Influence of Different Fertility Levels on Growth and Quality of Pearl millet in Mid Hills of Himachal Pradesh, India

The present study was conducted at Shoolini University, Solan during the kharif season 2022 to evaluate the influence of Different Fertility Levels on Growth and Quality of Pearl millet in Mid Hills of Himachal Pradesh. The soil of the experimental site was fertile with uniform sandy loam texture, medium in N and K but high in phosphorus availability. The experiment was laid out in RBD comprising of ten treatments (T1) Control, (T2) 100% RDF, (T3) 120% RDF, (T4) 50% RDF + FYM @ 10 t ha-1, (T5) 75% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1), (T6) 100% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1, (T7) 50% RDF + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1, (T8) 75% RDF + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1, (T9) 100% RDF + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 and (T10) 75% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 and and replicated thrice. Pearl millet cultivar PHB-2884 was sown at spacing of 45 × 15 cm with the seed rate of 4 Kg ha-1. Plant population, plant height, nitrogen content & uptake and protein yield were recorded significantly higher with application of (T3) 120% RDF which was statistically at par with (T9) 100% RDF + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1, (T6) 100% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 and (T2) 100% RDF. However, least values of these characters were recorded under (T1) control treatment. Findings can be concluded as the significantly higher Growth, and quality produce by pearl millet were observed with application of (T3) 120% RDF and was at par with (T2) 100% RDF, (T9) 100% RDF + Vermicompost @ 2.5 t ha-1 and (T6) 100% RDF + FYM @ 5 t ha-1 over rest of the treatments. Thus, application of (T3) 120% RDF was found to be most promising treatment in enhancing the growth and quality of pearl millet.