Impact of Organic Mulching on the Performance of Lentil Cultivars in Drought-prone Rabi Season of Meghalaya

Abstract

Aims: Mulching effectively conserve soil moisture and effects soil temperature which influence crop growth and yield. The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of different organic mulches on the growth and yield of lentil crop during winter season. Study Design: Split-plot design. Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted during the rabi season (November, 2021–April, 2022) at College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, Umiam, Meghalaya, India. Lentil is a winter season crop well suited for cultivation in North Eastern Hill regions of India. Methodology: The experiment was conducted in split plot design with four different varietal treatments of lentil (V1-HUL-57, V2-PL-4, V3- PDL-1 and V4-PSL-9) (sub plots) was studied under four different organic mulching (main plot), viz., M0- unmulch, M1- paddy straw mulch, M2-maize stover mulch, M3-weed mulch. Lentil performed better under paddy straw mulch followed by weed mulch, maize stover mulch and un-mulch. Results: The growth parameters, viz., plant height (27.03 cm), branches plant-1 (4.82) and dry matter accumulation plant-1 (2.61 g) were found significantly higher for PL-4 variety. The economic yield of the variety PL-4 was reported 717.5 kg ha-1 which was highest over the other varieties. The economic yield under the paddy straw mulch was reported significantly highest (723.3 kg ha-1), which is 6.51, 11.6 and 21.01% highest over M3, M2 and M0, respectively. The benefit-cost ratio was reported highest for paddy straw mulch (1.81) for a variety PL-4 (1.79). Conclusion: Paddy straw mulch significantly improves the growth and yield parameters of lentil crop in Meghalaya, a region characterized by frequent drought during the winter. This technique not only improve crop growth and yield, but also supports sustainable agriculture practices in hilly ecosystem, which is vulnerable to climate change.