Effect of agronomic biofortification on growth, yield, uptake and quality characters of maize (Zea mays. L) through integrated management practices under North-eastern region of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Agronomic biofortification increases the concentration of target mineral in edible portions of crops by the use of mineral fertiliz-ers to increase dietary intake of target minerals. Among these iron and zinc deficiencies in human nutrition are noticed in coun-tries where maize is the staple food. The objective of this study was to evaluate agronomic biofortification performance in asso-ciation with Integrated Nutrient Management in maize (Zea mays. L). The study was conducted under field conditions in Chinna-kandiankuppam village, Vriddhachalam Taluk, in the North-eastern region of Tamil Nadu state, India of Kharif 2020 season. Two hybrids in main plots (M1 - Non biofortified and M2 - Biofortified) were combined with six treatments in sub-plots (100 % RDF through NPK (S1), 100 % RDF through FYM (S2), 50% RDF through NPK + 50% through FYM (S3) as soil application, S1+ Zinc + Iron (S4), S2 +Zinc + Iron (S5) and S3 + Zinc + Iron (S6) as foliar application with evaluations were carried out in wet season period of the year. Application of 50 per cent RDF through NPK + 50 per cent RDF through FYM with Fe, Zn, foliar applications (S6) was the most efficient agronomic biofortification practice for growth attributes, yield and yield attributes, nutri-ent uptake and quality parameters for the maize cropping system under irrigated condition of north eastern zone of Tamilnadu State, India.