Comparative performance of Indian and Japanese barnyard millet cultivars under varied fertility conditions for dual use in Indian Central Himalaya

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of four barnyard millet genotypes belonging to two different species viz. VL 207, VL 172 (Echinochloa frumentacea) and PRB 401, PRJ 1 (E. utilis) under four different soil fertility conditions (Absolute control, 50% of recommended dose of fertilizer, 75% of RDF and 100% of RDF) under mid Himalayan conditions (1850 m amsl) with a view to identify most suitable variety for dual purpose use. The results showed that there was gradual increase in plant height with increase in nitrogen fertilizer dose. Also, significant differences (P<0.05) were observed among the cultivars for total grain and fodder (kg/ha) yield. Genotype PRJ 1 had the highest grain and fodder yield (2143 and 6427 kg/ha, respectively) while the lowest was observed for VL 127 (1677 and 5182 kg/ha, respectively). PRJ 1also had the highest mean values of 1000- seed weight (4.8 g). The result showed that there were significant differences among the genotypes in response to fertility conditions and dual purpose cultivar PRJ 1 performed better even at low fertility conditions than other cultivars evaluated. The study concluded that genotypes PRJ 1 and PRB 401 belonging to Japanese barnyard millet had high potential as compared to Indian barnyard millet genotypes (VL 207 and VL 172) and can be recommended for cultivation in Uttarakhand hills as dual purpose crop for nutritional and fodder security.