Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development

A field experiment was carried out for two years during Kharif 2004 and 2005 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Warangal on clay loam soil to know the influence of agronomic practices and foliar spray of chemicals in pigeonpea under moisture stress conditions. Ten treatments comprising of seed treatment with chemicals before sowing (2), spraying of chemicals at flower bud initiation stage (2), adoption of agronomic practices (3), integrated nutrient management (1) and application of chemical fertilizers (2) were laid out in randomized block design with three replications. Drought management practices significantly influenced the yield attributes, yield and net returns in pigeonpea. Significantly higher yield and net returns were observed with application of RDF along with seed soaking of pigeonpea before sowing for 2 hours with KH₂PO₄ or CaCl₂ during both the years. There is no significant difference between foliar fertilization of 2% urea and 2% KCl in producing yield. Cultural mulch or opening shallow furrows between two pigeonpea rows has produced at par yields to nutrient management alone during both the years. However, higher available soil moisture (%) was observed with the cultural mulch or opening shallow furrows between two rows of pigeonpea during both the years.