Response of Iron and Boron on Growth, Yield and Quality of Safflower Crop (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in Kalyan Karnataka

Abstract

The present experiment was carried at Agricultural Research Station, Hagari, Ballari, Karnataka to evaluate the response of iron and boron on growth, yield and quality of safflower during two consecutive years 2020-21. The experiment consisted of seven treatments, includes T1: Absolute control, T2: RDF (40:40:12.5 kg NPK +30 kg Sulphur +15 kg ZnSO4ha-1), T3: RDF + 15 kg FeSO4ha-1, T4: RDF + 1.0 kg Boron ha-1, T5: RDF + 15 kg FeSO4ha-1+ 1.0 kg Boron ha-1, T6: RDF + 20 kg FeSO4ha-1, T7: RDF + 1.5 kg Boron ha-1 and T8: RDF + 20 kg FeSO4ha-1 +1.5 kg Boron ha-1 which replicated thrice in randomized complete block design. The results of the experiment revealed that the combined application of iron and boron i.e. 100% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) along with 20 kg iron per ha and 1.5 kg boron per ha (T8) recorded significantly maximum plant height (117.0 cm), number of leaves per plant (94.3), number of primary branches per plant (14.1), number of secondary branches per plant (21.3), total dry matter production (2878 kg), number of capsules per plant (36.9), seed weight per head (0.94), thousand seed weight (68.5 g), and seed yield (15.96 q ). Further, the quality parameters such as protein (15.5 %) and oil content (28.8 %) were significantly enhanced in same treatment.