Effect of foliar spray of nano nutrients on growth and herbage yield of Indian pennywort (Centella asiatica L.) cv. Arka Divya

Abstract

Centella asiatica is a perenial herb from the Apiaceae family that is used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. This plant has various minerals such as Fe, Ca and vitamin C and grown in most parts of the world. Nano-fertilizers represent a superior alternative to traditional fertilizers owing to their enhanced solubility and the sustained release of particles in comparison to conventional fertilizers. In order investigate the effect of foliar application of nano nutrients on growth and yield of Centella asiatica cv.Arka divya. In this experiment the treatments include control (water spray), conventional urea (4%), FeSO₄ (0.5%), ZnSO₄ (0.2%), combinations of conventional urea with FeSO₄ and ZnSO₄, nano urea (4%), nano FeO (100 mg l⁻¹), nano ZnO (100 mg l⁻¹), and a combination of nano urea, nano ZnO, and nano FeO are applied through foliar spray. The results revealed that, among various nutrients, the combined application of nano urea, nano ZnO, and nano FeO resulted in a significant increase in all growth parameters, including stolon length, internodal length, leaf length, leaf width, and the number of leaves. Additionally, these treatments led to a marked improvement in both fresh and dry herbage yield. Conversely, lowest growth recorded in control - water spray.