Effect of foliar spray of zinc and iron on the productivity of spring cowpea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58628/JAE-2622-115Keywords:
Foliar application, Micronutrient, Productivity, Sustainable, Soil applicationAbstract
Micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) play an important role in different metabolic process in cowpea and deficiency of these nutrients is a major constraint for sustainable productivity of cowpea for both human and animal consumption. To increase sustainable productivity of cowpea, a field study was conducted in an agricultural farm at college of Agriculture, AICRP on Pulses (Arid Legumes), RVSKVV, Gwalior (M.P.) during summer season of 2023 to find out the effect of soil and foliar application of zinc and iron at different growth stages for enhancing the productivity of summer cowpea and evaluate the economics of applied treatments. The experiment was conducted in randomised block design (RBD), with three replications and 9 treatments. It is found that T7 (combine application of 0.5% ZnSo4 + 0.5% FeSo4 spray at flower initiation and pod initiation) recorded significantly the highest growth attributes viz. plant height (60.33 cm), No. of branches/plant (5.40 branches/plant), yield attributes viz. No. of pods/plant (25.67 pods/plant), Pod length (10.60 cm), No. of seeds/ pod (11.20 seeds/ pod) and 100 seed weight (11.70 g), seed yield (1345 kg/ha), stover yield (2593 kg/ha), cost of cultivation (₹23,645/ha), gross return (₹83,231/ha) and net return (₹59,586/ha). However, the benefit-cost (B:C) ratio (3.55) was higher under (25 kg ZnSo4 ha-1 soil application) over control T1 Control (100% RDF 20: 40: 20 NPK kg/ha). These results highlight the importance of improving cowpea growth, productivity and profitability.
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