Effect of Zinc Fortification on Growth and Yield of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.)
P. Rathnakar *
Department of Agronomy, NAI, SHUATS, Prayagraj, U. P, India.
N. Mohan
Department of Agronomy, NAI, SHUATS, Prayagraj, U. P, India.
Boyina Aparna
Department of Agronomy, NAI, SHUATS, Prayagraj, U. P, India.
Pasala Ramya
Department of Agronomy, NAI, SHUATS, Prayagraj, U. P, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2021 at CRF (Crop Research Farm), Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj, (U.P). The soil of the experimental field is sandy loam in texture with a neutral soil pH. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with nine treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of three levels of Zinc viz., 10 kg/ha, 15 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha and three levels of Zinc sulphate at 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%, whose effect was observed in finger millet. The results revealed that the treatment with application of 15 kg/ha zinc + 0.5% Znso4 recorded higher plant height (81.22 cm), number of tillers/plant (7.85/plant), plant dry weight (26.32g/plant), and the yield attributes viz., seed yield (2.79 t/ha), straw yield (4.72 t/ha) and harvest index (37.19%) were also recorded highest in the treatment with application of 15 kg/ha zinc and 0.5% Znso4.
Keywords: Zinc, zinc sulphate, growth parameters, yield attributes and finger millet