Abstract

A field experiment on agronomic biofortification with zinc and iron micronutrients in maize was carried out during kharif season of 2015 at Agricultural Research Station, Bailhongal. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with factorial concept with three replications consisted of 16 treatment combinations involving seed treatment (no seed treatment and seed treatment with Zn and Fe each@1%), soil application of Zn and Fe (no soil application, soil application of recommended ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@25kg ha-1 and FYM enriched ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 application each@15kg ha-1 and FYM enriched ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 application each@25kg ha-1) and foliar application of Zn and Fe at 45 DAS (no foliar and foliar spray of ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@0.5%).

Soil application of FYM enriched ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@25 and 15kg ha-1 recorded higher yield and yield attributes. Similarly foliar spray of ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@0.5% at 45 DAS found superior over no foliar spray. Among the interactions treatment combination involving seed treatment, soil application of FYM enriched ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@15 kg ha-1 and foliar spray recorded the higher grain yield (78.5q ha-1), Stover yield (106.4q ha-1) and yield parameters viz., cob length (20.7cm), cob weight (286.7g), grain weight per cob (190.0g), number of grains per cob (684.8) and test weight (31.4g) also higher values in growth parameters viz., plant height, leaf area index, SPAD values and dry matter production compared to no seed, soil and foliar application of Zn and Fe. However, it was on par with treatment combination involving seed treatment, soil application of FYM enriched ZnSO⁴ and FeSO4 each@25 kg ha-1 and foliar spray

Keywords: Biofortification; FYM enrichment; Micronutrients; Growth; Yield