~ 1315 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2022; SP-11(6): 1315-1321 ISSN (E): 2277-7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.23 TPI 2022; SP-11(6): 1315-1321 © 2022 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 23-03-2022 Accepted: 26-04-2022 T Gangadhara M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, C. P. College of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Dantiwada, Satsan, Gujarat, India PH Patel Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Dantiwada, Satsan, Gujarat, India Akshay Kumar Kurdekar Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, India Yonika Saini Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural University, Kota, Rajasthan, India Corresponding Author T Gangadhara M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, C. P. College of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Dantiwada, Satsan, Gujarat, India Response of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) to spacing and nipping T Gangadhara, PH Patel, Akshay Kumar Kurdekar and Yonika Saini Abstract A field experiment on “Response of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) to spacing and nipping” was carried out during kharif 2020 at Agronomy Instructional Farm, Chimanbhai Patel College of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar in loamy sand. It comprised two spacings (30 cm × 10 cm and 45 cm × 10 cm) and six nippings [no nipping, manual nipping, foliar spray each of cycocel (60 & 80 ppm) and mepiquat chloride (125 & 250 ppm)] at 55 DAS with randomized block design (factorial) replicated thrice. The spacing of 45 cm × 10 cm recorded significantly higher number of branches, leaf area, pod weight/plant reduced number of days to initiation and 50% flowering. Under nipping, spraying of mepiquat chloride @ 250 ppm recorded significantly higher number of branches/plant, leaf area/plant, dry matter/plant, number of pods/plant, pod weight/plant, seed yield (870 kg/ha) and haulm yield (3,119 kg/ha) . Among interactions, spacing of 45 cm × 10 cm coupled with mepiquat chloride spray @ 250 ppm recorded the maximum leaf area, dry matter/plant at harvest, number of pods/plant and seed yield (968 kg/ha) . In terms of seed yield increment, it was found that there was 47.2% increase by mepiquat chloride spray @ 250 ppm as compared to no nipping. In case of economic returns, the highest net returns (₹23,341/ha) and BCR (2.16) were obtained under spacing of 30 cm × 10 cm coupled with mepiquat chloride spray @ 250 ppm which was ultimately found suitable for horsegram. Keywords: Horsegram, spacing, nipping, cycocel, mepiquat chloride Introduction Globally, pulses are the second most important group of crops after cereals and have been traditionally recognized as an indispensable constituent of Indian diet. Pulses have done to the people of this country is by their ideally supplementing the cereal rich diet predominantly vegetarian masses by virtue of their being rich in protein and several amino acids. At present, in India, total area under pulses is 29.81 million hectares with production of 25.41 million tons with a extremely low average productivity of 853 kg/ha during 2017-18 (Indiaagristat, 2018a) [1] . There is an enormous yield gap between India and alternative developed countries and within India, between research station’s yield and farmer’s yields. Horsegram ( Macrotyloma uniflorum) is the fifth most generally grown pulse species in trendy India. In India, it is typically grown in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, rainfed areas of Uttar Pradesh as well as the tribal belts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. In India, horsegram covers an area of 0.4 million ha with production 0.247 million tonnes and productivity 618 kg/ha during 2017-18 (Indiaagristat, 2018b) [2] . In recent years, scientists have given attention to the concept of agronomic practices like optimum plant population through proper spacing and regulation of the plant growth to extend the production by suppressing apical dominance through apical nipping and use of plant growth retardants for realizing yield potential. Spacing plays a crucial role in maintaining adequate plant population. Institution of appropriate spacing for maintaining the optimum plant population per unit area is indispensable to obtain maximum yield for any field crop. Nipping is an important practice that removes the apical dominance and promotes the lateral branches that successfully improves the yield of crops. It plays an important role for better maintenance of source and sink relationship and for ameliorating the productivity. Nipping can be practiced in two ways either by clipping manually or by spraying growth retardants like mepiquat chloride, chlormequat chloride and maleic hydrazide (Sanbagavalli et al., 2020) [3] . Kumar et al. (2018 b ) [4] stated that nipping of plants at 55 DAS decreased plant height but enhanced the number of branches, dry matter and seed yield of field bean.