Laser land levelling and double row planting improves productivity, water use efficiency and profitability of post monsoon sorghum in black soils
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53550/ijsc.v53.i1.192Keywords:
Bed planting, Black Soils, Irrigation management, Laser land levelling, Sorghum WUEAbstract
A field experiment was carried out in the winter season of 2017-18 at the engineering farm of navsari agricultural university in navsari, india, to assess how land leveling and configuration techniques affect sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) productivity, water usage, and economic returns in heavy-textured black soils (58% clay) with poor physical properties and limited rainfall during the crop period (37 mm). The study employed a factorial randomized block design with three replications, examining three land leveling methods: an unleveled control (0.05% slope), conventional land leveling, and laser-guided land leveling. It also evaluated three land configurations: ridge and furrow, double-row bed planting (90 cm), and triple-row bed planting (150 cm). Results indicated that laser-guided land leveling significantly enhanced growth attributes, yield components, and resource-use efficiency compared to the control. This method achieved the highest grain yield (4000 kg ha-1), fodder yield (16,998 kg ha-1), and water use efficiency (WUE) of 17.0 kg ha-1 mm-1. Among the land configurations, double-row bed planting yielded the highest grain (3367 kg ha-1), fodder (16,717 kg ha-1), and WUE (16.1 kg ha-1 mm-1), outperforming both ridge and furrow and triple-row systems. Laser leveling also led to reduced irrigation time and depth, improving irrigation efficiency. Economic analysis indicated the highest net return (` 70,492 ha-1) and benefit-cost ratio (3.4) with laser leveling, while double-row bed planting yielded the highest net return among configurations (` 69,163 ha-1). The findings suggest that integrating laserguided land leveling with double-row bed planting can significantly improve sorghum productivity, irrigation efficiency, and profitability in the heavy black soils of south gujarat.
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