Effect of planting systems and varieties on the growth, productivity and economics of Rajmash

A field experiment was conducted at five locations during spring season of 2016 to study the effect of three planting methods [raised bed planting (two rows on a 67.5 cm wide bed), ridge sowing (one row on a ridge 60 cm apart) and flat sowing (45 cm row spacing)] on the performance of two varieties (Rajmash Lal and Rajmash Chitra) of rajmash. Raised bed planting and ridge sowing recorded higher plant height, biological yield, yield attributes (pods/plant, seeds/pod and 100-seed weight), grain yield, gross returns, net returns and benefit:cost (B:C ratio than flat sowing. The grain yield of rajmash was significantly higher under raised bed planting (67.2%) and ridge sowing (50.1%) over flat sowing. Rajmash Chitra had higher 100-seed weight than Rajmash Lal and it recorded significantly higher grain yield (22.3%), gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio than Rajmash Lal. It can be concluded that the sowing of Rajmash Chitra variety on raised beds or ridges is more suitable under the agro-climatic conditions of Punjab state.