STUDIES ON ZINC MANAGEMENT IN SWEETCORN
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Date
2022-08-04
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guntur
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Studies on zinc management in sweetcorn” was carried out during kharif, 2020 on a sandy clay soil at Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University. The experiment was laid out in simple Randomised Block Design with nine treatments and replicated thrice. The treatments comprised T1: Control (RDF), T2: RDF + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1(Soil application), T3: RDF + ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % foliar spray at 20 & 40 DAS, T4: RDF + Zn EDTA @ 10 kg ha-1 (Soil application), T5: RDF + Zn EDTA @ 0.5 % (Foliar spray) at 20 and 40 DAS, T6: RDF + Nano ZnO @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS (Foliar spray), T7: RDF + Nano ZnO @ 500 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS (Foliar spray), T8: RDF + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 (Soil) + Nano ZnO @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS (Foliar spray)and T9: RDF + Zn EDTA @ 10 kg ha-1 (Soil) + Nano ZnO @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS (Foliar spray). Sugar-75 variety was taken with the spacing of 60 cm x 20 cm. Combined application of zinc as soil and foliar along with recommended dose of fertilizers exerted a significant affect on plant growth characters, yield attributes, yield, quality parameters and economic returns.
Plant growth parameters like height (214.4 cm), leaf area index (2.83) and drymatter production (9903 kg ha-1) were the highest at harvest with soil application of 10 kg ha-1 Zn EDTA + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS along with RDF (T9) and was on par with T8 treatment i.e.RDF + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 (Soil) + Nano ZnO @ 250 ppm at 20 and 40 DAS as foliar spray) and T7 treatment i.e. RDF + Nano ZnO @ 500 ppm at 20 and 40 DAS as foliar spray. The lowest plant height, leaf area index and drymatter production were registered in control treatment.
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Yield attributing characters like number of seed rows cob-1 (16.84), number of seeds row-1 (32.57), cob length (22.44 cm), girth (18.87 cm), weight of cob with husk (254.80 g) and without husk (201.8 g), seed yield per cob (124.86 g) were registered highest with soil application of 10 kg ha-1 ZnEDTA + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS along with RDF (T9) compared to rest of the treatments and lowest was noticed in control. Among the various zinc treatments tested, RDF + Zn EDTA @ 10 kg ha-1 (Soil) + Nano ZnO @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS as foliar spray (T9) recorded the highest green cob yield (12,638 kg ha-1), green fodder yield (19674 kg ha-1) and stover yield (7590 kg ha-1) of sweetcorn over remaining treatments, whereas lowest was observed in control. Application of RDF along with soil application of 10 kg ha-1 Zn EDTA and foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS recorded higher kernel protein content (12.98 %) and zinc content in kernel (34.59 ppm) followed by T8 and T7 treatment over the rest of the treatments. Zinc content in the plant at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest was influenced significantly by T9 treatment with the RDF along with soil application of 10 kg ha-1 Zn EDTA + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS and the lowest zinc contents in the plant at various growth stages was recorded in the control. Similarly, the highest zinc and nitrogen uptake by the plant at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest was registered in the plots treated with RDF along with soil application of 10 kg ha-1 Zn EDTA + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS i.e. T9 treatment and the lowest was registered in control. The highest available zinc in soil after harvest was registered from T9 treatment (0.77 mg kg-1). Whereas, the lowest was found in control. Significantly the highest gross return (₹1,93,360) was found with T9 treatment i.e. RDF + soil application of 10 kg ha-1 Zn EDTA + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS. But the net return (₹1,38,664) and the B:C ratio (2.74) was found the highest with RDF + soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + foliar application of nano zinc @ 250 ppm at 20 & 40 DAS (T8) indicating that it is economically viable.
Description
STUDIES ON ZINC MANAGEMENT IN SWEETCORN