Effect of boron on growth and productivity of groundnut in coastal sandy soils

Abstract

Afield experiment was conducted at Agricultural College Farm, Bapatla, to study the effect of boron on growth and productivity of groundnut in coastal sandy soils. The experiment comprised of nine treatments with threereplications in randomized block design. The growth and yield parameters of groundnut were significantly improved by the application of boron. Among the treatments, soil application of borax @ 12.5 kg/ha resulted in maximum values of growth and yield parameters of groundnut viz., plant height, number of branches, number of leaves, leaf area index, number of pods/plant, haulm yield, pod yield and kernel yield and most of these parameters were on par with all the other boron applied treatments. Application of boron resulted in higher gross and net returns when compared to control. The highest gross returns was obtained by soil application of Borax @ 12.5 kg/ha whereas, highest net returns and BC ratio is obtained by T6 i.e. RDF + foliar spray of Borax @ 0.1% at 65 DAS. Soil application of Borax @ 7.5 kg/ha along with RDF may be recommended from the study as application of boron along with RDF enhances boron availability in soil, growth parameters, yield parameters, yield, quality parameters, nutrient content and uptake in groundnut in coastal sandy soils.