Effect of sulphur, zinc and boron on the growth and yield enhancement of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Abstract

Oilseed crops grown in different types of soil experience nutrient deficiency, especially sulphur, zinc and boron, which affect crop productivity. To tackle it, nutrient management practices must be streamlined to avoid improper fertilizations and deteriora-tion of soil health. With this background, experimental trials were conducted to study the effect of sulphur, zinc and boron application on the growth, yield components and yield of hybrid sunflower at AyanAthur village, Ariyalur district (TN) during the summer seasons of 2016 and 2017. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The growth components of sunflower (plant height, leaf area index, dry matter production, leaf area duration (LAD) and growth analysis parameters such as crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate(RGR), net assimilation rate(NAR) and chlorophyll content, yield components and seed yield were significantly (level of significance P>0.05) influenced by foliar application of 0.5% Zn on bud initiation stage and seed formation stage and B @ 0.3% on bud initiation stage and ray floret formation stage along with S(sulphur) @ 40 kg ha-1 and RDF(recommended dose of fertilizers) as a soil application. Growth and yield parame-ters responded very little with the RDF alone. From both experimental results, we found that foliar application of Zn @ 0.5%and B @ 0.3% along with S @ 40 kg ha-1 and RDF recorded the highest percentage of dry matter production (44.4%), number of filled seeds (30.1%) and yield (32.4%) of hybrid sunflower.