India. The soil at the experimental site was loamy sand, pH (7.4) and EC (0.24 ds m−1 ), low in organic carbon (0.38%) and available N (248.7 kg ha−1 ) and medium in available P (15.5 kg ha−1 ) and available K (162.4 kg ha−1 ). The field capacity and permanent wilting point of 0–60 cm rhizosphere were 11.84 cm and 2.95 cm, respectively. Hence,