PRODUCTIVITY OF CLUSTERBEAN (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L. TAUBERT) AS INFLUENCED BY MOISTURE CONSERVATION PRACTICES AND SEED HARDENING IN SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS

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A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2022 and 2023 at Jobner (Rajasthan) to assessthe Effect of Moisture Conservation Practices and Seed Hardening on yield and yield attributes ofClusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) under rainfed conditions. The experiment was laid out infactorial randomized block design with 3 replications comprising six moisture conservation practices(control, Pusa hydrogel @ 2.5 kg/ha, Pusa hydrogel @ 5.0 kg/ha, stover mulch @ 5.0 t/ha, Pusa hydrogel@ 2.5 kg/ha + stover mulch @ 5.0 t/ha, Pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg/ha + stover mulch @ 5.0 t/ha) and fourseed hardening (control, KH2PO4 2%, KNO3100 ppm, CaCl2 2%). The results revealed that moistureconservation practices significantly influenced the yield attributes and productivity of clusterbean.Application of stover mulch @ 5.0 t/ha markedly improved clusters/plant, pods/plant, pod length,seeds/pod and test weight over the control and Pusa hydrogel alone and produced pooled seed, haulmand biological yields of 1565, 3882 and 5447 kg/ha, respectively, representing about 19% higher seedyield than the control. Although the combined application of Pusa hydrogel and stover mulch recordednumerically higher values, these were statistically comparable with stover mulch alone for several yieldparameters, indicating the practical effectiveness of residue mulching under rainfed conditions. Amongseed hardening treatments, CaCl₂ (2%) proved superior by significantly enhancing yield attributes andrecording the highest pooled seed yield (1616 kg/ha), haulm yield (4082 kg/ha) and biological yield(5698 kg/ha). Harvest index remained statistically unaffected by both moisture conservation practicesand seed hardening treatments. The improvement in crop productivity under stover mulch was associatedwith better crop growth, enhanced nodulation, greater dry matter accumulation and improved soilmoisture availability, while CaCl2 seed hardening promoted vigorous crop establishment and superiorreproductive development. Based on the pooled results of two years, application of stover mulch @ 5.0t/ha along with seed hardening using CaCl2 (2%) is recommended as an effective and economicallyviable strategy for enhancing the productivity of rainfed clusterbean in arid and semi-arid regions.

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