Impact of boron application on wheat yield

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of foliar application of boron on yield and yield components of wheat, the present experiment was conducted at Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi during winter seasons of 2012-13 and 2013-14. Treatments included four levels of B (T1: 0 kg ha−1, T2: 1 kg ha−1 and T3: 1.5 kg ha−1 B added to the soil and T4: 1kg B ha-1 as soil along with foliar spray at pre flowering and panicle initiation stage) in a randomized block design. The results of this study showed that each incremental levels of B application contributed towards significantly higher yield and yield attributing character over the control and sterility percentage decreased significantly with the levels of B applications. The highest grain yield was obtained in T4 treatment (3.88 t ha-1) followed by T3 (3.77 t ha-1) and T2 (3.53 t ha-1) and least was recorded in T1 (3.25 t ha-1). Maximum sterility percentage was found in T1 (19.9%) whereas minimum was recorded in T4 (9.8%). It can be concluded that the application of B @ 1 kg ha−1 followed by foliar application of boron is helpful in enhancing the productivity of wheat by reducing the sterility percentage.