Conservation-agriculture practices and weed-management effects on productivity, water and energy-use efficiency of rainfed pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)

A field experiment was conducted during the rainy (kharif) season of 2019 at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, to study the effect of different tillage and weed-management practices on productivity, water and energy-use efficiency of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.). R. Br.]. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design, with tillage in main plot, viz. conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT), zero tillage + residue (ZT + R) 3 t/ha, and weed management in subplot, viz. weedy check, hand-weeding (HW) at 30 and 50 days after sowing (DAS), pre-emergence (PE) atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha followed by (fb) post-emergence (PoE) 2,4-D @ 0.75 kg/ha, atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha PE, atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha PE fb tembotrione @ 0.05 kg/ha PoE, atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha PE fb tembotrione @ 0.075 kg/ha PoE, atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha PE fb tembotrione @ 0.10 kg/ha PoE in 3 replications. The performance of ZT + R was significantly better in terms of grain (2.40 t/ha) and stover yields (7.90 t/ha) compared to CT, but was at par with ZT. Similarly, HW at 30 and 50 DAS resulted in significantly higher grain (2.53 t/ ha) and stover yields (8.13 t/ha) than the other weed-management practices, but was at par with atrazine 0.75 kg/ ha PE fb 2,4-D 0.75 kg/ha PoE. Higher water-use efficiency (6.45 kg/ha-mm) was recorded under HW at 30 and 50 DAS among the weed-management practices. Net energy output (111,046 MJ/ha) and energy-use efficiency (11.9) were also significantly higher in atrazine 0.75 kg/ha PE fb tembotrione 0.05 kg/ha PoE than the control. Cultivating pearl millet under ZT + R with either 2 HW at 30 and 50 DAS or atrazine 0.75 kg/ha PE fb 2,4-D 0.75 kg/ha PoE was found-energy efficient and eco-friendly under rainfed conditions for higher productivity.