Impact of in-situ moisture conservation practices and row spacing

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2011 at Soil Conservation and Water Management Farm of C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur. The treatment comprised 12 combinations of 2 varieties (Azad Uttam and Azad Kamal), 2 row spacings (45 and 60 cm) and 3 moisture conservation practices viz. one weeding and hoeing by khurpi after 20 days after sowing, ridging and furrowing with the help of spade at 20 days after sowing in between the crop rows and Atrazine (pre-emergence) @ 1.0 kg a.i./ha. Variety 'Azad Uttam' performed better than Azad 'Kamal'. It yielded 24.82 q/ha grain yield,, Rs 13156/ha net return, 552.6 mm total water use with 4.49 kg grain/ha/mm WUE against 21.35 q/ha grain yield, Rs 8682/ha net return, 530.5 mm total water use and 4.02 kg grain/ha/mm WUE of variety 'Azad Kamal'.The row spacing of 45 cm produced 23.79 q/ha grain yield, Rs 11522/ha net return, 547.7 mm total water use and 4.34 kg grain/ha/mm WUE against 22.37 q/ha grain yield, Rs 10316/ha net return, 535.3 mm total water use and 4.18 kg grain/ha/mm WUE under 60 cm row spacing.