Performance of Liquid Bio-fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Sorghum in North Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka, India

Abstract:

A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station Kalaburagi to assess the on performance of liquid bio-fertilizers on growth and yield of sorghum. There were six treatments comprising different carrier and liquid based biofertilizers. There were significant differences between the carrier based and liquid biofertilizers on growth and yield parameters of sorghum. Significantly higher grain yield (1553 kg ha-1), fodder yield (3198 kg ha-1), gross returns (Rs.59365 ha-1), net returns (Rs.35735 ha-1) and B:C ratio (2.51) was obtained with application of RDF + Seed treatment with Azospirllum @ 4 ml + PSB @ 4 ml kg-1 seed. Whereas, significantly lower grain yield (1365 kg ha-1), fodder yield (2688 kg ha-1), gross returns (Rs.51685 ha-1), net returns (Rs.28160 ha-1) and B:C ratio (2.20) were obtained with RDF alone. With respect to growth significantly higher plant height (262 cm) and total dry matter production (67.8 g plant-1) was recorded with application of RDF + Seed treatment with Azospirllum @ 4 ml + PSB @ 4 ml kg-1 seed while RDF alone recorded significantly lower plant height (230 cm) and total dry matter production (52.5 g plant-1 ) compared to other treatments.