Effect of pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs, PGRs and Nutrients on Growth, Yield and Economics of Irrigated Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper]

Background: Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is one of the most important cultivated legume crops with high nutritive value and agricultural importance. The productivity of blackgram is not adequate to meet the domestic demand of the growing Indian population. Consequently, there is an urgent need for enhancement of productivity through proper agronomic practices. With this background, a research experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field at Pudhupalayam, Coimbatore to investigate the effect of foliar application of PPFM, plant growth regulating compounds and nutrients on growth, yield attributes, yield and economics of irrigated blackgram. Methods: A field experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications during 2019 (kharif and rabi) season. The treatments include 100% recommended dose of NPK along with foliar application of diammonium phosphate (DAP), brassinolide (Br), salicylic acid (SA) and pink pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFM) with different concentration (1%, 2%, 1 ppm, 2 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm, respectively) in addition to control. PPFM and PGRs were sprayed at 30 and 45 days after the sowing of blackgram. Result: The experiment results of the two seasons study revealed that the application of 100% RDF + PPFM @ 2% recorded higher growth characters viz., plant height (cm), number of branches plant-1, leaf area index and yield attributes viz., number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, pod weight (g), pod height (cm), 100 seed weight (g) and yield viz., grain yield (kg/ha), straw yield (kg/ha) and harvest index (%). As well as the same treatment recorded higher net return and B:C ratio. Correlation and regression analysis also indicated that the yield attributes had a positive impact on the grain yield with a magnitude of 1.91 and 1.67, respectively. Therefore, application of 100% RDF+2% PPFM spray can be recommended as the best technology to improve the yield and economics of blackgram.