Effect of organic manure and zinc levels on growth, yield and nutrient uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Introduction

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L) is the most important food grain crop among cereals and stands next only to rice in our country. India is self-sufficient in catering to the needs of major food staples like rice and wheat. On an average, wheat contributes to around 35% of total food grain production and 21% of cultivated area in the country (Singh et al., 2020) [1] . In India, wheat (Triticum aestivam L.) is the second most important cereal crop after rice and pre-dominant winter season crop of north-western plains zone. Wheat is grown on 33.60 million hectares (m ha) lands with total production of 120.65 million tons (m t) contributes 34 per cent of the total food grain production in the country with the productivity of 3591 kg ha -1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOI 2025-26). Wheat Productivity has to be raised to meet ever increasing food demand in the country. In Rajasthan area under wheat crop is 3.59 m ha with production of 15.05 m t and productivity of 4197 kg ha -1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOR, 2025-26). The application of FYM and vermicompost in the soil helps in increasing the fertility of the soil as physical condition including its water holding capacity. Organic manures, which were perhaps the main sources of plant nutrients in traditional agriculture, receive less emphasis with the advent of high analysis chemical fertilizers. The decision on the optimum use of fertilizer required knowledge of crop response to applied fertilizer, inherent nutrients by soil and its short or long-term fate effects (Kohli et al., 2025) [2] . Zinc is essential micronutrient and has a number of crucial functions in plant system. Its deficiency in plants results in significant decreases in both productivity and nutrient quality. But 30 to 40% of the total area of the world is reported zinc deficient. Zn fertilizers are used in the bio fortification and to fulfill the Zn deficiency of cereal crop. The concentration of zinc in wheat grain increased by 18.8% and the dry weight of seedling roots and fruits were significantly improved by applying zinc fertilizer (Ali et al. 2021).

Method and materials

The experiment was conducted during rabi 2025-26 at Agronomy farm, School of Agriculture, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur. Geographically, the study area is located at 75 o 48'84" E longitude and 26 o 82'47" N latitude and this region falls under agro-climatic zone III A (Semi-arid Eastern Plain Zone) of Rajasthan. The treatments in wheat during rabi seasons comprising 20 combinations having four organic manures FYM @ 10 t/ha, FYM @ 20 t/ha, Vermicompost @ 3 t/ha and Vermicompost @ 6 t/ha and five zinc levels (Control, Foliar spray of ZnSO 4 @ 0.5%, Soil application of ZnSO 4 @ 6 kg/ha, Soil application of ZnSO 4 @ 12 kg/ha and Soil application of ZnSO 4 @ 6 kg/ha + Foliar spray of ZnSO 4 @ 0.5%) treatments was laid out in a spilt plot with three replications. Wheat was sown at 22.5 cm row spacing using seed rate of 100 kg ha -1 .

Results and discussion

Effect of organic manure

The results revealed that grain, straw and biological yields of wheat were significantly influenced by the application of organic manures. Vermicompost @ 6.0 t/ha recorded the highest grain yield (4978 kg/ha), straw yield (6199 kg/ha) and biological yield (11177 kg/ha), representing increases of 22.58, 5.62 and 9.28 per cent in grain yield and 25.56, 6.51 and 7.66 per cent in straw yield over FYM @ 10 t/ha, FYM @ 20 t/ha and vermicompost @ 3 t/ha, respectively. The greater productivity under higher vermicompost application may be attributed to improved nutrient availability, enhanced microbial activity, better root growth and efficient utilization of nutrients, which promoted greater biomass production and translocation of assimilates towards grain formation (Kaur et al., 2026) [3] ) and Debebe et al. (2026) [4] . The highest net return (₹92,737/ha) was obtained with vermicompost @ 6.0 t/ha, which was 22.46, 7.83 and 1.23 per cent higher than FYM @ 10 t/ha, FYM @ 20 t/ha and vermicompost @ 3 t/ha, respectively. The higher net return under vermicompost application may be attributed to better nutrient availability, improved soil physical and biological properties and consequently greater crop productivity. Vermicompost supplies nutrients in readily available forms and also enhances microbial activity, which can improve nutrient-use efficiency and crop growth. Similar findings were reported by Meena et al. (2024) [5] and Niranjan et al. (2024) [6] . Thus, vermicompost @ 3 t/ha appeared to be more economical in terms of return generated per rupee invested. Similar economic benefits from vermicompost-based nutrient management in wheat have been reported by Singh et al. (2018) [7] .

Effect of zinc levels

The highest grain, straw and biological yield was recorded with sowing on 20 th November, which was significantly superior to 10 th December and remained statistically at par with 30 th November. The per cent increased the seed yield by 20 th November and 30 th November in tune of 9.32 and 4.59 per cent over to 10 th December, respectively. The higher yield under timely sowing may be attributed to favourable temperature during vegetative and reproductive phases, longer grain-filling duration and better synchronization of crop growth with available moisture and solar radiation. The present findings are supported by Yadav and Khan (2025). The highest net return (₹91,006 ha⁻¹) was recorded under the weedfree treatment, which was significantly superior to the weedy check (₹54,979 ha⁻¹), one hand weeding @ 30 DAS (₹83,139 ha⁻¹), metsulfuron methyl @ 4.0 g ha⁻¹ at 30 DAS (₹86,997 ha⁻¹) and carfentrazone ethyl @ 20 g ha⁻¹ at 30 DAS (₹81,458 ha⁻¹). The higher profitability under weed-free conditions was mainly due to greater grain and straw yields resulting from effective suppression of weed competition. Among herbicides, metsulfuron methyl recorded comparatively higher net returns and B:C ratio because of its effective weed control and relatively low application cost (Bhakar et al., 2026) [8] .

References

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12. How to cite this article: Kumar U, Shivran H, Jakhar A, Qidwai S, Chaturvedevi V. Effect of organic manure and zinc levels on growth, yield and nutrient uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). International Journal of Research in Agronomy. 2026;9(9):942-944. doi: https://www.doi.org/10.33545/2618060 X.2026.v9.i9m.6624