Comparison of food legumes during their early vegetative phase for growth characteristics and fertilizer response

Growth and nutrient uptake of 45-d old seedlings of six food legumes were assessed at recommended (RF) and high fertility (HF) levels in the field. Groundnut was more efficient in drymatter production. HF increased the drymatter production especially in groundnut, cowpea and greengram. The absolute growth rate (AGR) of seedlings varied as groundnut>cowpea>pigeonpea>greengram>blackgram>chickpea. HF increased AGR but it did not change RGR which differed among food legumes. HF treatment increased the uptake of N, P and K but it decreased their utilization efficiency.