4^th International Conference on Agriculture & Horticulture July 13-15, 2015 Beijing, China

Biography:

Nasir S A Malik completed his PhD on Plant Physiology in the year 1973 at Glasgow University, UK. Currently, he is the Research Plant Physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, USA.

Abstract:

It is well known that mycorrhizal symbiosis can improve plant growth and productivity under limited supply of phosphorus, water, or other nutrients. We have started studies to investigate if the mycorrhizal symbiosis would also affect food quality by changing the levels of polyphenols/flavonoid in different plant species. In addition, we are examining changes in polyphenol levels of a cultivar when inoculated with different species a plant. Using UHPLC/UV-MS, our initial studies, with leeks have identified 8 species of kaempferol glycosides in the leek shoots. In addition to different numbers of hexose residues attached to kaempferol, we also identified hexuronic acid, malonyl, feruloyl, coumaroylmoiets attached to agylcone. Of these flavonoids, five occurred in significantly higher amounts in mycorrhizal plants compared to control. The levels of twoflavonoid species were found lower, and one unchanged, in mycorrhizal plants compared to controls. It was interesting to note that some of these flavonoid glycosides increased substantially even in the presence of full nutrient supply under which condition there was no overall increase in plant growth of the mycorrhizal plants compared to controls. Thus indicating the direct involvement of mycorrhizae in plant secondary metabolism Changes in polyphenol levels in mycorrhizal lettuce, corn, peppers, and tomato are being investigated and will be presented at the meeting.

Biography:

Abdul Khalil Gardezi is a distinguished Scientist and Academic Member of the Hydro Science Center, Postgraduate College in Agriculture Science in Mexico since 1981. He has received distinctions for teaching, research and service from 1988 until 2014. He has been selected for the originality of his research, presented as the best paper and oral presentation during 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 in international congresses in Australia, Canada, England, Mexico and USA. He has published more than 170 papers national and internationally. He has been honored among 2000 outstanding intellectuals of the 21st century by the International Biographical Center Cambridge, England.

Abstract:

Most cactus pear farmers use manure as fertilizer. This practice provokes problems. The use of endomycorrhiza is almost unknown by such farmers. The objective of this work was to study the effect of organic matter and endomycorrhiza on cactus pear (Opuntia albicarpa) growth in two soil types under greenhouse conditions. There were differences (p≤0.05) in all the variables recorded due to the inoculation with Glomus intraradices and in most for the application of organic matter. Mycorrhiza and organic matter as vermicompost promoted higher stem and root growth. Overall, based on cactus pear vegetative growth, the application of 50 t ha-1 of vermicompost can be considered as the best alternative. The soil type did not affect plant growth. Mycorrhiza can be useful to improve mineral nutrition. These fungi can increase yields and reduce cost of production in cactus pear plantations. Vermicompost is a better alternative to apply organic matter in this crop.

Biography:

Abstract:

Although soil health, which is recognized as one of the key determinants of sustainable agricultural development, can be measured by a range of physical, chemical and biological parameters, the widely used parameters include pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), plant available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Soil health is largely affected by the occurrence of natural events or human activities and can be improved by various land management practices. A database of 120 soil samples collected from farmers’ fields spread across three major agro-climatic zones of Punjab suggested that the average pH, EC, OC, P and K was 8.2 (SD = 0.75, Min = 5.5, Max = 9.1), 0.27 dS/m (SD = 0.17, Min = 0.072 dS/m, Max = 1.22 dS/m), 0.49% (SD = 0.20, Min = 0.06%, Max = 1.2%), 19 mg/kg soil (SD = 22.07, Min = 3 mg/kg soil, Max = 207 mg/kg soil) and 171 mg/kg soil (SD = 47.57, Min = 54 mg/kg soil, Max = 288 mg/kg soil), respectively. Region-wise, pH, EC and K were the highest in south-western district of Ferozpur whereas farmers in north-eastern district of Gurdaspur had the best soils in terms of OC and P. The soils in the central district of Barnala had lower OC, P and K than the respective overall averages while its soils were normal but skewed towards alkalinity. Besides agro-climatic conditions, the size of landholding and farmer education showed a significant association with Soil Fertility Index (SFI), a composite index calculated using the aforementioned parameters’ normalized weightage. All the four stakeholder groups cited the current cropping patterns, burning of rice crop residue, and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers for change in soil health. However, the current state of soil health in Punjab is unclear, which needs further investigation based on temporal data collected from the same field to see the short and long-term impacts of various crop combinations and varied cropping intensity levels on soil health.

Biography:

Ruizong Jia had done his PhD from China Agricultural University (2003-2009), Post Doctorate from University of Hawaii (2009-2010), Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (2010-2013). Currently he is Associate Researcher and Associate Professor in Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences (2013- present).

Abstract:

Mass spectrometry (MS) has been widely used for specific, sensitive, and rapid analysis of proteins and has shown a high potential for bacterial identification and characterization. In the present study, four well-characterized rhizobia strains and E. coli DH5α, as a reference, were chosen to optimize applications of MALDI TOF MS for rhizobia species identification. The four rhizobia strains were Sinorhizobium/Ensifer meliloti USDA 1002T, Rhizobium leguminosarum USDA 2370T, Mesorhziobium tianshanense USDA 3306T, and Bradyrhizobium yuanmingense CCBAU 10071T. Bacterial cultivation, colony storage conditions and sampling time were studied to evaluate the effects on protein mass spectra. In comparison with 16S rDNA phylogenetic tree, the optimized method was further evaluated with 75 rhizobial strains of 40 characterized species in 4 genera (6 Mesorhziobium spp., 22 strains; 9 Rhizobium spp., 49 strains; 3 Sinorhizobium/Ensifer spp., 3 strains; and 1 Azorhizobium sp., 1 strain). The potential of developing a mass spectrum database for rhizobial species determination was demonstrated with blind samples. A dendrogram of 75 rhizobial strains of 4 genera was constructed based on MALDI-TOF mass spectra and the topological patterns agreed well with those in the 16S rDNA phylogenetic tree. The potential of developing a mass spectrum database for all rhizobia species was assessed with blind samples. The entire process from sample preparation to accurate species identification and classification required approximately 1 hour.

Biography:

C Sudha Rani has completed her PhD at the age of 31 years from Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, India. She is working as Professor (Agronomy) and Head of Agricultural Research Station, Tandur, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana State. She has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Field experiments were conducted during Kharif (2011-12 and 2012-13) on transplanted red gram (Cajanus cajan) with four spacings and five varieties in Vertisols (Black-cotton soils) at Agricultural Research Station, Tandur, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana state, India. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with spacings (4 No.) in the main plot (S1: 90×60 cm, S2: 120×90 cm, S3: 150×120 cm and S4: 180×120 cm) and with varieties (5 No.) in the sub-plot (V1: Asha, V2: PRG-158, V3: Maruthi, V4: Laxmi and V5: MRG-1004). Results of the pooled analysis (two years) of the trial revealed that growing of red gram at 90×60 cm (S1) recorded the highest seed yield (3532 Kg/ha) but it is on par with transplanting at 120×90 cm i.e. S2 (3193 Kg/ha). The S2 treatment has registered the highest benefit cost ratio because of it low cost of cultivation as the population of S2 is nearly half of the population of S1. On par yields of S2 with S1 was because of its increased growth and yield attributes parameters at wider spacing like primary, secondary branches, Stem girth, total dry matter production, harvest index, pods per plant and test weight which were expressed to its highest potential favoring for the best yield expression under transplanted conditions. The lower seed yields in S3 and S4 was because of its very low plant population even though the yield attributing factors are higher. Of the five test varieties Asha (ICPL 87119) recorded significantly highest seed yield of 3401 Kg/ha followed by PRG 158 (3033 Kg/ha) because of its harvest index (27.2), pod per plant and test weight. Asha variety reported the highest benefit cost ratio of 4.1 owing to highest net returns. Transplanting of Red gram at 120×90 cm in vertisols during Kharif helps the farmers in harvesting the highest seed yields.

Biography:

Kandi Prakash Vani is currently working as a research scientist at Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, India.

Abstract:

As field trial was conducted at student farm; College of Agriculture at Hyderabad during summer 2013 to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on summer sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). The trial comprised of 9 treatments, i.e. 100% RDF alone, 75% and 50% RDF integrated with Farm Yard Manure, Vermicompost and Poultry Manure and Foliar sprays of Humic acid and Fulvic along with 100% RDF. Results of the present study indicated that sesamum responded well to applied fertilizers and organic manures. 100% RDF have shown higher growth parameters like plant height, DMP, Number of branches/plant and maximum yield parameters (Number of capsules/plant, Number of seeds/capsules, test weight) yield (seed and stalk yield) and oil content. Among organic manures vermicompost integrated with 75% RDF had resulted in higher growth, yield parameters, yield and oil content compared to other treatments.

Biography:

Franc Bavec is currently working as a faculty member at University of Maribor, Slovenia.

Abstract:

It is confirmed that notable variations in opiate alkaloid concentrations may arise due to variations in the climate, soil composition, seed genes, the year of harvest, and the variety of poppy cultivated. In some countries, like in Slovenia, traditional foods exist like Prekmurska gibanica cake, which contains approximately 25% poppy seed; and makova potica, which can contain more than 50% of poppy seed. Because of opiates, four Slovenian rare populations and 5 varieties were analysed (content of morphine in µg per g of poppy seed) and used for consumption 10 g v.s. 20 g of seeds per person by the 33 students (3 repetitions plus control without poppy seed consumption). Morphine (µg per l) was calculated like as a ratio between content of morphine and U-creatinin (mmol/l). The results show great variation from 4.9 to 28.3 µg of morphine per g seeds in varieties produced in Slovenian and Czech temperate climate, to 44.4 and 46.0 µg of morphine per g seed in Turkish varieties, and from 133.7 µg in an unknown sample to 466.6 µg of morphine per g seed produced in Hungary. These values highly correlate with the content of morphine and codeine in the urine. On this basis, we discuss the limitations of poppy seed consumption regarding sportists, drivers and different ages (or body mass) of persons and which kind of restrictions for opiates in the poppy seeds are actual according to the international laws.

Biography:

Raveendra H Patil has completed his PhD from Copenhagen University, Denmark and has worked as Post doctoral Researcher at Yangzhou University, China, University of Nottingham, UK, Aarhus University, Denmark and University of Florida, USA. Now, he is based in India at UAS, Dharwad involved in teaching and supervision of Graduate students undertaking research on climate change impact and adaptation studies in agriculture, precision agriculture and sustainable production systems among others. He is a recipient of Young Scientist award from the Indian Government and ISCA, Kolkata, India for his work on agroforestry and over the years he has received number of national and international fellowships. He has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member and Reviewer of number of reputed journals.

Abstract:

Indian national food security is not only challenged by the ever growing population, it’s fast changing food diets and consumption patterns but also by the expected adverse impacts of climate change. Global food production needs to be doubled by 2050 from the current levels to feed some nine billion people and most of it needs to be met by cereals. This suggests that the productivity of cereals needs not only be enhanced from the current level but maintained under future adverse climates. In India, Sorghum is one of the important coarse cereal crops grown mostly in semi-arid climates where high temperatures and moisture stress during crop growing period severely affect yield levels. This would be further adversely affected by projected rise in temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. Therefore, our currently ruling and newly released Sorghum cultivars need to be tested for their performance under future climates to know if they are good enough under future climates. This would help us identify traits which need to be targeted in crop improvement programs to design required ideotype for a given location for mid of this century. In this study, DSSAT model was used to assess both the potential yield and impacts of climate change on currently popular and newly released Sorghum cultivars. This study also identifies and suggests ideal traits required to be targeted by the Sorghum breeders to enhance and maintain higher yields under future climates.

Biography:

Mohamed Saber Ismaeil is currently working as Research Scientist at National Research Center, Egypt.

Abstract:

Surface soil samples irrigated with low quality water, i.e., agricultural drainage water or treated sewage effluent for prolonged time between > 35 to > 85 years `as well a control alluvial soil irrigated with Nile were collected. The microbiological characteristics of these soils were compared with the microbiological characters of a soil irrigated with Nile water collected from Tanash village. Results showed the microbial biomass represented by bacteria, fungi and Azotobacterwas in general more or less the same in the different investigated soils. On the other hand, the new indicators of pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas) exhibited positive existence even in the soil irrigated with Nile. Data showed that the most important parameter indicating the bioactivity of a certain soil ecosystem, i.e., dehydrogenase activity was highest in soils irrigated with sewage effluents from either Abu-Rawash or Zeneen sewer plants being even higher than in the soil irrigated with Nile.

Biography:

Maclin Dayod is currently the Head of Crop Breeding and Miscellaneous Crops Section in the Research Division of the Department of Agriculture Sarawak, Malaysia. Since 2012, his research work focuses on breeding for good eating quality in Oryza sativa L and varietal improvement in Solanum lasiocarpum Dunal. He is also responsible for the conservation and propagation of various crops which include pepper and other spices, herbs and medicinal plants. He had also researched on the impact of calcium on plant water channels (aquaporins) and uptake for his PhD and the physiological changes in barley due to water logging for his Master's degree.

Abstract:

Rice is an important staple for more than half of the world's population. Hence, increasing yield and nutritional quality of the crop to complement current strategies to reduce malnutrition are crucial. This study had evaluated the potential of calcium silicate and organic fertilizer as yield enhancers and bio-fortification fertilizers in rice. Results obtained show no difference in yield and other vegetative and reproductive parameters among all the treatments. There was also no difference in term of nutritional contents in the rice grain except for calcium and silicon. Soil-applied 1.36 t/ha of calcium silicate increases dietary silicon content in the grain to about 30% higher than the 1.76 t/ha of calcium silicate and 2.16 t/ha of organic fertilizer treatments but was comparable to the control. However, calcium silicate treated plants had about 30% lower calcium content in their grains than the control. The results from this study are in contradictory with the previous reports on the beneficial effects of calcium silicate application in rice and various other crops. Since calcium silicate is quite expensive, other sources of calcium and silicon, rate and time of applications may be explored.

Biography:

Fhatuwani Mudau N is currently working as Professor at University of South Africa, South Africa.

Abstract:

Baby spinach (Spinaciaoleracea L.) is a member of the Amaranthaceae family. Baby spinach leaves have a very high respiration rate and the only main problems for keeping its post-harvest quality is tissue decay and off-odours development. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of post-harvest storage temperature and time on the quality of baby spinach since baby spinach has low shelf life. Baby spinach seeds were sown in a media composed of sand and plug mix (peat) with a composition of 50:50 under glasshouse. After 36 days all plants were harvested and the leaves were subsequently stored at 4ËšC and 22ËšC for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 days, respectively and thereafter taken into incubator for 72 hours at 40ËšC in order to dry up. Parameters recorded were mineral and trace element, total phenols, total carotenoids, flavonoids and antioxidant activities. The results of this study demonstrated that the quality of baby spinach deteriorates as the storage time and temperature increases. Storage time and temperature did not exhibit significant effects on selenium. The level carotenoid contents did not decrease at 4ËšC after 6 days of storage, whilst at 22ËšC the level of carotenoid contents declined after 2 days. Total polyphenols decreasedat 4ËšC whereas at 22ËšC decreased rapidly after 4 days of storage. Total antioxidant activities decreased after 2 days of storage at 22ËšC, whereas at 4ËšC total antioxidant activities decrease after 6 days. Vitamin C content remained at constant level at 4ËšC and subsequently decreased after 6 days. Trace elements and bioactive compounds deteriorated at 22 ËšC hence at 4 ËšC stored for 6 days significantly lead to a high nutritional value in terms of bioactive compounds of baby spinach.

Biography:

Phoebe Sikuku has completed her PhD at the age of 35 from Maseno University Kenya. She is a lecturer at Maseno University and the chairperson of different committees in Botany department, Maseno University. She is a researcher focused on conducting research that impacts positively on the lives of small holder rural women farmers. She has published more than 10 papers in reputed international peer reviewed Journals and has reviewed a number of manuscripts for reputed Journals.

Abstract:

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a principal staple food crop in Kenya. However, its production is still low due to inherently low and declining soil fertility. This has resulted into food and nutritional insecurity and low living standards. The situation has been compounded by the ever escalating fertilizer prices which has made it unaffordable to most small holder farmers. Although some studies have been done on fertilizer application on some rice varieties, the Mwea upland rice (MWUR) varieties were bred under low fertilizer input environment while other authors have indicated that the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) varieties give high yields under low input conditions. The objective of the research was to establish photosynthetic and yield performance of eight promising improved rice varieties under four nitrogen (N) levels and identify the variety that gives high yields at relatively low N fertilizer rates. Field experiments were carried out at Alupe in Western Kenya under rainfed upland condition. The experiment layout was split plot factorial in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. The main plot treatments were four rates of nitrogen fertilizer which were; 0 (control), 40 kg ha-1, 80 kg ha-1 and 120 kg ha-1 applied as urea in two equal splits, sub-plots consisted of four MWUR and four NERICA varieties. The parameters measured included chlorophyll content (SPAD Units), photosynthesis, panicle length, yield at 14% moisture content, filled grain ratio percentage and yield components. The measured parameters increased significantly with increase in the level of nitrogen fertilizer. Varietal difference was significant and MWUR varieties recorded higher chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rates and panicle length and yield component at low nitrogen levels (0 N and 40 N) as compared to the NERICAs with MWUR 1 and 2 recording higher values. The NERICAs out-yielded the MWUR varieties at higher nitrogen levels. NERICA 4 recorded highest yield among the NERICA varieties regardless of the N level. Results from our study suggested that MWUR 1 and 2 and NERICA 4 were more tolerant to low nitrogen soil as compared to MWUR 3 and 4 and NERICA 1, 10 and 11 because of higher chlorophyll content, higher photosynthetic rate, higher panicle length, higher filled grain ratio percentage and higher yield component and may be suitable for soils deficient in nitrogen.

Biography:

Balram Marathi has completed his PhD from premier Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India and Postdoctoral studies from International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños Philippines. At present he is an Associate Professor at Institute of Biotechnology, Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University at Hyderabad, India. He has published and presented more than 40 research papers in reputed journals and at various national and international seminars. He has been serving as an Editorial Board Member for Journal Rice Research and Reviewer for more than ten reputed journals. He is recipient of Assam State Government Gold Medal and Jawaharlal Nehru National Award for best research work in rice.

Abstract:

Increasing the yield potential is the major focus of rice breeding program. One of the main constraints for yield improvement is the narrow genetic base in popular cultivars. Recent reports from molecular mapping studies in different crops including rice indicate that phenotypically inferior wild species can contribute favorable genes for yield and thus providing a novel way for exploitation of wild relatives to broaden the genetic base to improve yield. The AA genome African wild species O. longistaminata is a perennial allogamous species was crossed with IR64 to develop a BC2F2 population for mapping of yield and yield component traits. The mean performance of traits in parents and range of trait values of population indicates transgressive segregation in favorable direction for all traits. Most of the yield component traits were normally distributed and skewed towards cultivated rice. A linkage map was constructed with 158 polymorphic markers and the total length of the map was 1840 cM with average marker interval of 12.6 cM. A total of 30 QTLs were identified for 9 yield and yield contributing traits. Major QTLs for yield traits were validated in Nipponbare/O. longistaminta and Taichung 65/O. longistaminta chromosome segment substitution lines and in IR64/O. longistaminta advanced backcross lines. The major QTLs for yield traits were introgressed into an elite New Plant Type (NPT) variety IR65600-81-5-3-2. The improved NPT lines with introgressed QTL regions from O. longistaminata showed increased panicle size and grain yield compared to the recurrent parent variety.

Biography:

Aliyu Mustapha Bawuro is the faculty member at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Nigeria.

Abstract:

Experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of seed treatment on germination of Cuscuta campestris. This may provide the possible ways to overcome the problem of dormancy in Cuscuta campestris. The experiment were conducted in the Laboratory of Crop Production and Horticulture, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, using wet heat treatment, mechanical scarification, gibberellic acid (GA3) and tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4). For wet heat the treatments were control, 1 second, 2, 3, 4, and 5 seconds. For the mechanical scarification the treatments were unscarified, scarified using sandpaper and scarified using gravel arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) replicated four times. For the tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4) scarification the treatment were control, 9:1,7:3, 1:1, 4:6, 3:7, 2:8 and 1:9 H2SO4laid out in a Split plot design replicated three times, while for gibberellic acid (GA3) the treatment were control, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm laid out in a Split plot design replicated three times. The results showed that wet heat treatment for 5 seconds significantly produced the highest germinated C. campestris seeds (36.53 %) than the control treatments. Though mechanical scarification was not significant (P < 0.05), a rapid increase of germination from day 3 to day 9 was observed, with the highest rate of germination percentage (14 - 22 %) obtained on day 9. Tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid treatment of 4:6 concentrations significantly gave the highest C. campestris seeds germination percentage (40.07 %) compared with the rest of the treatments, while the time of soaking the seeds in the tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid showed that soaking the seeds for 1 second significantly gave the highest percentage germination (39.98 %) of C. campestris compared with the 3 and 5 seconds soaking treatments. The effect of interaction between the giberrellic acid (GA3) and the soaking time shows 250 ppmGA3and soaking time of36 hours had significantly the highest germination percentage (4.50 %) of C. campestris seeds compared with the control (0.79 %), 50 ppm (0.99 %) and 200 ppm (1.98 %) treatments. It can be concluded that wet heat for 5 seconds, sulphuric acid of 4:6 concentrations and of 250 ppmGA3and soaking time of 36 hours treatments has the potentiality to break dormancy of C. campestris seeds.

Biography:

A V Ramanjaneyulu is currently working as research scientist at Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, India.

Abstract:

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is a well known non-edible and industrially highly valued crop. Traditionally different parts of castor plant are being used in various sectors such as domestic, medical, agriculture, industry and of late ornamental. In the recent days, efforts are on for utilization of castor oil in biofuel programmes in different countries. At present it is cultivated in 30 different countries of which India, China, Brazil, Ethiopia and Thailand are the major castor growing ones accounting for about 90% of the worlds’ production. India alone produces about 70% of the castor production of the world. Thus, India is the world largest producers of castor seed and meets most of the global demand for castor oil. India accounts for nearly 66.5 and 82.9% of world’s castor area and production, respectively. India stands first both in area (1.21 million ha), production (1.76 million tonnes) and productivity (1455 kg ha-1) during 2013-14. In India, castor is grown in 13 states, however, only three states viz. Gujarat (78.3%), Rajasthan (15.6%) and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (4.73%) together contribute 98.63% of the total production of castor. In South India, castor is mainly grown under rainfed conditions where the crop is severely affected by Botryotinia gray rot (BGR). Further, crop is also threatened by mid season or terminal dry spell leading to low productivity of 600-700 kg ha-1 which is far less than national average of 1455 kg ha-1. Thus growing castor under rainfed conditions was proved to be not profitable. Castor cultivation during rabi season with limited water is a new dimension where crop will not affected by BGR and also doesn’t face moisture stress. However, to circumvent the problems of water and electricity problems, trickle irrigation and fertigation was adopted. Four irrigation levels in main plots (I1: Irrigation @ 0.3 pan evaporation I2: Irrigation @ 0.6 pan evaporation I3: Irrigation @ 0.9 pan evaporation through trickle method and I4: Irrigation @ 75 mm CPE through check basis method) and four N levels (N1: N @ 40 kg ha-1 N2: N @ 80 kg ha-1 N3: N @ 120 kg ha-1 through fertigation and N4: N @ 80 kg ha-1 through pocketing) were tried in a split pot design replicated thrice. The experiment was conducted for two consecutive years during rabi 2010-11 and 2011-12 on a red sandy loam soil which was low in N, medium in Phosphorus and high in Potash. The results revealed that scheduling of irrigation through trickle method @ 0.9 pan evaporation resulted in significantly higher seed yield of 2978 kg ha-1 as compared to that of 0.6 pan evaporation (2674 kg ha-1) and 0.3 pan evaporation (1852 kg ha-1). Application of N @ 120 kg ha-1 through fertigation has recorded seed yield of 2980 kg ha-1 which was significantly superior to that of 80 kg N ha-1 (2672 kg ha-1) applied through fertigation. The higher yield in these treatments is mainly owing to significantly longer, total and effective no. of spikes and also no. of capsules per spike. Further, 80 kg N ha-1 applied through fertigation has significantly outyielded 80 kg N ha-1 applied through pocketing method (2456 kg ha-1). The seed yield obtained due to application of 40 kg N ha-1 through fertigation was found to be inferior to all treatments. Scheduling of irrigation water through trickle irrigation helped to save 30% water vis-à-vis check basin method. However, neither irrigation levels nor fertigation levels influenced the intercepted radiation by the crop canopy. Significantly higher main root area, sub root area and also total root area were found to be with trickle irrigation @ 0.9 pan evaporation and fertigation @ 120 kg N ha-1 through fertigation. The total root length was unaffected by irrigation treatments, however, fertigation @ 120 kg and 80 kg N ha-1 were found superior to rest of treatments.