Effect of Zinc Fortification on Growth and Yield of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2021 at CRF (Crop Research Farm), Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj, (U.P). The soil of the experimental field is sandy loam in texture with a neutral soil pH. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with nine treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of three levels of Zinc viz., 10 kg/ha, 15 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha and three levels of Zinc sulphate at 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%, whose effect was observed in finger millet. The results revealed that the treatment with application of 15 kg/ha zinc + 0.5% Znso4 recorded higher plant height (81.22 cm), number of tillers/plant (7.85/plant), plant dry weight (26.32g/plant), and the yield attributes viz., seed yield (2.79 t/ha), straw yield (4.72 t/ha) and harvest index (37.19%) were also recorded highest in the treatment with application of 15 kg/ha zinc and 0.5% Znso4.