Abstract
Among pulses, mungbean is being considered as valuable cash crop in Pakistan but its productivity is under stress due to various agronomic and nutrient related management factors. Current study was planned to assess the interactive effect of soil applied zinc (Zn) and boron (B) under both field and pot managed conditions. Experiment was conducted at the Agronomic Research Area, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad which is located at 31ᵒ North latitude and 73ᵒ East longitude with an altitude of 185 meters above sea level. The experimental treatments were comprised of three Zn (0, 2 and 4 kg Zn ha-1) and three B (0, 2 and 4 kg Zn ha-1) rates which were applied in nine combinations viz., B0Zn0, B0Zn2, B0Zn4, B2Zn0,B2Zn2,B2Zn4, B4Zn0, B4Zn2, B4Zn4. Results revealed that, variations between field and pot trials as treatment B0Zn4 helped to increase plant height (60.66 cm) and pod length (10.17 cm) in field trials while B2Zn4 positively affected plant height (56.8 cm 27 cm), number of pods per plant (38.78 20.66), pod length (9.28 cm 10.18 cm), number of nodules (12.56 9) and seed yield (1402 t ha-1 6.42 g plant-1) in both field and pot trials, respectively. Moreover, B2Zn4 treatment also improved the number of pod bearing branches per plant (9.03) and number of seeds per pod (8.36) in field trial as compared to control and other set of treatments. Yield related attributes were also significant with B2Zn2 treatment under field conditions but negative effects in terms of low yield and its related attributes were witnessed with other set of treatments under both experimental conditions. Based on this data, B2Zn4 isrecommended to farmers facing soil related Zn and B deficiency problems, to get maximum economic returns of mungbean.
Highlights
Pulses are the rich source of high-quality protein in Pakistan
Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important conventional pulse grown in Pakistan, known as green gram and a major component of many cropping systems
Data showed that plant height, yield and yield related attributes of both field and pot trials were improved under combined Zn and B treatments as compared to control and where both micronutrients were applied separately (Table 3 & 4)
Summary
Pulses are the rich source of high-quality protein in Pakistan. Different pulses are grown in Pakistan such as cowpea, chickpea, lentil, mungbean and black gram (Ali and Abedullah, 1998; Rani et al, 2014). Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important conventional pulse grown in Pakistan, known as green gram and a major component of many cropping systems. Among pulses, it ranks third in Pakistan and is a source of low priced protein a large population section relies on it (Usman et al, 2007). In Pakistan, children and women suffer from Zn deficiency of 30-40% and 40-50%, respectively, due to consumption of cereal based diet lacking in Zn that renders its low bioavailability in human body (Hafeez et al, 2013) This is a third most severe crop nutrition disorder in Pakistan after nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) (Alloway, 2008). The objective of this study was to evaluate the proper dose of soil applied Zn and B in combination to improve the agronomic performance and net income benefits in mungbean crop
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