ha at Bathinda. The maximum energy output was recorded under treatment T11 at both Bathinda and Ludhiana. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of liquid bacterial inoculants could play a predominant role in enhancing the productivity and energy audit (input-output relationship) of forage oats.