A field experiment was conducted at ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore under deficit rainfall condition (>50% from sowing to onset of monsoon) to realise better fibre yield from rain fed farming, mitigating the drought stress. In this experiment some drought management techniques (improved agronomic and soil moisture conservation practices) were imposed on jute cultivation in rain fed situation. Under rain fed condition, 16 to 37% jute fibre yield improvement was possible by adopting improved agronomic and soil water conservation techniques. Application of 30 kg elemental S/ha + N:P:K::60:30:30 yielded 37.75q/ha jute fibre which was recorded 10.29 q/ha higher than that of control treatment (N:P:K::40:20:20) (27.46 q/ha). One post sowing irrigation and N:P:K::60:30:30 improved jute fibre yield (33.5q/ha) by 22% over control. Under rainfed and deficit rainfall situation jute and pulse strip cropping gave an equivalent fibre yield of 38.84 q/ha. Deep ploughing (15-17cm) with mulch 2t/ha on seeded rows + (N:P:K::60:30:30) improved fibre yield (35.28q/ha) by 7.82 q/ha over control treatment. Higher cost benefit ratio was obtained from strip cropping (1.37 to 1.58), addition of mulch (1.16 to 1.35), sulphur (1.22-1.27) as well as residue recycling (1.13-1.41). These drought management techniques could be easily harnessed by jute farmers to increase jute fibre production under rainfed situation avoiding the drought stress.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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