Effect of Organic Manures and Boron Application on Yield Attributes and Yield of Mustard (Brassica junciea L.) under Jammu Region

Abstract

ABSTRACT Boron (B) is a critical micronutrient for mustard’s normal growth and development. After zinc (Zn), this is one of the most critical deficient micronutrients in Indian soil. During the consecutive years 2018–19 and 2019–20, an experiment was carried out using three sources of organic manures and four levels of boron in a factorial randomized block design at experimental field, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Chatha, India, during rabi season. The three appication sources of organic manures, viz., OM0 (control), OM2 (10 ton per hectare Farmyard manure) and OM3 (5 ton per hectare Farmyard manure +2.5 ton per hectare Vermicompost), with five levels of boron, i.e. B1 (control), B2 (soil application 5 kg borax per hectare), B3 (soil application 10 kg borax per hectare), B4 (foliar spray 0.1% boric acid solution) and B5 (foliar spray 0.2% boric acid solution). Based on the field experiment, the best treatment combination was the application of OM3 (5 ton per hectare Farmyard manure +2.5 ton per hectare Vermicompost) combined with BS-10 (10 kg borax per hectare). This combination produced the best results based on metric characters like plant dry matter (at 30, 60 and harvest), number of silique per branches, number of seeds per silique, length of silique, number of branch per plant, occurrence of 50% flowering, test weight, grain yield, straw yield and harvest index.