Growth and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and soil fertility as influenced bymicronutrients and bio-fertilisers in vertisols

Abstract

A field experiment to assess the effect of micronutrients and bio-fertilizers on growth and yield of chick pea andsoil fertility in vertisolswas conducted at College of Agriculture, Vijayapura during rabi 2020-21. The experiment was laidout in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications. Apart from the recommended doseof fertilizers (10:25:00: N: P2O5:K2O kg ha-1), the treatments included the application of iron sulphate @10 kgha-1 (19% Feand 10.5%S), zinc sulphate @10 kg ha-1 (21% Zn and 10% S), borax @ 10 kg ha-1 (11.34% B) and sodium molybdate @1.0 g kg-1 seeds in various combinations along with RDF. The effects of these treatments on growth, yield, dehydrogenaseactivity and quality of chickpea were studied. The application of different micronutrients and biofertilizers in combinationswith RDF resulted in significant increase in growth and yield of chickpea over RDF alone. Among the different treatments,the treatment which received RDF + Rhizobium + PSB (@ 1250 g ha-1) + FeSO4 @ 10 kg ha-1 +ZnSO4@ 10 kg ha-1 +Borax@ 10 kg ha-1 + Sodium molybdate @ 1.0 g kg-1 seeds (T8) resulted in maximum plant height (32.10 cm), number of branchesper plant (12.74), total dry matter accumulation at flowering (12.60), at pod filling (22.57) and at harvest (25.56 g plant-1),grain yield (1591.4), straw yield (1350 kg ha-1) and harvest index (0.54). The treatment also resulted in higher uptake ofmajor (N, P, K and S) and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn) by chickpea. Significantly higher crude protein content inseeds was observed and similarly higher available macronutrients and DTPA extractable Fe and Zn status in soil afterharvest of the crop noticed. Thus, the combined application of RDF (10:25:00: N: P2O5:K2O kg ha-1) + Rhizobium + PSB (@1250 g ha-1) + FeSO4 @ 10 kg ha-1 +ZnSO4@ 10 kg ha-1 +Borax @ 10 kg ha-1 + Sodium molybdate @ 1.0 g kg-1 seeds, foundoptimum for higher productivity of chickpea in vertisols