Effect of Vermicompost and Foliar Application of Zinc on Soil Properties and Nutrients Uptake by Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L)
Sunil Kumar Dadhich
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan-303329, India.
Govind Kumar Yadav *
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Rajasthan-303329, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of vermicompost and foliar application of zinc on soil properties and nutrients uptake by groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) during 2018-19 and 2019-20. The ten treatments in the experiment viz., T1 (N:P:K, 15:60:30), T2 (N:P:K +Vermicompost), T3 (N:P:K +Vermicompost + Soil Zn 100%), T4 (N:P:K + Vermicompost + Soil Zn 75%), T5 (N:P:K + foliar application of 0.25% ZnSO4), T6 (N:P:K + foliar application of 0.50% ZnSO4), T7 (N:P:K + foliar application of 0.75% ZnSO4), T8 (N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.25% ZnSO4), T9 (N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.50% ZnSO4) and T10 (N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.75% ZnSO4) were replicated thrice under randomized block design (RBD). The results of the experiment revealed that the treatment receiving N:P:K (15:60:30) + Vermicompost (5 t ha-1) + Soil Zn 100% (T3) had significantly higher values of organic carbon (0.56 percent), available nitrogen (156.59 kg ha-1), available P2O5 (50.39 kg ha-1), available K2O (183.14 kg ha-1), Zn (0.65 mg kg-1), lower values of pH (7.34), EC (0.22 dSm-1) and higher values of nutrients uptake over control (T1), while at par with the application of N:P:K + Vermicompost + Soil Zn 75% (T4), N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.25% ZnSO4 (T8), N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.50% ZnSO4 (T9) and N:P:K + Vermicompost + foliar application of 0.75% ZnSO4 (T10).
Keywords: Vermicompost, foliar application, soil properties, groundnut