Harnessing the productivity and profitability of wheat through foliar feeding of salicylic acid and micronutrient mixture in Indo-Gangetic plains of Uttarakhand

Abstract

A field experiment was executed to investigate the effect of foliar application of salicylic acid and micronutrients on the productivity and profitability of wheat under different fertility levels in the Tarai region of Uttarakhand. The Experiment was conducted at the E2 block of Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre (NEBCRC) at GBPUA&T, Pantnagar during the rabi season (2020-21). The design chosen for the experiment was Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with two different factors i.e., A. Fertility factor with 75% and 100% RDF, and B. Foliar spray factor with combination of salicylic acid and micronutrient mixture. The variety employed for the trial was HD-2967, because of its wide range of acceptability of local farmers The Foliar application involved using a micronutrient mixture @ 2.5 ml per liter and salicylic acid at a concentration of 0.4 grams per liter (400 ppm). The study's findings indicate that applying salicylic acid and micronutrient mixture via foliar spray enhances crop performance in terms of both yield and profitability. Notably, the yield from plots treated with 75% RDF along with the application of salicylic acid and micronutrient mixture (5.7 t/ha) was at par with plots treated only with 100% RDF (5.6 t/ha). This implies that using foliar application of salicylic acid and micronutrients can offset the yield reduction associated with lower fertilizer levels while yielding higher returns. Additionally, under 100% RDF conditions along with the application of salicylic acid and micronutrient mixture either individually or in combination, lead to a 15.4% increase in the harvest with a 13.6% higher benefit-to-cost ratio.