Effect of organic manures, iron and zinc enriched FYM on growth, yield attributes and yield of pearlmillet

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2022 and 2023 at Agronomy Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, Chimanbhai Patel College of Agriculture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar to study the effect of organic manures, iron and zinc enriched FYM on pearlmillet in loamy sand. There were eighteen treatment combinations comprising of three organic manures i.e., M1: FYM @ 10 t ha-1, M2: NADEP compost @ 10 t ha-1 and M3: castor cake @ 1 t ha-1 as well as six levels of Fe and Zn supplementation i.e., F1: 2.5 kg Zn ha-1, F2: 4.5 kg Fe ha-1, F3: 2.5 kg Zn ha-1 and 4.5 kg Fe ha-1, F4: 500 kg FYM ha-1 enriched with 1.25 kg Zn, F5: 500 kg FYM ha-1 enriched with 2.25 kg Fe and F6: 500 kg FYM ha-1 enriched with 1.25 kg Zn and 2.25 kg Fe were tested in a spilt plot design with four replications. The pooled results indicated that application of castor cake @ 1 t ha-1 recorded significantly higher growth, yield attributes and yield parameters viz., number of effective tillers per meter row length, earhead length, grain and straw yields of kharif pearlmillet. Among different Fe and Zn supplementation, an application of 500 kg FYM ha-1 enriched with 1.25 kg Zn and 2.25 kg Fe recorded significantly higher growth, yield attributes and yield viz., plant height at harvest, number of effective tillers per meter row length, earhead length, grain and straw yield of kharif pearlmillet.