Response of sulfur and zinc on yield attributes, yield and oil and protein content in linseed ( Linum usitatissimum L.) crop

Abstract

A pot experiment was carried out to study the effect of sulfur and zinc on yield attributes, yield and quality of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) crop on sandy loam soil, with each of four levels of sulphur i.e. 0, 20, 40 and 60 ppm and zinc i.e., 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 ppm, during rabi season, 2014-15, in pot culture house of Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur. The experiment was conducted in CRBD with four replications. The results indicated that application of 40 ppm S pot-1 and 5.0 ppm Zn pot-1 improved the yield components viz number of capsules plant-1 (55.80 a 54.47), number of seeds capsules-1 (8.40 a 8.35), 1000-seed weight (8.60 a 8.55 g), seed (14.33 a 13.91 g pot-1) and stover (20.75 a 20.45 g pot-1) yield as compared to other treatments. However, the yield values were statistically at par at 40 and 60 ppm S levels and 5.0 and 7.5 ppm Zn levels. The results also exhibited that oil and protein content of seed increased with the application of sulfur and zinc upto their highest levels. The oil and protein contents in seeds increased upto 60 ppm S (40.85 a 20.12 %) and 5.0 ppm Zn (40.70 a 19.87 %) respectively.