Seasonal variation and low-cost agronomic practices effect growth and yield of moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) in the extreme arid Thar desert

An experiment was laid out at Jaisalmer for three consecutive rainy seasons (2007 to 2009) to evaluate the effect of season and the efficacy of low-cost agronomic practices on the performance of moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia L.) in the extreme arid Indian Thar. Skip row planting (skipping every third row) significantly improved pods and seed weight per plant, and consequently seed yield, over normal planting. Total readily available water and moisture availability at critical growth stages of the crop significantly influenced plant attributes and thus biological and seed yield. Relative leaf water content (RWC) at sunrise in the pre- and post-flowering stages remained above the moisture stress level. However, at midday, plants experienced moderate stress in RWC during pre-flowering and severe stress during the post-flowering stages. Foliar application of 1% urea was found to be effective only when midday RWC is more than the critical threshold value of 84%. Therefore, foliar application of 1% urea at the pre-flowering stage significantly increased almost all plant attributes and yields, whereas second foliar application at post-flowering stage when midday RWC was <84% has no impact on plant attributes and yield.