Enhancing Mungbean Productivity and Profitability through Zinc and Iron Application in Western Rajasthan

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season (July to September), 2018 at Agricultural Research Station, Mandor, Agriculture University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India to examine the performance of mungbean with soil application and foliar spray of zinc and iron. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replication. Highest plant height (43.51 cm), dry matter accumulation (19.98 g plant^-1), number of branches (7.80 plant^-1), number of pods (38.82 plant^-1), number of grains (10.98 pod^-1), 1000 grains weight (43.95 g) were recorded at harvest stage of the crop by the treatment (T₁₀) soil application of zinc sulphate and ferrous sulphate each @ 25 kg ha^-1+foliar application of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5% at 35 DAS. Soil application of zinc sulphate and iron sulphate each @ 25 kg ha^-1 enhanced grain (1357 kg ha^-1) and straw yield (2492 kg ha^-1) of mungbean by 37.3% and 34.6% over control (988 kg ha^-1 and 1852 kg ha^-1), respectively. B:C ratio was highest with treatment T₈ (4.52) followed by treatment T₁₀ (4.51) soil application of zinc sulphate and ferrous sulphate each @ 25 kg ha^-1+foliar application of ferrous sulphate @ 0.5% at 35 DAS. Therefore, it can be concluded that mungbean growth parameters and yield can be increased substantially due to soil application of zinc sulphate and iron sulphate each @ 25 kg ha^-1 in western Rajasthan conditions.