Performance of Different Graded Dose of Fertilizer on Growth, Yield and Quality of Black Gram Varieties (Vigna mungo L.)

A study was conducted during the kharif season of 2022 at the Research plot, Department of Agronomy, AKS University, Madhya Pradesh to investigate the impact of graded doses of fertilizers viz., Control (F0), NPK @ 18:18:18 kg ha-1 (F1), NPK @ 19:19:19 kg ha-1 (F2), and NPK @ 20:20:20 kg ha-1 (F3) and three varieties i.e., IPU-2-43 (V1), PU-31 (V2), Indira-1 (V3) on black gram. The experimental design employed was a Randomized Complete Block Design, with the 12 treatment combinations replicated three times. Results revealed that treatment F3 (NPK @ 20:20:20 kg ha-1) significantly enhanced plant height (40.73 cm), number of branches per plant (4.49), number of leaves per plant (27.09) and number of root nodules (30.89). This grade also resulted in maximum yield attributes such as the number of pods per plant (22.00), grains per pod (4.89), test weight (36.98 g), grain (9.31 q/ha) and stover yield (18.10 q/ha). Additionally, the highest protein content (21.71 %) in black gram grain was observed with the application of F3 (NPK @ 20:20:20 kg ha-1). Regarding varieties, Indira-1 displayed superior growth parameters and yield-contributing characters compared to IPU-2-43 and PU-31. Notably, Indira-1 exhibited higher protein content in seeds. The results suggest that the application of NPK @ 20:20:20 kg ha-1 and cultivation of the Indira-1 variety hold promise for enhancing black gram productivity.