Effect of Tillage Practices and Microbial Consortia on Growth and Yield of Rainfed Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

Sorghum is a flexible cereal crop that can grow in a variety of climates. It is commonly used for food, fodder and bioenergy in tropical and semi-arid areas. A field experiment was conducted at the Agriculture Research Farm of Lovely Professional University during the 2024-2025 Kharif season to evaluate the combined effects of tillage practices and microbial consortia applications on the growth and yield of a rainfed sorghum.

The split-plot design included three tillage methods-zero tillage, minimum tillage and conventional tillage-as main plots, with four microbial consortia treatments as subplots: (i) seed treatment (30 g kg^-1 seed), (ii) soil application (2.5 kg of consortia 50 kg^-1 FYM), (iii) a combination of seed treatment (30 g kg^-1 seed) and soil application (2.5 kg of consortia 50 kg^-1 FYM) and (iv) no consortia (control).

Growth parameters recorded included plant height (238.19 cm), plant dry weight (117.02 g) and plant population (15.56 plants m^-2). Yield attributes assessed were length of ear head (22.17 cm), number of grains per head (938.72), test weight (30.16 g), seed yield (3160.31 kg ha^-1), stover yield (6825.50 kg ha^-1) and harvest index (31.64%). The highest results for most parameters were observed with conventional tillage combined with seed treatment and soil application, indicating improved soil microbial activity, nutrient availability and overall crop performance under rainfed conditions. These results highlight the potential benefits of combining microbial consortia with appropriate tillage practices to increase productivity, sustain soil health and promote the long-term resilience of cereal-pulse cropping systems in semi-arid regions.