Productivity and profitability of chickpea as influenced by varying levels of phosphorus and bio-fertilizers under sub-tropical conditions of Madhya Pradesh

In the present study, the influence of phosphorus and bio-fertilizers was investigated on the productivity and profitability of summer black gram. The experimental study revealed that among the phosphorus levels, the application of 50 kg P ha^-1 recorded significantly the high seed (1108 Kg ha^-1) and stover (2616 Kg ha^-1) yield. However, among the bio-fertilizers, the application of phosphate solubilizing bacteria + Rhizobium resulted in the highest seed (1116 Kg ha^-1) and stover yield of chickpea (2655 Kg ha^-1). Application of 50 kg ha^-1 phosphorus and combined treatment of phosphate solubilizing bacteria + Rhizobium incurred the highest cost of cultivation ( 30,421 ha^-1), highest gross return ( 1,00,015 ha^-1), net return ( 69,594 ha^-1) and benefit-cost ratio ( 2.29). It can be concluded that the application of 50 kg ha^-1 phosphorus and treatment of phosphate solubilizing bacteria+ Rhizobium in chickpea cultivation may be profitable.