Studies on the effect of zinc and boron on growth and yield of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) under limited irrigation

Abstract

An experiment was conducted during rabi 2018-19 at Oilseed Research Farm, Kalyanpur, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur to study the effect of zinc and boron on growth, yield attributes, seed yield and economics of linseed. The soil of experimental site was sandy loam in texture, low in organic carbon, available nitrogen and medium in available phosphorus and potash with slightly alkaline in reaction. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with three replications. The treatments comprised soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1, foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% at 45 DAS, soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% at 45 DAS, soil application of borax @ 1.5 kg ha-1, foliar application of borax @ 0.3% at 45 DAS, soil application of borax @ 1.5 kg ha-1 + foliar application of borax @ 0.3 at 45 DAS, soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1 + borax @ 1.5 kg ha-1, foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% + borax @ 0.3% at 45 DAS compared with control treatment. The source of zinc and boron application were zinc sulphate hepta hydrate and borax. The experimental crop received a total rainfall of 35.2 mm which was exposed to mean minimum temperature 4.60C during fifty two standard week (24-31 December, 2018) and maximum temperature 39.40C during 15th meteorological week (9-15 April, 2019) respectively. Results exhibited that among the treatments foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% + borax @ 0.3% at 45 DAS found superior in terms of maximum plant growth, yield attributes and seed yield. The significantly maximum seed yield (2047 kg ha-1), gross monetary return (Rs.92115 ha-1) and net monetary return (Rs.65508 ha-1) were recorded with the foliar application of ZnSO4 @ 0.5% + borax @ 0.3% at 45 DAS and was followed by the soil application of ZnSO4@ 25 Kg ha-1 + borax@ 1.5 kg ha-1.