Physicochemical Properties of Soil and Plant Geometry in Oil Yield, Quality and Economics of Lemongrass in Rainfed Bundelkhand Region, India

Keeping in mind the significance of sustainable production practices and greater resource use efficiency, a study was led to access five levels of Plant Geometry (PG)/spacing of lemongrass variety CKP–25 (Cymbopogon khasianus × pendulous) tested with three levels of Soil Types (ST) on the performance of essential oil (EO) yield, secondary metabolites (SM) and economic returns (ER) in rainfed Bundelkhand region. The results of the analysis of variance data were recorded for two consecutive years (2020–21 and 2021–22). On an average EO content was found to be highest (0.77%) in Mar Soil (MS). The interaction MS along with PG1 [62,500 plants/ha (40×40 cm)] observed the highest EO content (0.79%). The highest EO yield (228.23, 319.92 kg/ha) was obtained in MS along with PG3 [76,923 plants/ha (45×30 cm)] in 1st and 2nd years, respectively. The lemongrass variety, showed excellent performance in terms of achieving higher net income and benefit˗cost (B:C) ratio, in respect of MS with PG3. The significantly highest Net Return (NR) (Rs. 1,70,995 and 3,02,984 /ha) and B:C ratio (2.66 and 4.74) were recorded in MS along with PG3 in the 1st and 2nd year, respectively. However, in terms of secondary metabolites, Neral (cis˗citral) or citral B (40.13 ± 3.92%, 37.36 ± 4.63) and trans citral or citral A (47.97 ± 5.51%, 45.83 ± 5.54%) was noted to be highest in MS in both the year. On average, the total citral was found to be highest in MS (84.95 ± 5.36%, 83.19 ± 4.85%) in 1st and 2nd years, respectively.