Productivity and economic efficiency of lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) under different agronomic managements.

Keywords: Lentil, productivity, agronomic management

A field experiment was conducted to find out the most suitable and profitable agronomic management practices for lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) production during winter of 2001/002 at Mangalpur, Chitwan, Nepal. Among the various practices under study, the complete package (FYM, irrigation, NPK and micronutrients) produced the highest grain yield (1062 kg/ha) and straw yield (2024 kg/ha) with 131% and 85% increments in grain and straw yields over control, respectively. The FYM and NPK combination produced grain yield (1000 kg/ha) with 118% increment in yield over control. The single management practice irrigation produced higher grain yield (522.7 kg/ha) with 14% increment in yield over control. The economic analysis of yield data revealed that maximum net return (Rs. 15319/ha) and net return per rupee invested (1.63) were obtained from FYM and NPK combinations. The next higher value of the net return (Rs 12927/ha) was associated with complete package of practices. The net return (Rs. 7954/ha) and net return per rupee invested (1.52) were obtained from single management practice irrigation over FYM, NPK and micronutrients.