Yield Response and Drought Mitigation Strategy of Cotton by Foliar Feeding of Plant Nutrients under Rainfed Agriculture in Black Soil (Typic Chromusterts)

Abstract

ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted to study the influence of foliar application of plant nutrition on yield attributes, yield and nutrient uptake of cotton (KC 3) at the Agricultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Kovilpatti during rabi season 2013–16. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) comprising nine treatments replicated thrice under rainfed condition. These results revealed that the treatment imposed as recommended dose of fertilizers (40:20:40 kg of Nitrogen: Phosphorus: Potassium/ha) along with 1.25% cotton plus at square formation and flowering stages increased the yield attributes and yield of cotton (KC 3) viz., sympodial branches/plant (89.9 nos), number of bolls (9.9 nos), boll weight (3.8 g), dry matter production (1909 kg/ha) and therefore it influenced the seed cotton yield (912 kg/ha).