Effect of planting geometry on growth and yield parameters of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) under Malabar Neem (Melia dubia Cav.) based agroforestry systems in semiarid regions of Bundelkhand Parasriya Rakesh1, Tiwari Prabhat1, Dobriyal M.J.1, Yadav Ram Prakash1,*, Kumar Naresh2, Gautam Saransh Kumar1, Behera Subhaprada1 1Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi-284003, Uttar Pradesh, India 2ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi-284003, Uttar Pradesh, India *Corresponding authors email id: rams34052@gmail.com
Abstract Melia dubia Cav is one of the most important tree species used as raw material in plywood, pulp and paper industry. The study was carried out in semi-arid region of Bundelkhand during kharif season of 2022-23 to evaluate the effect of different tree spacing on various growth and yield attributes of Mung bean. During the course of research, 3 different spacings viz., 5 m × 3 m, 5 m × 4 m and 5 m × 5 m and two different growing condition viz., sole cropping and inter cropping under Melia dubia were considered. The analysis of data shows that plants grown in open condition reported to have better growth and yield attributes than under agroforestry. Different growth and yield parameters were analysed and a significant effect of growing condition was reported on plant growth and yield parameters. The result shows that parameters like plant height (79.50 cm), number of trifoliate leaves per plant (17.58), number of branches (11.14), above ground dry matter accumulation (28.09 g), below ground dry matter (1.88 g), leaf area (55.14 cm2), number of root nodules per plant (5.66), earlier number of days taken to 50% flowering (40.80), earlier number of days taken to 50% podding (45.60) and earlier number of days taken to maturity (57.40) were higher in sole cropping as compared to agroforestry. Similarly, plant spacing had effect on growth and yield characteristics of Mung bean and better parameters were recorded in 5 m × 5 m as compared to closer spacing 5 m × 3 m. It can be one of the most promising multipurpose tree species for the prosperity of Bundelkhand region in semi-arid regions of India. Top Keywords Agroforestry, Growth parameters, Yield parameters, Dry matter accumulation, Mung bean, Melia dubia. Top |