Performance of summer green gram in response to combined soil and foliar application of major essential nutrients

Abstract

Foliar application can be used along with the soil application of fertilizers to enhance the yield and quality of crops for a sustainable approach to nutrient management. In this context, a field experiment was conducted with green gram (cv: NVL-516) in anacidic soil of the Agricultural Research Farm, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan, Bhubaneswar with the objective to study the impact of combined soil and foliar application of nutrients on yield and protein content of summer green gram in Odisha. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with three replications and eight treatments consisting of recommended dose of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium and Sulphur (NPKS) along with foliar application of 2% urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), KCl, N: P: K (19:19:19) and 1%KNO3 and control.Foliar application was done two times at 30 and 45 DAS. The highest yield (1582 kg ha-1 ) was recorded in treatment where 1%KNO3 was applied as foliar spray along with the recommended dose of NPKS and was at par with 2%DAP(1574 kg ha-1). The protein content of seeds was found highest in treatment with foliar application of urea (22.6%) followed by KNO3 (22.4%), N: P: K (19:19:19) (22.4%) and DAP(22.1%). The protein content strongly correlated with the N concentration of seeds.