Potassium and zinc influence on green gram yield, nutrient content, uptake and post harvest soil fertility in course textured soil of south-west Haryana

Abstract

The soil of semi-arid region of Haryana has poor fertility status with low organic carbon. The recommendations are made only for nitrogen and phosphorous in most states. A field experiment in triplicated split-plot design was conducted during kharif 2018 at Regional Research Station, Bawal (CCS HAU) on green gram cultivar ‘MH 421’ in a loamy sand to investigate the effects of different levels of potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) application on green gram and soil fertility. There were four levels of K in main plots (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg K2O/ha) and four levels of Zn in sub plots (0, 12.5, 25 and 37.5 kg ZnSO4/ ha). Micronutrients (Zn, Mn and Cu) content were not significantly influenced by the application of potassium except Fe. Whereas the uptake of all the micronutrients under consideration was significantly increased (upto 56.47 % Zn by seed and upto 44.32% Zn by straw) with the potassium application. Zinc application significantly influenced Zn content in seed (upto 29.57 %) and straw (upto 24.37 %) while the uptake of Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe in both seed and straw. Highest seed (1.14 t/ha) and straw yield (1.33 t/ha) were recorded with the application of potassium @ 30 kg/ha, and zinc @ 37.5 kg/ha (1.04 and 1.19 t/ha). After harvest of the crop, availability of all the nutrients increased with the application of potassium and zinc.