Growth, yield and quality of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. gaertn) as influenced by crop geometry and age of seedlings

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2018 at Bagusala farm, M. S. Swaminathan School of Agriculture under Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi, Odisha. The experimental soil was sandy loamy texture with pH 6.5, OC (0.41), and low in available N (73.4 kg ha⁻¹), high in available P (30.2 kg ha⁻¹) and medium in available K (152.4 kg ha⁻¹). This experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with nine treatments comprising of T1: transplanting of 15 days old seedling at 20 cm × 20 cm, T2: transplanting of 15 days old seedling at 25 cm × 25 cm, T3: transplanting of 15 days old seedling at 30 cm × 30 cm, T4: transplanting of 20 days old seedling at 20 cm × 20 cm, T5: transplanting of 20 days old seedling at 25 cm × 25 cm, T6: transplanting of 20 days old seedling at 30 cm × 30 cm, T7: transplanting of 25 days old seedling at 20 cm × 20cm, T8: transplanting of 25 days old seedling at 25 cm × 25 cm and T9: transplanting of 25 days old seedling at 30 cm × 30 cm. The treatments were replicated thrice with Vakula variety at seed rate of 5 kg ha⁻¹. The results of the field experiment showed that finger millet performed well in sandy loam soils of South Odisha at a spacing of 25 cm × 25 cm with 20 days old seedlings in terms of growth and productivity, but these agronomic management did not influence the quality parameters.