Response of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to Sulphur and Zinc Elements

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted aiming to study the influence of Sulphur and Zinc on growth and yield of chickpea during the Rabi season 2021/22. The treatments were T1 (20 kg sulphur h-1 + 10 kg zinc h-1), T2 (20 kg sulphur h-1 + 15 kg zinc h-1), T3 (20 kg sulphur h-1 + 20 kg zinc h-1),T4 (30 kg sulphur h-1 + 10 kg zinc h-1), T5 (30 kg sulphur h-1 + 15 kg zinc h-1), T6 (30 kg sulphur h-1 + 20 kg zinc h-1), T7 (40 kg sulphur h-1 + 10 kg zinc h-1), T8 (40 kg sulphur h-1 + 15 kg zinc h-1) and T9 (40 kg sulphur h-1 + 20 kg zinc h-1). The findings show that the treatment T9 recorded highest plant height (44.11 cm), maximum number of nodules/plant (42.40), highest plant dry weight (8.05 g/plant), maximum number of pods/plant (31.53), maximum number of seeds/pod (1.73), highest seed index (237.67 g), highest seed yield (1819.00 kg/ha) and maximum stover yield (3253.67 kg/ha), highest gross returns (130068.00 INR/ha), highest net return (92527.62 INR/ha) and highest benefit cost ratio (2.40) compared to other studied treatments, while the lowest one was realized with T1 treatment.