EFFECT OF SOURCES AND LEVELS OF SULPHUR ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF RICE FALLOW BLACKGRAM (VIGNA MUNGO)

Abstract

evaluate the effect of sources and levels of sulphur on growth and yield of rice fallow blackgram. Sulphur sources viz., single super phosphate, gypsum, elemental sulphur and ammonium sulphate were tried at different levels viz., 0, 20 and 40 kg S ha -1 in this study. The experiments consisted of twelve treatments and were laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. Among the sources, gypsum registered its superiority over other sources. With respect of levels, application of 40 kg S ha -1 recorded highest growth (plant height, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, dry matter production and number of branches plant -1), yield components (number of pods plant -1 and number of seeds pod -1) and yield (grain and haulm) of blackgram. This study showed that supplementation of sulphur as gypsum significantly increased the growth and yield of blackgram.

Full text

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EFFECT OF SOURCES AND LEVELS OF SULPHUR ON GROWTH AND
YIELD OF RICE FALLOW BLACKGRAM (VIGNA MUNGO)
*S. JAWAHAR1, V. VAIYAPURI1, K.SUSEENDRAN1, C. KALAIYARASAN1
AND M.V. SRIRAMACHANDRASEKHARAN2
1DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY,
2DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY,
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY,
ANNAMALAI NAGAR, 608 002, INDIA.
*Email: jawa_au@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT:
Field experiment was conducted at Annamalai University Experimental Farm, Annamalai Nagar to
evaluate the effect of sources and levels of sulphur on growth and yield of rice fallow blackgram. Sulphur
sources viz., single super phosphate, gypsum, elemental sulphur and ammonium sulphate were tried at
different levels viz., 0, 20 and 40 kg S ha-1 in this study. The experiments consisted of twelve treatments
and were laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. Among the sources,
gypsum registered its superiority over other sources. With respect of levels, application of 40 kg S ha-1
recorded highest growth (plant height, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, dry matter production and
number of branches plant-1), yield components (number of pods plant-1 and number of seeds pod-1) and
yield (grain and haulm) of blackgram. This study showed that supplementation of sulphur as gypsum
significantly increased the growth and yield of blackgram.
KEY WORD: Sulphur, Blackgram, Growth, Yield.
INTRODUCTION:
Pulses are the main source of protein in the Indian diet where majority of the population comes under
vegetarian category. The steady increase in the population taken together with the stagnant production
of pulses over the decades resulted in insufficiency in calories and imbalance in nutritional supply. The
per capita availability of pulses decreased from 60.7 g in 1951 to 35.9 g in 2000 as against the ICMR
recommended pulses intake of 50 g/capita/day (Chaturvedi and Masood Ali, 2002). In recent years,
there has been understandable concern about decline in the per capita availability of pulses. An

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important reason is the replacement of pulse crops with high yielding variety of cereals during the main
seasons of kharif and rabi. A possible break through in the production of pulses in India could be
achieved in two ways (1) increasing the area under pulses and (2) increasing the productivity of pulses.
In India, blackgram is the most important pulse in terms of both total area and production. Currently,
blackgram area in the country stands at 3.47 m.ha.with a production of 1.43 mt. In Tamil Nadu, A
federal state in India, blackgram is a popular pulse crop occupying an area of 4.56 lakh hectares with a
production of 2.36 lakh tonnes (Kannaiyan, 2001). There will be an increasing demand for blackgram
in future. In order to achieve this increasing demand, efficient utilization of all the farming inputs as
well as adoption of sound agronomic practices are essential for enhancing the productivity of
blackgram.
Sulphur (S) is an essential plant nutrient plays a key role in sustaining higher production of pulse crop,
is required in the formation of protein, vitamins and enzymes and its a constituent of amino acids, viz.,
cystine, cystein and methionine. Besides, it involves in various metabolic and enzymatic process
including photosynthesis, respiration and legume-rhizobium symbiotic nitrogen fixation (Srinivasa Rao
et al. 2001).
Sulphur is one of the essential plant nutrients and its contribution in increasing the crop yields is well
documented. Application of sulphur as gypsum increased plant height, dry matter production, leaf area
index and straw yield of green gram (Singh et al., 1994). Sulphur application through gypsum
significantly increased the growth and yield of greengram (Balasubramanian and Ramamoorthy, 1999).
Pandey and Singh (2001) reported that highest grain and straw yield of greengram was obtained by
application of sulphur. The growth and yield potential of blackgram can be improved by optimum dose
of sulphur through gypsum. Generally, a soil with less than 22 kg ha-1 of available sulphur is said to be
deficient in sulphur. ‘S’ deficiency have been reported over 70 countries worldwide, of which India is
one. Tamil Nadu is one of the agriculturally important states with very little documents on sulphur
status. It has been found that 80% of the sample obtained from 15 benchmark clay soil in Cuddalore
district were reported to be ‘S’ deficient (Balasubramanian et al., 1990). Sulphur assumes greater
significance in increasing growth and yield of pulses, as far as blackgram is concerned no work have
been done earlier with regard sources and level of sulphur on growth and yield of rice fallow
blackgram. Keeping this, the present experiment was planned to study the effect of sources and levels
of sulphur on growth and yield of blackgram.

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MATERIALS AND METHODS:
The experiment was performed on a wetland field (rice fallow condition) of Annamalai University
Experimental Farm, (1121' N and 7944' E with an altitude of + 5.7 m a. m.s.l.), Annamalai Nagar
during January – April 2003 seasons. The experimental soil was clay loam with an organic matter
content of 0.51% and pH of 7.6. Available N,P,K and S contents were 235.21, 18.74,322.01 and 16.47 kg
ha-1 respectively. Sulphur sources viz., single super phosphate (S1), gypsum (S2), elemental sulphur (S3)
and ammonium sulphate (S4) were tried at different levels viz., 0 (L0), 20 (L1) and 40 (L2) kg S ha-1in this
study. The experiments consisted of twelve treatments and were laid out in factorial randomized block
design with three replications.
The plant height was measured from ground level to the tip of terminal leaf at harvest and recorded in
cm. Leaf area index (LAI) was recorded at 45 DAS. The LAI was calculated as square cm of leaf area per
unit land area divided by square cm of unit land area (Pattuswamy et al., 1976). The total chlorophyll
content of leaves was determined by using 80% acetone extraction suggested by Arnon (1949). The
dry matter production (DMP) was recorded at harvest, five plants from each plot were selected at
random from outside the net plot area and then oven dried at 65  5C until a constant weight reached
and expressed in kg ha-1. The numbers of branches were counted and the mean number of branches
plant-1 was recorded at 45 DAS. Number of pods in each sample plant was counted and the mean
number of pods plant-1 was recorded. Number of seeds pod-1 was recorded from ten pods selected at
random in each plot. The average number of seeds pod-1 was recorded. Harvesting of blackgram was
done from net plot area leaving two border rows all around. Well-matured blackgram plants were
pulled out and sun dried for two days. Threshing was done by beating with sticks. Grain yield was
recorded plot wise at 14% moisture level and expressed in kg ha-1. The dry weight of haulm yield from
each plot was recorded and expressed in kg ha-1.
The experimental data were analysed as per the procedure outlined by
Panes and Sukhatme (1978). The critical difference was worked out as five percent probability level for
significant results.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Growth components
Sources and levels of sulphur significantly influenced the growth components of blackgram viz., plant
height, LAI, chlorophyll content, DMP and number of branches plant-1 (Table 1). The highest plant
height, LAI, chlorophyll content, DMP and number of branches plant-1 was noticed under gypsum. It

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was followed by SSP, which was on par with ammonium sulphate. Increased growth components
observed under gypsum might be attributed to readily available sulphate form of S, enhanced uptake of
nutrients even at the initial stage of crop growth. Similar findings were earlier reported by Kandpal and
Chardel (1993) and Sing et al. (1994) .The least plant height, LAI, chlorophyll content, DMP, and
number of branches plant-1 was recorded under elemental sulphur. The poor response of elemental
sulphur might be due to low oxidation rate of sulphide to sulphite and to sulphate form of sulphur.
Sulphur levels were found to influence the growth components viz., plant height, LAI, chlorophyll
content, DMP, and number of branches plant-1. The growth components were enhanced by the higher
levels of sulphur at 40 kg ha-1. This might be due to the high dose of sulphur and increased availability
of S along with other major nutrients. The least values recorded under 0 kg S ha-1. The results are in
agreement with the finding of Sharma and Room sing (1997).
Yield Components
Yield components, grain and haulm yield of blackgram were significantly influenced by sources and
levels of sulphur (Table 2). Among the different sources tried, gypsum recorded maximum number of
pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1 and 100 seed weight followed by SSP, which was on par with
ammonium sulphate. These findings are in line with those of Hari Ram and Dwivedi (1992), who
opined that the positive response of the crop to gypsum could be due to higher solubility and increased
photosynthetic activity of crop. Regarding to levels, application of S at 40 kg ha-1 recorded higher yield
components. This might be due to the increasing levels of sulphur application and its enhanced
availability to the crop. The least values recorded under the no sulphur treatments could be due to
poor availability of S and other nutrients to meet the crop demand particularly during post flowering
stage. Similar findings were earlier reported by Gawande et al. (1994), Bhagwan Singh and
Vinodkumar (1996) and Ramamoorthy et al. (1996).
Yield
Sulphur sources and levels significantly influenced the grain and haulm yield of blackgram (Table 2).
The highest values of grain and haulm yield were recorded under gypsum. The better performance of
this treatment might be due to higher solubility, nutrient availability and uptake and the result of
cumulative effect of increased yield attributes. The low oxidation rate of sulphide to sulphite and to
sulphate form of sulphur and non-availability of other nutrients might be caused for the low values
registered under elemental sulphur. The results are in agreement with those of Singh and Ram (1990),
Shivran et al. (1996). With respect to levels, application of 40 kg S ha-1 recorded the highest grain and
haulm yield of blackgram. The results are in agreement with the findings of Shivakumar (2001), who

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reported application of with or without P increased significantly the seed yield of chickpea up to 40 kg S
ha-1. It might be due to increased levels of S, its availability along with major nutrients and higher
uptake of crop and influencing growth and yield components of the crop, which ultimately led to
effective assimilate partitioning of photosynthates from source to sink in post flowering stage and
resulted in highest grain and haulm yield.
The present results show that sources and levels of sulphur significantly influenced on growth and yield
of blackgram and vividly indicated that when the crop is supplemented with 40 kg S ha-1 through
cheaper source of gypsum, the crop resulted in sustained yield increase. Hence, we concluded
application of gypsum at 40 kg S ha-1 could be an economically viable practice that could augment the
production of higher yield and return from rice fallow blackgram.
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the forms of sulphur in benchmark soil of Chidambaram Taluk, Tamil Nadu. In the Proceeding
of the 1990 UAS-FACT seminar on sulphur, Bangalore.
Balasubramanian, A. and K. Ramamoorthy. 1999. Effect of different levels and sources of S on growth
and yield of greengram. Madras Agric. J., 83: 524-525.
Bhagwan Singh and Vinod Kumar. 1996. Effect of phosphorus and sulphur on lentil (lens culinaris)
under rainfed condition. Indian J. Agron., 41: 420-423.
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Pandey, S.P. and R.S. Singh. 2001. Response of phosphorus and sulphur on yield and quality of summer
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Table 1: Effect of sources and levels of sulphur on plant height, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, dry
matter production and number of branches plant-1 of black gram
Treatments
Plant
height
(cm)
Leaf area
index
Chlorophyll
content
Dry matter
production
(kg ha-1)
Number of
branches
plant-1
Sources (S)
sS1
38.16
2.08
1.79
2653.50
7.19
S2
39.71
2.17
1.95
2814.26
7.75
S3
36.00
1.94
1.57
2464.92
6.56
S4
37.53
2.03
1.72
2605.70
7.14
SED
0.72
0.03
0.06
67.61
0.24
CD
(p=0.05)
1.50
0.07
0.13
140.23
0.49
Levels (L)
L0
32.72
1.75
0.85
2065.04
5.19
L1
38.34
2.08
2.02
2742.81
7.39
L2
42.49
2.33
2.42
3095.94
8.91
SED
0.47
0.03
0.05
66.87
0.20
CD
(p=0.05)
0.98
0.06
0.11
138.69
0.42
Table 2: Effect of sources and levels of sulphur on number of pods plant-1, number seeds pod-1, grain yield
and haulm yield of rice fallow black gram
Treatments
Number of pods
plant-1
Number of seeds
pod-1
Grain yield
(kg ha-1)
Haulm yield
(kg ha-1)
Sources (S)
S1
16.59
5.59
886.16
2001.55
S2
17.67
5.83
955.86
2139.23
S3
15.39
5.22
779.15
1817.95
S4
16.27
5.50
859.98
1947.66
SED
0.51
0.09
24.19
56.65
CD (p=0.05)
1.06
0.19
50.17
117.49
Levels (L)
L0
12.40
5.11
705.69
1649.10
L1
17.36
5.55
882.38
2018.17
L2
19.68
5.95
1037.81
2261.95
SED
0.46
0.06
23.27
55.89
CD (p=0.05)
0.96
0.13
48.26
115.86