Performance of Lentil under Rice-Lentil under different tillage in Drought-Prone Rainfed Ecosystem of Bihar

To improve land productivity, food and nutritional security in this region, rice- fallow areas which are about 11 million hectare area in eastern India, should be brought under cultivation with pulse crops that can survive in residual moisture. Present study was aimed at to identify suitable lentil varieties which can perform better under varying field conditions and management practices prevalent in the region. Five lentil varieties and two tillage practices were evaluated under puddled and unpuddled transplanted rice field. Lentil variety Pusa Vaibhav performed equally well with zero as well as conventional tillage under unpuddled transplanted rice, whereas Mallika performed well under zero tillage in sequence with puddle transplanted rice. Both the varieties being of medium duration are suitable for rice- fallow areas of eastern region of India. Adopting conventional tillage practices is beneficial for lentil cultivation if it is to be grown in the puddle transplanted (PT) rice field, where as in case of preceding unpuddle transplanted (UPT) system zero tillage practices is advisable