Root Growth, Nutrient Uptake, Nodulation and Yield of Summer Mung [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] as Influenced by Land Configuration and Varying Nutrient Management Practices under Coastal Plains of Odisha

Background: Green gram being an important legume crop, its rooting traits and nodule characteristics are vital in determining its overall productivity. Land configuration plays a crucial role in influencing the root and nodule growth in green gram. Judicious use of balanced nutrients and fertilizers is needed owing to the sustainability concern of the environment and also for optimising the production process. Methods: Field experiments were carried out at the Agronomy Main Research Farm, O.U.A.T. Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India during 2020 and 2021 to study the effect of different land configuration methods and varying nutrient management practices on the root growth, nutrient uptake and yield of summer mung. Split-plot Design was adopted with three replications having four main plot and 6 sub-plot treatments. Result: The outcomes of the experiment showed that raised bed method with PDM-139 cultivar gave the highest pooled root length (13.1 cm), root dry weight (1.52 g) and shoot: root ratio (6.83). F6 nutrient management treatment gave synonymous results (12.16 cm root length, 1.53 g root dry weight). Similar trend was observed for number of nodules (15.48 nodules/plant) and nodule fresh weight (25.50 g) under land configuration, variety and (16.61 nodules/plant, 25.50 g) under nutrient management respectively. The total nutrient uptake in grain and straw for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium was found to be the highest in flat-bed method with PDM-139 cultivar. The result revealed that sowing of green gram on raised bed land configuration with PDM 139 along with nutrient management practice based on STCR equations (F6) significantly produced more yield (522.84 kg/ha and 455.29 kg/ha respectively) than the other treatments. The study revealed that there was positive correlation between the grain yield and the respective N, P2O5 and K2O uptakes.