Influence of Smart Fertilizer on Yield and Economics of Cowpea

Abstract

The extent of agricultural land under cultivation is diminishing continuously as a result of improper over use of fertilizer leads to environmental contamination and productivity of land is also become diminished. Nonetheless, in order to fulfill the rising population's nutritional needs as well as those of the developing industry, agricultural production must be enhanced. Smart fertilizers like Nano fertilizers are the new technologies to enhance the nutrient use efficiency them by improving crop yield in sustainable manner. Nano-fertilizers are the Nano-particles-based fertilizers, where supply of the nutrients is made precisely for maximum plant growth, have higher use efficiency, exploiting plant unavailable nutrients in the rhizosphere and can be delivered on real time basis into the rhizosphere or by foliar spray. Pulses are gaining more important position in Indian agriculture. But the average productivity of pulses is pulses in India (764 kg ha-1) is far below the average productivity of the world (848 kg ha-1). Basally applied nutrients are lost over time, thus applying important fertilizer to cowpeas during their critical growth is a effective strategy to enhance their yield. Especially smart fertilizers like Nano Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Zinc - Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid (Zn EDTA) are very helpful in that. Therefore, the field experiment was done in the School of Agriculture and Animal Science, Gandhi gram Rural Institute, Gandhi gram, Tamil Nadu during January 2024 to April 2024 to assess the impact of Nano DAP and Zn EDTA on growth and yield of cowpea. There were seven treatments with three replications that were laid out in RBD. Among the different treatments, RDF 50% P, 100% NK + Seed treatment and two foliar spray 0.2% of Nano DAP + Foliar spray of 3% Zn EDTA (T7) was achieved a supremely improved growth parameters and yield attributes and yield. Experimental results clearly revealed that RDF 50% P, 100% NK + Seed treatment and two foliar spray 0.2% of Nano DAP + Foliar spray of 3% Zn EDTA(T7) has recorded the highest grain yield of 1720 kg ha-1 and BCR of 3.25.