Influence of micronutrients on growth and productivity of kharif sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out during kharif season of 2022 at Experimental Farm, Agronomy Section, Oilseeds Research Station, Latur to investigate the effect of different micronutrients on growth and yield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). The experiment consisted of nine treatments laid out in randomized block design replicated thrice. The treatments were T1 - Control, T2 - RDF (90:45:45 kg N:P:K ha-1), T3 - RDF + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1, T4 - RDF + FeSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1, T5 - RDF + Borax @ 2 kg ha-1, T6 - RDF + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 + FeSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 + Borax @ 2 kg ha-1, T7 - RDF + Multimicronutrient Grade-1 @ 25 kg ha-1, T8 - RDF + Multimicronutrient Grade-2 @ 0.2% at 20 DAS, T9 - RDF + Multimicronutrient Grade-1 @ 25 kg ha-1 + Multimicronutrient Grade- 2 @ 0.2% at 20 DAS. Application of RDF + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 + FeSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 + Borax @ 2 kg ha-1 (T6) recorded significantly highest growth attributes viz. plant height (195.53 cm), number of functional leaves plant-1 (38.43), leaf area plant-1 (84.84 dm2), stem girth (7.38 cm), head diameter plant-1 (19.10 cm), dry matter accumulation plant-1 (205.33 g), yield attributes viz. number of filled seeds plant-1 (905), weight of head plot-1 (6.47 kg), seed yield (1791 kg ha-1) and straw yield (3579 kg ha-1) being at par with RDF + Borax @ 2 kg ha-1 (T5) and RDF + ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 (T3) over rest of the treatments.