EFFICACY OF ZINC (Zn) AND SULPHUR (S) CONTAINING FERTILIZER ON PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY OF WHEAT GROWN UNDER ACID SOIL OF JHARKHAND
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Date
2023
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi
Abstract
A field experiment entitled “Efficacy of Zinc (Zn) and Sulphur (S) containing
fertilizer on productivity and profitability of wheat grown under acid soil of Jharkhand”
was conducted during Rabi 2021-22 at the experimental farm of Department of Soil
Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Jharkhand
with an objective to compare the performance of different sources of zinc and sulphur
containing fertilizer on yield attributes, yield, economics of the wheat crop along with
the translocation study of zinc and sulphur in different plant parts and their nutrient
uptake. In addition, soil samples were analysed for changes in chemical properties of soil
viz. soil reaction (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), available N,
available P, available K, available Zn and available S content. The experiment was laid
out in Randomised Block Design (RBD) replicated thrice with seven treatments. The
treatments were T1- 100% NPK (120: 60: 40), T2- 100% NPK + 1.5 kg Zn through Zinc
Sulphate, T3- 100% NPK + 2.5 kg Zn through Zinc Sulphate, T4- 100% NPK + 5.0 kg Zn
through Zinc Sulphate, T5- 100% NPK + 1.5 kg Zn through Techno-Z, T6- 100% NPK +
2.5 kg Zn through Techno-Z and T7- 100% NPK + 5.0 kg Zn through Techno-Z.
The results revealed that maximum growth and yield attributes viz. no. of spikes/m2
(358.86), no. of grains/spike (48.39), 1000 grain weight (41.93 g), ear head length (11.55
cm) and ear head weight (4.53 g) were recorded at peak with treatment T7. Whereas, the
treatment T3, T4 and T6 showed statistically at par results with T7 in case of all yield
attributing characters. It was also observed that the highest grain yield (48.20 q ha-1
),
straw yield (73.42 q ha-1
) and harvest index (39.64 %) was achieved with the treatment
T7 and the treatment T3, T4 and T6 showed statistically at par results. However, the
highest B:C ratio i.e., 2.32 was found with the treatment T4 whereas in case of T7 it was
only 2.04. This was only because of the higher cost of Techno-Z in comparison to that of
Zinc Sulphate.
As far the study of Zn translocation was concerned, the data disclosed that the
highest Zn content was in lower leaf as compared to that of middle leaf and upper leaf
respectively. Whereas, among all the treatments, the highest Zn content was reported in
treatment T7 in case of lower leaf. It had 48.38% and 55.90% higher Zn content as
compared to middle leaf and lower leaf respectively. This implied the moderately
immobile nature of Zn in plant system. In case of lower leaf and middle leaf the
maximum Zn concentration was reported with the treatment T7 and in case of upper leaf
the peak was found with the treatment T4. However, the highest Zn concentration in
grains (46.5 mg kg-1
), straw (62.9 mg kg-1
) and husk (20.00 mg kg-1
) was reported with
the treatment T4.
In case of sulphur, results showed that maximum S content was found in the lower
leaf in comparison to middle leaf and upper leaf respectively. It was due to the immobile
nature of S in plant parts. Whereas, among all the treatments, the highest S concentration
was reported in treatment T7 in all plant parts. When compared to that of lower leaf the
percentage decrease in sulphur content in case of middle leaf and upper leaf was 48.06%
and 55.81% respectively for treatment T7. The highest concentration of sulphur in grain
(0.193%), straw (0.114%), husk (0.061%) was recorded with the treatment T7. For
grains, T7 showed 16.64% higher values than that of treatment T4.
In case of soil, maximum reduction in pH in post- harvest soil was 0.09 and it was
common for 5 treatments (T1, T3, T4, T6 and T7) and least reduction in pH was 0.02 for
T5 treatment. There was hardly any change in the EC values in case of post-harvest soil
due to application of different sources of Zn and S containing fertilizers. Whereas,
organic carbon content decreased in the post- harvest soil and maximum reduction was
0.25 for treatment T4 and least reduction was 0.08 which was common for 3 treatments
(T1, T3 and T7).
The Nitrogen (N) content varied from 242.00 to 267.70 kg ha-1
and 231.50 to
263.50 kg ha-1 for pre-sowing and post- harvest soil respectively. Highest Available N
(267.70 kg ha-1
) was found with the treatment T4 at both the stages. The peak of
phosphorus (P) content (32.72 kg ha-1
) in soil at pre- sowing stage was noted down with
treatment T6 and at post- harvest stage with the treatment T3 (31.88 kg ha-1
). In case of
potassium (K), the maximum concentration at both the stages was found with treatment
T4. For, zinc the highest content at pre-sowing stage (0.72 mg kg-1
) and post-harvest
stage (1.04 mg kg-1
) in soil was observed with treatment T4. Similar trend was reported in
case of sulphur, the maximum concentration at both pre- sowing (9.72 mg kg-1
) and post harvest soil (9.57 mg kg-1
) was found with that of treatment T4.