2.2. Weather and Soil Condition

The region has semi-arid to sub-humid climatic conditions. Annual mean rainfall received during the experimentation was 727.75 mm and 1121.10 mm between 2017–2018 and 2018–2019, respectively, and 75% of this amount was received from June to September (Figure 2).

Meteorological data during the experiment in 2017–2018 (A) and 2018–2019 (B).

The experimental soil was alkaline in nature (pH 8.24), non-saline (EC 0.15 dS m⁻¹), low in organic carbon content (4.60 g kg⁻¹), low in available N (141.72 kg ha⁻¹), medium in available P (17.42 kg ha ⁻¹), medium in available K (132.74 kg ha⁻¹) and medium in sulfur content (14.65 mg kg⁻¹). The DTPA-extractable Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni contents in the initial soil were 42.65, 2.17, 1.02, 11.41, 0.55, 2.12, 9.24 and 6.79 mg kg⁻¹, respectively.