Effect of Different Levels of Neem Coated Urea on Productivity of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn)

Authors: Kapil Umpo; Sonbeer Chack; Kasinam Doruk; Raja Husain; Masuma Khanan
Effect of Different Levels of Neem Coated Urea on Productivity of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn)
DOI
10.25125/ijoear-may-2026-4
DIN
IJOEAR-MAY-2026-4
Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2025 at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Anini, Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, to evaluate the effect of different levels of neem-coated urea (NCU) on productivity of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) cv. VL Mandua 379. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with seven treatments and three replications. Data were analysed via analysis of variance (ANOVA), and treatment effects were evaluated at 5% level of significance. Application of NCU significantly influenced all yield parameters. The treatment T₂ (100% NCU) recorded superior performance in yield attributes, including number of seeds per finger (428) [F(6,12) = 4.80, p < 0.05], test weight (3.20 g), finger weight (7.77 g) and finger length (9.77 cm). Similarly, biological yield (7.37 t ha-¹) and economical yield (2.85 t ha-¹) were significantly higher under T₂ compared to other treatments. Harvest index also differed significantly among treatments [F(6,12) = 19.77, p < 0.001]. In conclusion, using 100% neem-coated urea increases yield, economical quality and profitability of finger millet. Such a result advocated the use of NCU as a means to improve nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture, although more multi-location testing is desirable.

Keywords
Finger millet Neem-coated urea yield.
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Introduction

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn) is a significant nutritious crop that is grown in rain-fed and hilly areas in India including Eastern Himalayan region. It is considered a high-nutritional-value crop due to greater calcium, dietary fiber and amino acids content. Although it thrives in poor fertility status and is climate resilient, the yield of finger millet is low due to poor nutrient management, particularly low nitrogen use efficiency. Nitrogen has a key role in crop growth, productivity and quality. But use of conventional nitrogen fertilizers like urea is often accompanied with significant losses due to volatilization, leaching and denitrification, resulting in poor efficiency of nitrogen use and environmental problems. In regions with high rainfall such as Arunachal Pradesh, these losses are exacerbated, leading to poor crop performance and economic losses. Neem-coated urea (NCU) has been used successfully to enhance nitrogen use efficiency by prolonging nitrogen release and minimising losses. The coating helps in the slow release of nitrogen and acts as an inhibitor of nitrification and so matchesthe nitrogen supply to plant needs, so improving nitrogen use efficiency. In many studies, it has been reported that the application of NCU not only increases yield but also grain quality and prevents losses to the environment. However, limited information is available on the performance of graded levels of neem-coated urea on finger millet in the agro-climatic conditions of the Eastern Himalayan region. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different levels of neem-coated urea on productivity, nutritional quality, and economic returns of finger millet.

Conclusion

The current study has revealed that the use of NCU in management of nitrogen in finger millet under Eastern Himalayan conditions has had significant effects on the yield, quality, and economic payoffs of finger millet. Out of the treatments, the use of 100 percent recommended nitrogen using neem-coated urea (T2) always registered higher performance in yield. The outcome shows that the optimal supply of nitrogen enhances efficiency in the utilization of nutrients, reduces losses, and increases the partitioning of assimilate to economic yield. Sub-optimal and excessive levels of nitrogen led to poor performance, and therefore, balanced fertilization is crucial. Thus, the use of 100 percent NCU is suggested as an effective and cost-effective measure towards sustainable production of finger millet. It is recommended that further multi-location research is done to confirm these findings in different agro-climatic conditions.

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