Department of Soil Conservation and Water Management, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208 007.
An experiment was conducted during the winter (rabi) season of 2001–02 and 2003–04 at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to evaluate the effect of sowing dates (15 and 30 October) and moisture-conservation practices (control, 1 weeding and hoeing, grass mulch and paddy straw mulch) on growth and yield of 2 varieties of (‘Vaibhav’ and ‘Urwashi’) of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czernj. & Cosson] under rainfed conditions. Sowing of variety ‘Vaibhav’ on 15 October achieved higher seed yield and net monetary return compared to sowing on 30 October and variety ‘Urwashi’. Moisture-conservation practices increased the seed yield, yield attributes and net monetary return over the control. Among moisture-conservation practices, paddy straw mulch was found most effective in reducing the weed count and enhancing yield and yield attributes markedly. From economic point of view, paddy straw mulch resulted in the highest net monetary returns of Rs 14,799/ha with a benefit: cost ratio of 2.48.
Indian mustard, Moisture-use efficiency, Net monetary returns, Weed count, Yield
