Impact of Foliar Application of Zinc and Biofertilizers on Growth of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

Abstract

The field experiment took place in the Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj, during the Kharif season of 2021. (UP), India. The objective of the experiment is to lessen the use of chemical fertilizers by using techniques of integrated nutrient management efficiently without compromising the nutrient availability to the crop, which ultimately reduces the effect of chemicals used in the agroecosystem. The experiment was set up in a Randomized Block Design with ten treatments, including control, replicated thrice using various biofertilizers. viz., Azospirillum species 25 gram/kilogram seeds, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria 25 g/kg seeds and combination of Azospirillum sp. 25 g/kg seeds + PSB 25 g/kg seeds and foliar application of 0.5% zinc at 30, 50 and 30 + 50 days after sowing per hectare. The research revealed that foliar application of zinc 0.5% at 50 DAS along with seed inoculation by Azospirillum sp. 25 g/kg Seeds + PSB 25 g/kg seeds significantly increased the growth parameters of Sorghum viz., plant height (163.31centimeter), dry matter accumulation (92.71 g), No. of Leaves (12.87), absolute growth rate (1.33 g/plant/day), crop growth rate (44.31 g/m2/day) and leaf area (414.67 cm2).