Abstract

P. Sujathamma, K. Kavitha and V. Suneetha

Sorghum cultivars are known to vary in their response to fertilizers. Therefore, a field study was conducted during kharif 2013 with eight sorghum cultivars (SPH 1703, SPH 1705, SPV 2110, SPV 2122, SPV 2061, CSH 16, CSV 20 and CSV 23) and three fertilizer levels (50% RDF, 75% RDF and 100% RDF). Effect of these treatments was observed on crop growth, yield attributes, yield, nutrient uptake and economics. Among the cultivars the highest grain yield (3.9 t ha-1 ), gross returns (Rs 98.8x103 ha-1 ), net returns (Rs 74.7x103 ha-1 ) and benefit cost ratio (3.1) as well as the highest N, P, K uptake by grain was recorded with SPH 1703, which was on par with SPV 2122. Among the fertilizer levels, application of 100% RDF (N-P2O5-K2O 80-40-40 kg ha-1 ) recorded the highest grain (3.75 t ha-1 ) and stover (14.3 t ha-1 ) yields, gross returns (Rs 96.7 x 103 ha1 ), net returns (Rs 71.5 x 103 ha-1 ) and benefit cost ratio (2.8) as well as the highest N, P, K uptake both by grain and stover.