International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

A field experiment was conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Regional Station, Bhopal to evaluate the residual effect of the fertilizer with organic manure on the growth indices of chickpea in soybean-chickpea system in Vertisol of central India. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design comprising two levels of farm yard manure (5 t FYM ha^-1 or No FYM) in the main plots and six micronutrient management levels (control, 25 kg ZnSO₄ ha^-1, 12.5 kg ZnSO₄ ha^-1 + zinc solubilizer, ammonium molybdate (AM) 1 g kg^-1 seed treatment + 25 kg ZnSO₄ ha^-1, ammonium molybdate (AM) 1 kg ha^-1 soil application + 25 kg ZnSO₄ ha^-1, and ammonium molybdate (AM) 1 g kg^-1 seed treatment + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO₄ at 30 and 60 days after sowing) in sub-plots with three replications. The results revealed that the application of 5 t FYM ha^-1 resulted in significantly higher values of plant height, dry matter accumulation, branches plant^-1, leaf area index, leaf area duration, absolute growth rate, crop growth rate, and relative growth rate than no application of FYM. Furthermore, ammonium molybdate (AM) at 1 kg ha^-1 as a basal application with 25 kg ha^-1 ZnSO4 significantly improved all the growth parameters, viz. plant height, dry matter accumulation (DMA), branches plant^-1, leaf area index, leaf area duration, absolute growth rate, crop growth rate, and relative growth rate over the control, 25 kg ZnSO4 ha^-1 and 12.5 kg ZnSO4 ha^-1 + zinc solubilizer. However, it was statistically on par with the AM 1 g kg^-1 seed treatment + 25 kg ZnSO4 ha^-1 + 25 kg ZnSO4 ha^-1 and AM 1 g kg^-1 seed treatment + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 with respect to all growth parameters. Thus, the application of farmyard manure 5 t ha^-1 with AM at 1 kg ha^-1 as a basal application with 25 kg ha^-1 ZnSO4 could be used to sustain chickpea production and maintain soil fertility. The results highlight the importance of using plant nutrients from various sources and methods of application for realizing high chickpea productivity.