Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges & Opportunities
during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
+ 20g/ha of sodium selenite at 23 and 55 DAS after sowing, T3: T1+ foliar spray of 0.5% water
soluble fertilizer + 0.5% ZnSO4 + 20g/ha of sodium selenite at 23 and 55 DAS after sowing, T4:
T1+ foliar spray of 0.5% water soluble fertilizer + 0.5% ZnSO4 + 20g/ha of sodium selenite at
55 after sowing only, T5: T1+ foliar spray of 0.5% water soluble fertilizer + 0.5% ZnSO4 +
20g/ha of sodium selenite at 23 after sowing only, T6: No basal but top dressing only foliar
spray of 0.5% water soluble fertilizer + 0.5% ZnSO4 + 20g/ha of sodium selenite at 23 and 55
DAS, T7: T1+ foliar spray of 0.5% water soluble fertilizer at 23 and 55 DAS, T8: T1+ foliar
spray of Plant Agromagic water soluble fertilizer @ 4g /L, T9: Absolute control, no fertilizers.
Results
Results of the field experiment revealed that application of recommended dose of fertilizer +
spraying of 0.5% ZnSO4 + 20 g/ha of sodium selenite at 25 and 55 DAS resulted in highest grain
yield of maize followed by treatments T4 and T5. The lowest grain yield of maize was recorded
in T6 treatment where no fertilizers were applied basally but only spraying of water-soluble
fertilizer, ZnSO4 and sodium selenite were taken up as compared to absolute control where no
fertilizers were added indicating that the spraying of water-soluble fertilizers and micronutrients
will have adverse effect on plants which are nutrient stressed. It is also evident from the Figure
1 that the treatment T2 where no top dressing of 45 kg N/ha was given resulted in lower yield as
compared to treatment T1 indicating that the water-soluble fertilizers can be used as a
supplement to the conventional fertilizers like urea, DAP, MOP. The significant increase in the
grain yield of maize in treatments receiving foliar sprays is attributed due to the increase in the
uptake of nitrogen, phosphors, potassium and zinc by the maize crop. The soil test values for
available N, P, K and available Zn after the harvest of the maize crop did vary significantly in the
treatments studied. The total chlorophyll content was highest in T3 treatment as compared to
other treatments analyzed from the plant samples collected one day after the second spraying ie
on the 61st DAS indicating that spraying of water-soluble fertilizers along with micronutrients
and selenium at 30 and 60 DAS has resulted in higher photosynthetic ability.
Conclusions
The results of the study indicate that the water-soluble fertilizers can be used as a supplement to
the conventional fertilizers like urea, DAP, MOP.
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