Moisture conservation practices in enhancing the productivity of rainfed groundnut

A study was conducted in sandy-loam soils of the Southern Telangana Zone during the rainfed season in 2018. The main objective of the study was to find out the best soil moisture conservation practices during kharif under dry spells. The experiment was conducted in a Randomised Block Design with ten treatments and three replications. The treatments include T1 (control or farmers practice), T2 (Use of hydrogel 2.5 kg ha-1), T3 (Mulching with agro-waste @ 5 t ha-1), T4 (Intercultural @ 20 and 40 days after sowing), T5 (Seed treatment with endophytic bacteria) T6 (One life-saving irrigation through sprinklers from harvested rainwater) and combination of different treatments like T7 (T2 + T3), T8 (T2 + T5), T9 (T3 + T5), T10 (T2 + T3+ T5). During the crop growth period, the crop has experienced 4 dry spells. Due to the long dry spells farmer's practice has recorded the lowest yields and negative net returns i.e. loss (Rs. -2,514/- ha-1) and the application of hydrogel @ 2.5 kg ha-1 alone doesn't have any significant advantage over other treatments. T10 (T2 + T3+ T5) recorded higher pod yield (1642 kg ha-1), gross returns (Rs.66, 665/- ha-1), net returns (Rs.27, 218/- ha-1) and B: C ratio (1.69) which is on par with T9 (T3 + T5) (1582 kg ha-1, Rs. 64229/- ha-1, Rs. 26157/- ha-1 and 1.69 respectively). Among individual treatments (T1 to T6), seed treatment with endophytic bacteria recorded higher pod yield (1317 kg ha-1), gross returns (Rs.53, 470/- ha-1), net returns (Rs.18, 398/- ha-1) and B: C ratio (1.52). In conclusion, combination treatments having endophytic bacteria performed better over individual treatments.