Legume Research

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Research Article

Legume Research, volume 45 issue 9 (september 2022) : 1114-1121

Evaluation of Micronutrient Mixture as Seed Treatment and Foliar Nutrition in Grain Cowpea

Roshni John, N.K. Binitha, P.R. Suresh
1Department of Soil Science and Agricutural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, Padanakkad-671 314, Kerala, India.

  • Submitted17-08-2019|

  • Accepted02-06-2020|

  • First Online 10-09-2020|

  • doi 10.18805/LR-4215

Cite article:- John Roshni, Binitha N.K., Suresh P.R. (2022). Evaluation of Micronutrient Mixture as Seed Treatment and Foliar Nutrition in Grain Cowpea. Legume Research. 45(9): 1114-1121. doi: 10.18805/LR-4215.

ABSTRACT

Background: Micronutrient formulation is a liquid mixture of micronutrients which can be used as a fertilizer. It is a mixture of two solutions viz., solution A and solution B. Solution A is a mixture of zinc sulphate (50 gL-1), boric acid (10 gL-1), copper sulphate (20 gL-1), manganous sulphate (0.5 gL-1), ferrous sulphate (10 gL-1) and ammonium molybdate (0.5 gL-1) whereas solution B is an organic acid which act as a chelate. The mixture can be diluted to specific concentrations for application. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of micronutrient formulation as seed treatment and foliar nutrition. 
Methods: The study was conducted at College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, Kerala Agricultural University and Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pilicode during 2018–19. The investigation was carried out in three parts: (i) standardization of micronutrient formulation for cowpea (ii) seed treatment study (iii) field experiment. The proportion of mixing micronutrient formulation and the duration for seed treatment was standardized in experiment I. In experiment II, a seed treatment study was carried out in a completely randomised design with seven treatments and three replications which included seed treatment with micronutrient formulation @ 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1, 1.5 and 2 percent as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6 respectively. T7 (seed treatment with water) was the control. Three, a field experiment was carried out in randomized block design (factorial) with twelve treatments and three replications. The treatment consisting of combination of four levels of seed treatment - factor A [no seed treatment (S1), seed treatment with rhizobium (S2), seed treatment with best concentration from experiment 1 (S3) and second best seed treatment from experiment 1 (S4)] and three levels of foliar application of micronutrient - factor B [no foliar application (F1), one foliar application at 15 DAS (F2) and two foliar applications at 15 and 30 DAS (F3)].
Result: Through lab experiments, solution B was standardized and the formulation was developed by mixing solution A and solution B in the ratio 1:2. Duration for seed treatment was also standardized as 6 hours. Thus micronutrient formulation was standardized. In seed treatment study, seeds treated with 2% micronutrient formulation (T6) showed highest plant height at three leaf stage (24.23 cm) and seedling vigour index (2423). In the field experiment seed treatment with 2% micronutrient formulation (S3), foliar spray at 15 and 30 days after sowing (F3) and their interaction (S3F3) was found to be highly effective to the crop in terms of plant height, stem diameter, number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant, grain yield and nutrient content in grain. These results clearly indicate the role of micronutrient formulation in enhancing the growth, yield and nutrient content of cowpea.

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