Effect of integrated management of farmyard manure, phosphocompost, poultry manure and inorganic fertilizers for rainfed sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Vertisols of central India

A field experiment was conducted during the rainy reason of 2000–2001 on deep Vertisols of Bhopal, to study the effect of different nutrient combinations, viz. 0, 75, 100% recommended dose of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK), 75% NPK + farmyard manure (FYM) @ 5 tonnes/ha, 75% NPK + poultry manure (PM) @ 1.5 tonnes/ha and 75% NPK + phosphocompost (PC) @ 5 tonnes/ha on growth, water-use efficiency, productivity and economics of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] cultivation. The results showed that with the increase in NPK dose from 0 to 100% there was significant improvement in both below (root) and above-ground (shoot) dry matter 60 days after sowing (DAS) and at harvest, integrated use of organics and inorganics not only recorded significantly more root shoot dry matter but also accelerated their growth compared to inorganic fertilizer application. The shoot growth was more between 60 DAS and harvest (26.6, 24.8 and 26.7 g/m²/day with NPK + FYM, NPK + PC and NPK + PM, respectively, compared with 21.1g/m²/day with 100% NPK) and root growth between 30 and 60 DAS (5.2, 5.0 and 5.2 g/m²/day with NPK + FYM, NPK + PC and NPK + PM, respectively, compared with 4.4 g/m²/day with 100% NPK). All organics in combinations with inorganic fertilizer were superior to sole inorganic fertilizer for water-use efficiency (WUE), grain and straw yields, and harvest index (HI). Overall, application of 75% NPK and PM @ 1.5 tonnes/ha recorded highest WUE, grain and straw yields, yield attributes (ear length, ear weight/plant and 1, 000-grain weight of sorghum), net return and benefit: cost ratio in both the years. The performance of nutrient combination followed the order of 75% NPK+PM>75% NPK+FYM>75% NKP + PC > 100% NPK.