Effect of Organic and Inorganic Sources of Nitrogen with Biofertilizer on Forage Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

The present investigation entitled was carried out at the Instructional Dairy Research Farm, IGKVV, Raipur (C.G.) during Rabi season (October to December) of 2009. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replication. Forage sorghum “MP-Chari” with a seed rate of 40 kg ha-1 was sown on Oct 12, 2009 with a row spacing of 30 cm. Cutting of sorghum was done on Dec 12, 2009 at 60 DAS of crop. The results revealed that growth parameter like plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight of leaf, fresh weight of stem, fresh weight of plant, LAI, dry matter accumulation on leaf, stem and plant, leaf stem ratio and CGR were significantly higher in T₁₀ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹ + Azotobacter + Azospirillum) as compare to other treatments and it was at par with T₉ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹+Azospirillum) and T₈ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹ + Azotobacter). Among all the treatments, T₁₀ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹ + Azotobacter + Azospirillum) recorded significantly higher green and dry fodder yield over other treatments and it was at par with T₈ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹ + Azotobacter) and T₉ (100% RDN @ 60 kg ha⁻¹+ Azospirillum) and it may be due to cumulative effect of higher value recorded by these treatment for most of the yield contributing characters. Combination of inorganic fertilizer with biofertilizers significantly increased the overall growth and development of sorghum plant.