Bio-inoculated Nutrient Management Influence on Soil Nutrient Availability Pattern and Growth of Hybrid Pigeonpea (ICPH 2740) under Establishment Methods and Crop Geometry

Background: A two-year field study was conducted at the ICRISAT research farm during the rainy seasons of 2021 and 2022 to investigate the impact of crop geometry, crop establishment method and sustainable nutrient management practices on nutrient availability pattern and growth of hybrid pigeon pea. Methods: The experiment followed a split-split plot design. The collected data was analysed using radar graph and heat maps for nutrient availability and dry matter respectively. Result: Data revealing that transplanted plots registered higher nutrient availability and proportionate root and total dry matter production at various growth stages. Among plant geometry the root and total dry matter production was higher with 100x100 cm. when considering planting methods, transplanting with a square system of 100x100 cm, combined with an integrated nutrient management approach consisting of 150% (or) 100% soil test based NPK, vermicompost at a rate of 5 t ha(-1), phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and seed treatment with Rhizobium, resulted in average of 31.5% higher dry matter production over alone inorganic nutrient management practices. Thus, a square geometry of 100x100 cm, along with sustainable integrated nutrient management (100% soil test based NPK, vermicompost at a rate of 5 t ha(-1), PSB and seed treatment with Rhizobium), resulted in higher nutrient availability and dry matter production. These findings highlight the importance of careful selection of planting methods, crop geometry and nutrient management practices for maximizing the nutrient mining for production of high dry matter production of hybrid pigeonpea.