Vol. 9, Special Issue 7, Part J (2025)

A field trial was conducted during the kharif season of 2024 on barnyard millet at the Agronomy Farm, College of Agriculture, Nagpur, to study the effect of spacing and fertilizer levels on growth and yield. The experimental soil was vertisol, clayey in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction with a pH of 7.65, low in available nitrogen (255.80 kg ha⁻¹), medium in available phosphorus (22.13 kg ha⁻¹), and high in available potassium (369.20 kg ha⁻¹). The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design (FRBD) comprising three spacing levels and three fertilizer levels, replicated three times. The treatment combinations were randomized within each replication. The treatments consisted of three spacings viz., S₁-30 x 10 cm, S₂-45 x 5 cm and S₃-45 x 10 cm, and three nutrient levels viz., F₁-30:20:00, F₂-40:20:00 and F₃-50:20:00 kg N:P:K ha^-1. The result revealed that among the different sowings, number of length of panicle, panicle weight, grain and straw weight plant^-1, significantly higher with spacing S₃-45 x 10 cm. Grain yield, straw yield, biological yield, gross monetary returns, net monetary returns, and benefit-cost (B:C) ratio were significantly higher under the spacing treatment S₂ (45 × 5 cm). Among the nutrient levels, F₃ (50:20:00 kg N:P:K ha⁻¹) resulted in greater panicle length, panicle weight, grain and straw weight per plant, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield, and higher economic returns, including gross and net monetary returns as well as B:C ratio. However, the interaction between spacing and fertilizer levels was found to be non-significant for all the parameters studied.