Scheduling of Zn and B Fertilization for Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.): Impact on Yield, Nutrient Use Efficiency, and Fruit Quality

Abstract

ABSTRACT Brinjal is a widely grown vegetables. A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of farmyard manure (FYM), Zn and B application on fruit yield, their uptake and ascorbic acid contents of brinjal where two levels of FYM (no FYM and 5 Mg ha−1), four levels of Zn (no Zn, 5 kg Zn ha−1 as basal, 10 kg Zn ha−1 as basal and 5 kg Zn ha−1 as basal + foliar spray of Zn twice @ 0.5% ZnSO4.7 H2O) and three levels of B (no B, 1 and 2 kg B ha−1) were applied in a factorial controlled randomized design. Zn @ 10 kg ha−1 through basal and soil + foliar application enhanced the fruit yield over Zn @ 5 kg ha−1 and control. Foliar spraying of Zn and basal applied Zn enhanced the Zn uptake in fruits to 2.0–2.25 fold, while 2 kg B ha−1 application enhanced the uptake by B of two-fold irrespective of FYM application. A higher B use efficiency was recorded with 1 kg B ha−1 application than 2 kg B ha−1. Basal application of Zn and B, in addition to the foliar spray of Zn, is recommended to correct Zn and B deficiency in brinjal.