Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Effect of different modes of zinc fertilization on growth, yield and economics of quality protein maize under rainfed conditions of Jammu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.5749
Submitted
12 October 2024
Published
26-03-2025
Versions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different modes of zinc fertilization on quality protein maize, to assess the response of zinc on growth, yield attributes, yield and nutrient uptake in quality protein maize. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design and was replicated thrice. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam in texture, near to neutral in reaction, low in organic carbon, available nitrogen, potassium and zinc but medium in available phosphorus. The experimental results revealed that seeds treated with zinc-sulphate @ 4g zinc per kg of seed + 1.5% foliar spray with ZnSO4 at knee high and silking stage recorded significantly higher growth, yield attributes and yield, which was statistically at par with seeds treated with ZnSO4 @ 4g/kg of seed + 1% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at knee high and silking stage and seed treatment with ZnSO4 @ 2g/kg of seed + 1.5% foliar spray of zinc-sulphate at knee high and silking stage. In terms of economics, the similar treatment (zinc-sulphate @ 4g/ kg of seed + 1.5% foliar spray using zinc-sulphate at knee high and silking) recorded the highest gross returns, Net returns and B: C ratio, which was closely followed by zinc-sulphate @ 4g/ kg seed + 1% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at knee high and silking stage. Hence, seed treatment with zinc sulphate @ 4g/ kg of seed + foliar application of zinc sulphate @ 1.5% emerged as an effective approach in enhancing growth and yield of quality protein maize under rainfed conditions.

References

  1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. Agricultural statistics at a glance 2023 [Internet]. New Delhi: Government of India; 2023.
  2. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Planning Development and Monitoring Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Digest of statistics 2023 [Internet]. Jammu and Kashmir: Government of Jammu and Kashmir; 2023.
  3. Bisht AS, Bhatnagar A, Pal MS, Singh V. Growth dynamics, productivity and economics of quality protein maize (Zea mays L.) under varying plant density and nutrient management practices. Madras Agric J. 2012;99(1-3):73–76. https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.100017
  4. Choudhary P, Singh D, Kaushik MK, Sharma SS, Jain HK, Saharan V, et al. Production, productivity and quality of maize (Zea mays L.) as affected by foliar application of zinc-based nanofertilizer and different fertility levels. Pharma Innov J. 2022;11(2):1878–82.
  5. Suganya A, Saravanan A, Manivannam N. Role of zinc nutrition for increasing zinc availability, uptake, yield and quality of maize (Zea mays L.) grains: an overview. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal. 2020;51(15):2001–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2020.1820030
  6. Sadeghzadeh B. A review of zinc nutrition and plant breeding. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr. 2013;13:905–27. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-95162013005000072
  7. Rudani K, Patel V, Prajapati K. The importance of zinc in plant growth - a review. Int Res J Nat Appl Sci. 2018;5(2):38–48.
  8. Ariraman R, Selvakumar S, Mansingh MDI, Karthikeyan M, Valine YA. Effect of zinc application on growth, yield parameters, nutrient uptake, yield and economics of maize. Agric Rev. 2022;43(1):104–09.
  9. Singh B, Natesan SKA, Singh BK, Usha K. Improving zinc efficiency of cereals under zinc deficiency. Curr Sci. 2003;88:36–44.
  10. Ladumor RG, Gudadhe NN, Onte S, Narwade AV, Karmakar N, Thanki JD. Evaluation of maize for different methods and levels of zinc application. Maydica. 2020;64(3):1–14. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17460.63360.
  11. Nichiporovich AA. Aims of research on photosynthesis of plants as a factor of soil productivity. In: Nichiporovich AA, editor. Photosynthesis of Productive Systems. Jerusalem: Israel Programme Science Trans; 1967. p. 3–36
  12. AOAC. Methods of analysis. Washington D.C.: Association of Official Analytical Chemistry; 1970. p. 216.
  13. Cochran WG, Cox GM. Experimental designs. Bombay: Asia Publishing House; 1957. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-195711000-00018
  14. Kathula KV, Manohar KA, Sagar A, Gaikwad D. Effect of different zinc fertilization methods on growth and productivity of summer maize (Zea mays L.). Agric Sci Dig. 2023;5732:1–5. https://doi.org/10.18805/ag.D-5732
  15. Wasaya A, Shabir MS, Hussain M, Aziz A, Hassan, Ahmad I. Foliar application of zinc and boron improved the productivity and net returns of maize grown under rainfed conditions of Pothwar plateau. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr. 2017;17(1):33–45. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-95162017005000003
  16. Farooq F, Singh P, Singh AP, Singh B, Kumar R. Effect of zinc and iron fertilization on productivity of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) under rainfed agro-ecologies of Jammu. Legume Res. 2025;1:6.
  17. Yashona DS, Mishra US, Aher SB. Response of pulse crops to sole and combined mode of zinc application: a review. J Soils Crops. 2018;28(2):249–58.
  18. Kunjammal P, Sukumar J. Effect of different seed treatment on grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) under drought stress conditions. Madras Agric J. 2019;4-6:384–87. https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.2019.000279
  19. Lavanya YV, Mosha K, Rekha MS, Subbaiah PV. Response of pearl millet to soil and foliar nutrition of zinc and iron. Andhra Agric J. 2020;67(4):270–75. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v66i4.2880
  20. Tamil AG, Karthikeyan R, Thavaprakaash N, Bharathi C. Effect of zinc fertilization on physiological parameters, nutrient uptake, yield and economics of baby corn. Madras Agric J. 2021;108(4-6):172–76. https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.000497
  21. Singson H, Layek J, Das A, Pande R, Verma BC, Singh AK, Shivay YS. Effect of zinc fertilization on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of rice (Oryza sativa) in Eastern Himalayas. Indian J Agron. 2021;66(4):498–503.
  22. Palai JB, Sarkar NC, Jena J. Effect of zinc on growth, plant yield, NPK uptake and economics. Int J Bioresour Stress Manag. 2017;8(5):698–702. https://doi.org/10.23910/IJBSM/2017.8.5.1848b

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.