Land preparation for NARC G1 garlic is an essential part of cultivation of this crop. Sesbania can be used as green manure in this regard.
Green manure
The crops raised and left-over after uprooting or ploughed in the field to improve the soil health are called as ‘green manure’. These crops are fast-growing and their biomass enrich the soil nutrients, particularly, organic carbon and nitrogen. Such crops are grown as ‘Jayad’ crop between the ‘Rabi’ and ‘Kharif’ crops in annual cropping system and during spring season between the fall the summer crop.
Green manuring
Green manuring is the practice of growing green manure crops to enhance the soil fertility and soil health. This is a rather old practice being done since the ancient period. However, since the intensive use of chemical fertilizers after the green revolution, green manuring practice has been ignored and farmers paid for such practice in the form of decreased soil fertility.
Advantages
- Green manuring enrich the soil nutrients particularly, organic carbon and nitrogen.
- This practice protects the soil from erosion during the erosion-prone season of the year.
- It occupies the soil surface and thus, controls the weeds.
- Green manure efficiently utilizes the nutrients remains from the preceding crops and prevents leaching of soluble nutrients.
- Cover crop raised as green manure work as live much, while, the remains left from decomposition of green manure crops work as mulches.
Types of green manure crops
Leguminous crops
These crops belong to clover family (Fabaceae). Roots of these plants are associated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which fix atmospheric nitrogen into the plant-available form. These bacteria include Rhizobium and Sinorhizobium, which are symbiotically associated in the root-nodules.Leguminous crops are ploughed and mixed in the soil to release fixed nitrogen. Clover, beans, peas, vetch, etc., are common leguminous crops raised as green manure.
Non-leguminous crops
These crops do not provide fixed nitrogen to the soil, but their biomass enhances the organic carbon in the soil. Buckwheat, oat, rapeseed, annual rye grass, winter wheat, etc., are common crops raised as green manure.
SESBANIA (JANTAR) AS GREEN MANURE FOR G1 GARLIC
Sesbania is a legume commonly used as a green manure crop to add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. Sesbania will be incorporated into soil by disc plough or rotavator near flowering. Sesbania seed should be use at the rate of 30 kg per acre. Then after 45 days jantar should be incorporated through disc plough or rotavator and add 20 kg urea per acre and irrigate the land for decomposition of jantar.
1 meter tall Jantar crop roughly yield 10 tons of fresh biomass per acre producing about 50 kg of fixed nitrogen to the soil. This significantly reduces the dependency on nitrogenous fertilizer.
ADVANTAGES
- Jantar enrich the soil nutrients particularly, organic carbon and nitrogen which is very important for better production of NARC G1 garlic.
- As we apply most of the nutrients to garlic G1 in soluble form so jnatar as green manure prevent leaching of soluble nutrients from the soil.
- Jantar improves soil structure by breaking hard pan of soil and making the soil loosen which is very important for healthy bulb size of G1 garlic.
- Jantar keeps soil PH to normal level maximizing the availability of nutrients to G1 garlic.
- Jantar as green manure improves soil water and nutrients holding capacity.
- Jantar as green manure increase soil pourosity .