Effect of Plant Spacing on the Growth and Yield of Blackgram (Vigna mungo)

Experiments were conducted to determine the optimum plant spacing for different varieties of blackgram during Rabi 2015–16 season. The experiments comprised of three varieties viz. VBN (Bg) 4, VBN (Bg) 6 and MDU 1 and five different crop spacing viz., 15 cm × 10 cm, 15 cm × 15 cm, 20 cm × 10 cm, 20 cm × 15 cm and 30 cm × 10 cm and laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design (FRBD) with three replications. Varieties showed significant difference for plant height, total number of pods per plant, seed weight per plant, seed yield, haulm yield and harvest index while different crop spacing showed significant difference for plant height, seed yield, haulm yield and harvest index. Pooled analysis exhibited a significant variation among three varieties. VBN (Bg) 6 revealed the highest seed yield of 741 kg/ha while the lowest seed yield of 590 kg/ha in MDU1. Interaction also produced significant effect on seed yield. The crop spacing of 20 cm x 10 cm showed highest seed yield 714 kg/ha when compared with other crop spacing treatments. Low potential varieties and improper crop spacing are serious causes low productivity in pulses. The interaction of variety VBN (Bg) 6 and 20 cm x 10 cm crop spacing exhibited significantly higher seed yield and harvest index than other treatments. Optimum plant spacing of 20 cm x 10 cm enhanced seed yield by 20.3 percent and harvest index by 29.4 percent compared with recommended crop spacing of 30 cm x 10 cm. The higher harvest index varieties showed wider adaptability and higher stable yield over environments and therefore can be recommended for cultivation by the farmers.