Yield Attributes and Yields of Hybrid Maize (Zea mays L.) and Lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus L.) in Sequence as Influenced by Seed Priming under Rainfed Situation

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most versatile crop grown throughout the tropical as well as temperate regions of the world. On the other hand, the lathyrus or grass pea or chickling pea is also called ‘khesari’ and is a very hardy crop that thrives well under adverse climatic conditions. It can fix biological nitrogen in their roots through symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium leguminoseram. The field experiment was conducted on seed priming of hybrid maize and lathyrus at Central Research Farm, BCKV, Nadia under new alluvial zone of West Bengal, India in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications during kharif season of 2016 and 2017 and rabi season of 2016-17 and 2017-18. Experimental results reveal that seed priming methods significantly influenced the germination, growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of hybrid maize-lathyrus grown in sequence under rainfed situation. Seed priming with ZnSO4 @ 0.5% for 12 hours recorded the highest number of grains per cob (319.9) and highest plant height (262.10 cm) at harvest of hybrid maize. Grain yield and stover yield of hybrid maize showed positive and highly significant (P = 0.01) with each other (r = 0.945). The maximum number of pods per plant (50.28) was observed in seed priming with ZnSO4 @ 0.5% for 12 hours and was statistically at par with seed priming with KNO3 @ 0.5% for 12 hours (48.33) in case of lathyrus. Number of pods/ plants showed positive and highly significant (P = 0.01) correlation with grain yield (r = 0.986) of lathyrus. On the basis of pooled values of 2 years of experimentation, seed priming with ZnSO4 @ 0.5% for 12 hours could be recommended due to higher yield (7.94 t ha-1 of kharif hybrid maize and 1682 kg ha-1 of lathyrus) and higher net return (Rs.69,904/-ha-1 for maize, Rs.40,327/- ha-1 for lathyrus) as well as highest B:C ratio (2.74 of kharif hybrid maize and 2.94 of lathyrus) for maize-lathyrus in sequence under rainfed situation.