Effect of Enriched Organic Compost and Foliar Nutrition on Growth and Yield of Ragi (Eleusine coracana L.)

An on-field experiment was conducted at Puliyanthoppu village in Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu during (Dec 2019 – April 2020) to examine how enriched organic compost and foliar nutrition influenced the growth performance and production of finger millet under irrigated condition. The experiment was comprised of three main plot plot treatments (enriched FYM compost, enriched poultry manure compost and enriched pressmud compost at 750 kg ha-1) and five sub plot treatments (Foliar spray of humic acid, panchagavya, vermiwash, seaweed extract with different concentration), adopting statistical design SPD and it was replicated thrice. From the results of the field experiment, among main pot, enriched poultry manure compost @ 750 kg ha-1 (M3) significantly exhibited greater values of growth and yield such as plant height (103.64cm), LAI (5.71), number of tillers (161.27 m-2) and dry matter production (9156 kg ha-1), grain yield (3504 kg ha-1) and straw yield (6597 kg ha-1).. Similar results were obtained under subplot treatments, namely foliar spray of seaweed extract @ 0.3% on 20, 40 and 60 DAT (S3) . whereas, the least values of growth and yield of ragi were registered under control (water spray). It was determined that there was a substantial interaction impact between the main and subplot treatments. This study illustrate that cultivation of ragi under irrigated condition with combined application of enriched poultry manure @ 750 kg ha-1 and foliar application of seaweed extract @ 0.3% on 20, 40 and 60 DAT was found to be an economically and agronomically sound practice that would increase productivity and profitability in krishnagiri district of Tamil nadu.