Effect of Foliar Application of Nano and Conventional Urea on Growth and Yield Attributes of Ragi (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Bavikere, KSNUAHS, Shivamogga, India during Late Kharif 2022 to evaluate the effect of nano and conventional urea on growth and yield of ragi. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with eleven treatments replicated thrice. The treatments comprised of absolute control (T1), recommended dose of fertilizer (T2), 50 per cent RDN + two sprays of 0.4 per cent nano urea fertilizer at 30 & 45 DAT (T3), 75 per cent RDN + one spray of 0.4 per cent nano urea fertilizer at 30 DAT (T4), 75 percent RDN + two sprays of 0.4 percent nano urea fertilizer at 30 & 45 DAT (T5), 100 per cent RDN + one spray of 0.4 percent nano urea fertilizer at 30 DAT (T6), 50 percent RDN + two sprays of 2 per cent urea fertilizer at 30 & 45 DAT (T7), 75 per cent RDN + one spray of 2 per cent urea fertilizer at 30 DAT (T8), 75 percent RDN + two sprays of 2 percent urea fertilizer at 30 & 45 DAT (T9), 100 per cent RDN + one spray of 2 per cent urea fertilizer at 30 DAT (T10), four sprays of 0.4 per cent nano urea fertilizer at 15, 30, 45 & 60 DAT (T11). The results revealed that the application of 100 per cent RDN + one spray of 0.4 per cent nano urea fertilizer at 30 DAT (T6) recorded higher plant height (94.13 cm), number of tillers hill-1 (8.85), number of earheads per hill (7.86), finger length (8.46), grain yield (3812 kg ha-1), straw yield (6453 kg ha-1) and harvest index (37.13%), which was statistically on par with the T10 and T5. Treatment T6 produced 9.32 per cent higher grain yield compared to T2.