Pearl millet performance affected by tree leaf mulch under custard apple based agri-horti system

Abstract

Field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of different tree leaf mulch and quantity of leaf mulch on growth and yield of pearl millet in custard apple based agri-hort system. In this experiment pearl millet imposed in factorial randomized block design having three different levels of leaf mulching 0, 2 and 4 t ha-1 and three type of leaf mulchAzadirachta indica, Eucalyptus species and Leucaena leucocephala. The treatments were replicated thrice. Result of the experiment revealed that growth attributes of pearl millet viz. plant height, number of leaf plant-1, number of tiller plant-1 observed no significant variation due to type of mulch. Plant height and dry matter accumulation plant-1 had significant variation under quantity of mulches. The growth attributes had higher values with 4 t ha-1 mulchas compared to 0 t/ha-1 mulch (no mulching).The highest grain yield (1657 kg ha-1) was obtained with Leucaena leucocephala leaf mulch and with the application of 4 t ha-1 mulch (1735 kg ha-1).