Micronutrients seed priming: A strategy to improve yield and quality of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the “Studies on influence of micronutrients priming on yield, nutrient uptake and quality of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.)” at research farm, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Badnapur during 2024-2025. The field trial was conducted in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with six treatments which were replicated four times. The treatments were (T1): RDF (60:30:40 NPK kg ha-1), (T2): RDF + Zinc sulphate @ 3g kg-1 seed, (T3): RDF + Ferrous sulphate @ 3g kg-1 seed, (T4): RDF + Borax @ 3g kg-1 seed, (T5): RDF + Zinc sulphate + Ferrous sulphate each @ 3g kg-1 seed and (T6): RDF + Zinc sulphate + Ferrous sulphate + Borax each @ 3g kg-1 seed. The results indicate that, the micronutrient priming treatment (T6) receiving RDF + Zinc sulphate + Ferrous sulphate + Borax each @ 3g kg-1 seed was found effective in growth, yield and quality parameters like plant height, leaf area, dry matter plant-1, yield, number of seeds earhead-1, diameter of earhead, protein content, oil content and test weight. The lowest values obtained from the treatment (T1) receiving only RDF (60:30:40 NPK kg ha-1).