Growth response of summer sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) to foliar nutrition

Introduction

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) popularly known as "til", is one of the oldest cultivated oilseed crops belonging to the family Pedaliaceae. It is valued for its high-quality edible oil, rich nutritional composition and medicinal properties and is therefore known as the "Queen of Oilseeds" (Sudha Bharathi et al., 2025) [14] . The seeds contain about 50% oil, 18-20% protein and are rich in essential fatty acids (Chaturvedi et al., 2025) [4] . Despite its economic importance, sesame productivity remains low due to cultivation on nutrientdeficient soils, inadequate nutrient management and poor nutrient use efficiency. Conventional soil application of fertilizers alone is often insufficient because a considerable proportion of applied nutrients is lost through leaching and other processes, resulting in reduced nutrient availability and uptake by the crop (Preetha and Balakrishnan, 2017) [9] . Foliar nutrition has emerged as an effective strategy to supplement soil fertilization by providing essential nutrients directly to plant leaves during critical growth stages. Foliar application enhances nutrient absorption, improves photosynthetic activity, reduces flower shedding, promotes efficient translocation of assimilates and ultimately increases crop growth and yield (Sharma et al., 2013) [11] . Among different foliar nutrient sources, foliar application of nitrogen (urea) promotes vegetative growth and protein synthesis, phosphorus (DAP) improves root activity and energy transfer, while potassium (KCl) regulates stomatal activity, water use efficiency and stress tolerance. Watersoluble fertilizers such as 19:19:19 supply balanced nutrients and help sustain physiological activity by replenishing nutrients rapidly translocated from leaves to developing seeds (Monika et al., 2021) [7] . Considering the above facts, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the "Growth Response of Summer Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) to Foliar Nutrition".

Materials and Methods

The field experiment was conducted during summer, 2026 at the College Farm, Agricultural College, Polasa, Jagtial, Telangana, India to evaluate the growth response of summer sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) to foliar nutrition". The soil at the experimental site had clay loam in texture with 10.4% sand, 32.4% silt and 57.2% clay. The soil was low in organic carbon (0.47%), neutral in reaction (pH 7.28) with electrical conductivity of 0.35 dS m -1 , which is low in available nitrogen (174.6 Kg ha -1 ), medium in available phosphorous (22.9 kg ha -1 ) and available potassium (223.9 kg ha -1 ). During the experimental period the average maximum and minimum temperatures were 35.8°C and 19.0°C, respectively. The experiment was evaluated under a randomized block design (RBD) and replicated thrice and comprised of nine treatments:-T 1: RDF (Soil application), T 2: RDF + 1 foliar spray of 2% Urea at flowering stage, T 3: RDF + 2 foliar sprays of 2% Urea at flowering stage and capsule formation stages, T 4: RDF + 1 foliar spray of 2% DAP at flowering stage, T 5: RDF + 2 foliar sprays of 2% DAP at flowering stage and capsule formation stages, T 6: RDF + 1 foliar spray of 1% KCl at flowering stage, T 7: RDF + 2 foliar sprays of 1% KCl at flowering stage and capsule formation stages, T 8: RDF + 1 foliar spray of 2% 19:19:19 at flowering stage and T 9: RDF + 2 foliar sprays of 2% 19:19:19 at flowering stage and capsule formation stages. The variety used was Jagtial Til-1 (JCS 1020), which has a duration of 90-95 days. Sowing was done with a spacing of 30 cm x 15 cm using a seed rate of 5 kg ha -1 on th January 2026. The recommended dose of fertilizer (80:20:20 kg N, P 2 O 5 and K 2 O ha -1 ) was supplied. The 50% N and full dose of P and K were applied as basal and remaining 50% of N was applied as top dressing on 30 DAS. Data was recorded from five plants selected randomly from each treatment in every replication. Data on growth parameters such as plant height, Dry matter production, leaf area and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading were analyzed statistically using ANOVA.

Results and Discussion

Plant height was significantly influenced by the application of foliar nutrient treatments at 60 DAS and at harvest. Among the different treatments tested, the application of 100% RDF along with two foliar sprays of 2% 19:19:19 (T 9 ) recorded the highest plant height of (83.3 cm) and (109.8 cm) at 60 DAS and at harvest, respectively and was statistically on par with T 5 and T 3 . The increased plant height under T 9 might be attributed to adequate and balanced foliar supply of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium during the critical reproductive stages. The combined effect of these nutrients stimulated cell division and cell enlargement which promoted vigorous vegetative growth and resulted in increased plant height. However, at 30 DAS, no significant differences in plant height were observed due to the absence of foliar spray application up to that stage, as all the treatments receiving RDF had similar nutrient availability during the early growth period. The lowest plant height of 64.4 cm and 80.3 cm was recorded in T 1 (RDF) at 60 DAS and at harvest, respectively. The present findings are in agreement with those reported by Basu et al. (2019) [1] and Solanki et al. (2022) [13] .

Dry matter production is the cumulative outcome of various physiological and biochemical processes occurring within the plant and increased progressively with crop growth up to harvest. At 30 DAS, dry matter accumulation did not differ significantly among the treatments, which may be attributed to the uniform application of RDF through soil and the absence of foliar nutrient sprays up to this stage. However, significant differences were observed at 60 DAS and at harvest. The treatment T 9 (100% RDF + two foliar sprays of 2% 19:19:19 at flowering and capsule formation stages) recorded the highest dry matter production (189.0 g m -2 at 60 DAS and 331.2 g m -2 at harvest), which was statistically on par with T 5 and T 3 . The lowest dry matter production was recorded in T 1 (100% RDF) with 142.5 g m -2 at 60 DAS and 243.9 g m -2 at harvest. The higher dry matter accumulation under T 9 may be attributed to the complementation of NPK through foliar application of 19:19:19 during critical growth stages, which enhanced nutrient uptake, assimilate translocation, carbohydrate metabolism, resulted in efficient partitioning of photosynthates from source to sink. The combined effect of these nutrients increased photosynthetic efficiency and biomass production. These results are in conformity with those reported by Biradar et al. (2023) [3] and Singh et al. (2018) [12] .

Leaf area was not significantly influenced by the treatments at 30 DAS, as foliar nutrient sprays was not applied and all treatments received a uniform recommended dose of fertilizers through soil application. However, significant differences were observed at 60 DAS and at harvest. The treatment T 9 (100% RDF + two foliar sprays of 2% 19:19:19 at flowering and capsule formation stages) recorded the highest leaf area (534.7 cm 2 at 60 DAS and 468.9 cm 2 at harvest), which was statistically on par with T 5 and T 3 . The lowest leaf area was recorded in T 1 (100% RDF alone), with 415.0 cm 2 at 60 DAS and 363.5 cm 2 at harvest. The higher leaf area recorded under T 9 might be attributed to the balanced foliar supply of essential nutrients, which enhanced cell division, cell expansion, photosynthetic efficiency and delayed leaf senescence, thereby promoting greater leaf expansion and leaf retention. These findings corroborate the observations of Sarika et al. (2022) [10] and Gutte et al. (2018) [5] . [6] and Bhayal et al (2022) [2] .

Conclusion

The results evidently indicate that application of 80-20-20 kg NPK ha -1 + foliar sprays of 2.0% 19:19:19 mixture at flowering and capsule formation stage proved to be most suitable agronomic practice for optimum growth in summer sesame.

Acknowledgement

I sincerely express my gratitude to Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Hyderabad for providing financial support for my research work. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to the Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College, Polasa, Jagtial, PJTAU for its constant support, facilities and assistance throughout the course of my research work.

References

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