Interestingly more than 50% of the world’s area is rainfed and approximately 80% of maize is cultivated under rainfed condition where selection of cultivar and management of nitrogen have major impact on production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth, phenology, yield and quality parameters of maize as influenced by variety and nitrogen scheduling under rainfed condition. For this, a field experiment having two factors was laid out in a factorial randomised block design and replicated three times. The first factor was variety, i.e., V1 (JM 216) and V2 (JM 218), and the second was six nitrogen scheduling, i.e., N1 to N6, in which nitrogen splitting was done based on 30-years of average rainfall data. Variety JM 218 and N5 [40 kg N as basal followed by (fb) 2 splits of 40 kg N and 38.8 kg N at 30 and 52 days after sowing (DAS) and 1% N foliar spray at 40 DAS] nitrogen scheduling were found promising under rainfed situation because it recorded maximum value of growth parameters, yield attributes, grain yield and quality parameters (protein, mineral and dickson quality index). Thus, it can be inferred that JM 218 and N5 nitrogen schedule would be a better choice than alternative options.

A field experiment was carried out during Rabi season of 2020‒2021 and 2021‒2022 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) at research field of department of soil science to find out the effect of soil test crop response based long-term fertilization on yield attributing parameters and yield of wheat. The treatments details were T1; Control, T2 ; 120 N: 80 P2O5: 60 K2O kg ha-1 , T3; Target yield of 4.5 t ha-1, T4; Target yield of 6.0 t ha-1, T5; Target yield of 4.5 t+FYM 5 t ha-1; T6; Target yield of 6.0 t+FYM 5 t ha-1 and carried out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with four replications. Research findings of long term field experiment revealed that application of soil test crop response recommendation for target yield of 6.0 t ha-1+FYM 5 t ha-1 gave maximum earhead length (14.59 and 14.10 cm), number of grains ear-1 (66.46 and 63.30), test weight (41.93 and 41.35 g), grain yield (5568 and 5052 kg ha-1) and straw yield (7315 and 5969 kg ha-1) of wheat. The balanced application of fertilizers by the soil and the crop's needs for potential growth and development may account for the increased yield under the STCR technique with and without FYM. The inclusion of FYM resulted in a potential movement of water, air, temperature, and nutrients in the soil, which may have improved the conditioning of the rhizospheric environment and further raised yield when integrated with STCR. Due to better physical, chemical, and biological characteristics, enhanced microbial activity and the conversion of inaccessible nutrients into available forms, this STCR technique also aids in higher production.

Background: Dryland is characterised by drought/dry spell (s) of 10 to 15 days and is the main reason for decline in soybean production. The aim of this study was to develop a strategy of drought amelioration by using foliar sprays and enhancement of yield, quality, energetics and carbon footprint. Methods: A field experiment was carried out at Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, College of Agriculture, Indore, (M.P.) during 2017-18 under spilt-plot design having two main plot treatments viz., foliar application at dry spell (F1), foliar application after dry spell (F2) and seven sub plot treatments i.e. different variants of foliar sprays (DVFS). Different growth, yield, quality, energetic and carbon footprint traits were recorded. The data were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. Result: The highest growth, yield, quality and energetic parameters were recorded for F1 as compared to F2. In case of DVFS, foliar application of water soluble complex fertilizer 19:19:19 (NPK) @ 0.5% + 0.5% ZnSO4 (T4) produced maximum values for growth, energetics, carbon footprint, oil (22.5%) and protein (43.1%) content as well as produced maximum yield.

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2020-21 and 2021-22 at Livestock farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India to study the Influence of different sowing dates and nutrient management on yield attributes and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The twelve treatments consisting of four sowing dates viz. 25th October, 05th November, 15th November and 25th November as main plot treatments and these were superimposed with three nutrient management i.e. Recommended Dose of Fertilizer, 150% RDF + FYM 15 t ha-1, 150% RDF + FYM 15 t ha-1 + Growth Regulators as sub plots and carried out in split plot design with three replications. On the basis of two year study it is evident that sowing of wheat on 5th November was found to be most suitable than rest of the sowing dates as it recorded significantly higher number of effective tillers (399.91 and 411.94 m-2), length of earhead (10.61 and 11.15 cm), number grains earhead-1 (45.75 and 46.86), grain (5494 and 5497 kg ha-1) and straw yields (7033 and 7128 kg ha-1) compared to rest of the sowing dates except 25th October during both the year. Among the nutrient management, application 150% RDF + FYM 15 t ha-1 + Growth Regulators recorded significantly higher number of effective tillers (405.51 and 416.72 m-2), length of ear head (9.99 and 10.50 cm), grains earhead-1 (45.89 and 46.60), grain (5735 and 5866 kg ha-1) and straw yields (7343 and 7514 kg ha-1) as compared to rest of the nutrient management during both the years.

A field experiment was conducted at research farm of IFSR Project, College of Agriculture, Indore, (M.P.) during Kharif 2018-19 in order to develop energy efficient sustainable maize production system. Maize production system had two factors which, laid out in factorial randomized block design and replicated thrice. Among the studied two factors, first factor was variety which consist two levels i.e. V1 (JM 216) and V2 (JM 218) and the second factor was N scheduling which consist six levels namely N1 to N6 which contained various proportion of N including foliar spray and scheduled at different stages. The results indicated that, nitrogen fertilizer share (62%) maximum of total input energy of production system. Among the levels, maize variety JM 218 and N scheduling N5 (33.3% N at sowing + 33.3% N at knee high stage + 1% N foliar spray at 40 DAS + 32.3% N at tasseling stage) were found promising since it recorded maximum value of output energy (115238 and 116306 MJ ha -1 ), net energy (103417 and 104468 MJ ha -1 ), energy efficiency (9.04 and 9.83), energy productivity (0.52 and 0.52 kg MJ -1 ), energy profitability (8.75 and 8.83) and energy intensity in economic terms (3.21 and 3.21 MJ Rs -1 ) respectively. It could be concluded that the maize variety JM 218 and N5, N scheduling would be more profitable compared to others combinations for developing an energy efficient sustainable production system.