RESPONSE OF GROUNDNUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA L.) TO BALANCED FERTILIZATION UNDER SUB-HUMID SOUTHERN PLAIN ZONE OF RAJASTHAN

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1 Legume Res., 34 (4) : , 2011 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE / indianjournals.com RESPONSE OF GROUNDNUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA L.) TO BALANCED FERTILIZATION UNDER SUB-HUMID SOUTHERN PLAIN ZONE OF RAJASTHAN S.K. Sharma 1, N.K. Jain 2 and B. Upadhyay Rajasthan College of Agriculture, M.P. Univ. of Agric. and Technology, Udaipur , India Received : Accepted : ABSTRACT A field experiment was conducted on sandy clay loam soil during two kharif seasons of 2008 to 2009 to study the response of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) to balanced fertilization. The experiment, comprised of 3 balanced fertilization treatments i.e. 100 % NPK, 100 % NPKS and 100 % NPKSZn, was laid out in randomised block design with 9 replications. Results revealed that application of 100 % NPKSZn significantly enhanced the pod and haulm yields of groundnut by 25.9 and 22.4 per cent over 100 % NPK, respectively. This treatment also recorded significantly higher concentration and uptake of N, P, K, S and Zn as well as improved the soil fertility status. Key words : Groundnut, Balanced fertilization, Yield, Nutrient uptake. INTRODUCTION Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops and serves dual purpose of meeting the increasing demand of oilseeds and restoring soil fertility. It occupies an area of thousand hectares under Subhumid Southern Plain and Aravalli Hills Zone (IVa) out of 3.21 lakh hectares in the state of Rajasthan with the production and productivity of thousand tonnes and 996 kg/ha in zone IVa and 5.37 lakh tonnes and 1670 kg/ha in the state, respectively (GOR, 2009). The main reason responsible for low productivity under zone IVa as compared to the state was due to its cultivation under marginal and sub-marginal lands with poor soil fertility status. With the intensification of agriculture, the traditional boundaries between primary and secondary nutrients have become narrower. Crops require as much sulphur as they do phosphorus and it can therefore, be rightly called the fourth major nutrient in Indian agriculture. Sulphur is a constituent of three amino acids viz., methionine, cysteine and cystine which are essential for protein synthesis. It is involved in the formation of chlorophyll, vitamins and activation of certain enzymes (Tandon, 1991). Research results showed even optimum levels of NPKS failed to maintain the desired yield level due to deficiency of other essential elements (Kamath and Sarkar, 1990). Among these, zinc is one of such elements which plays significant role in various enzymatic and physiological activities in the plant system. It is well reflected with increased area being deficient in nutrients like sulphur and zinc or showing hidden hunger of these. Thus to overcome the said problem, the concept of balanced fertilization has been postulated which takes care of soils and crops. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to study response of groundnut to balanced 1,2 Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh (Gujarat).

2 274 LEGUME RESEARCH fertilization under Sub-humid Southern Plain Zone of Rajasthan. MATERIALS AND METHODS A field experiment was conducted during two consecutive Kharif seasons of 2008 and 2009 at Instructional Farm, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur situated under Sub-humid Southern Plain and Aravalli Hills Zone of Rajasthan (IVa). The soil was sandy clay loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction (ph 7.9) and calcareous with low in available nitrogen ( kg/ha), sulphur (10.22 kg/ha) and zinc (0.530 ppm), medium in available phosphorus (13.52 kg /ha) and rich in available potassium status ( kg /ha). The experiment, comprised of 3 balanced fertilization treatments i.e. 100 % NPK, 100 % NPKS and 100 % NPKSZn, was laid out in randomised block design with 9 replications. Groundnut Pratap Mungphali 1 was sown with the onset of monsoon during both the years i.e.27 June and 7 July, respectively at a row to row and plant to plant spacings of 30 cm x 10 cm with a seed rate of 100 kg/ha. The recommended dose of fertilizers applied were: 25 kg N, 60 kg P 2 O 5, 30 kg K 2 O, 40 kg S and 6 kg Zn/ha. Full doses of N, P, K, S and Zn were applied through urea (after adjusting the amount of N supplied by DAP), diammonium phosphate, muriate of potash, gypsum and zinc sulphate, respectively at the time of sowing in furrows. The crop besides above was raised with recommended package of practices. The treatment effects were evaluated in terms of yield, nutrient concentrations, uptake and soil fertility status after harvest of crop. Plant samples collected at harvesting stage were first oven dried and then processed for estimation of nutrients. Estimation of N was done by colorimetric method using Nessler s reagent to develop colour (Lindner, 1944). P concentration was determined by Vanadomolybdophosphoric acid yellow colour method (Richards, 1968). K concentration was determined by using flame photometer (Jackson, 1973). S concentration was estimated by Tabatabai and Bremner (1970) method while Zn by Lindsay and Norvell (1978) method. Multiplying the respective nutrient concentrations in pods and haulm with the pod and haulm yields and then adding both pod and haulm uptake gave total uptake. After harvesting, separate soil samples were collected from each plot for estimation of available N (Subbiah and Asija, 1956), P (Olsen et al., 1954), K (Richards, 1968), S (Williams and Steinbergs, 1959) and Zn (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978). The data of 2 years were pooled and analysed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Yield: Application of balanced fertilization had significant effect on pod and haulm yields of groundnut during both the years of experimentation as well as in pooled analysis (Table 1). Application of 100 % NPKSZn recorded significantly higher mean pod yield by 9.7 and 25.9 per cent and haulm yield by 8.3 and 22.4 per cent over 100 % NPKS and 100 % NPK, respectively. Data also showed that 100 % NPKS also significantly increased the pod and haulm Table 1 : Effect of balanced fertilization on pod and haulm yields of groundnut. Balanced fertilization Pod yield (kg/ha) Haulm yield (kg/ha) Pooled Pooled 100 % NPK % NPKS % NPKSZn S.Em± CD (P=0.05)

3 Vol. 34, No. 4, yields by 14.8 and 13.1 per cent, respectively over 100 % NPK. It is well known fact that optimum mineral nutrition is a pre- requisite for realizing genetic potential of the crop. In the present investigation, profound influence of balanced fertilization on yield seemed to be on account of their potential role in modifying soil and plant environment conducive for better development of the both morphological and biochemical components of the plant growth that increase efficiency of physiological process of plant system and ultimately led to realization of higher productivity of individual plant. The results of present investigation were in close agreement with the results obtained by Jain and Dahama (2005) and Gupta and Jain (2007). Nutrient concentrations : Application of 100 % NPKSZn significantly increased N, P, K, S and Zn concentrations in pods and haulm over other balanced fertilization treatments (Table 2). The improvement in N, P, K, S and Zn concentrations in pods due to application of 100 % NPKSZn was 3.0, 7.1, 7.4, 5.6 and 7.6 per cent higher over 100 % NPKS and 7.3, 17.5, 18.2, 13.7 and 20.7 per cent higher over 100 % NPK, respectively. The respective increase in nutrient concentrations in haulm was 5.0, 6.3, 13.0, 5.4 and 8.9 per cent over 100 % NPKS and 13.3, 16.0, 37.4, 13.2 and 24.8 per cent over 100 % NPK, respectively. Further data revealed that treatment 100 % NPKS also recorded significantly higher concentrations of 4.4, 9.7, 10.0, 7.6 and 12.1 per cent in pods and 7.9, 9.2, 21.6, 7.4 and 14.6 per cent in haulm over 100 % NPK with respect to N,P, K,S and Zn, respectively. The marked improvement in nutrient concentrations in plants seems to be on account of its greater availability in the soil environment and enhanced translocation in plant system. Verma et al. (2006) reported that addition of S + Zn to NPK in balanced proportion at recommended levels enhanced efficiency of each other, thus maintained synergistic interaction. In this direction, Table 2 : Effect of balanced fertilization on N, P, K, S and Zn concentrations in groundnut (Pooled data of 2 years). Balanced fertilization N (%) P (%) K (%) S (%) Zn (ppm) Pods Haulm Pods Haulm Pods Haulm Pods Haulm Pods Haulm 100 % NPK % NPKS % NPKSZn S.Em± CD (P=0.05)

4 276 LEGUME RESEARCH Swarup and Rao (1999) also reported that response of wheat to 100% NPK fertilization could be fully realized only when limiting nutrients like S and Zn were present in soil at optimum amounts. Nutrient uptake : Groundnut crop fertilized with 100% NPKSZn significantly increased N,P,K,S and Zn uptake by pods and haulm as well as total uptake by the crop over other balanced fertilization treatments (Table 3). The improvement in N, P, K, S and Zn uptake by the crop (Pods+ haulm) with the application of 100 % NPKSZn was 13.3, 16.1, 21.6, 15.0 and 18.4 per cent higher over 100 % NPKS and 36.8, 44.6, 64.7, 40.7 and 53.0 per cent higher over 100 % NPK, respectively. The nutrient uptake is a function of yield and nutrient concentrations in the plant. Thus, significant improvement in uptake of N, P, K, S, and Zn might be attributed to their increased concentrations in pods and haulm and higher yields under balanced fertilization treatment. The results of present investigation are in close agreements with the findings of Sharma et al. (2008) and Chandrapala et al. (2010). Soil fertility status: Application of 100% NPKSZn significantly increased the available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and zinc content of soil after harvest of groundnut by 4.5, 5.3, 4.9, 5.1 and 8.0 per cent over 100 % NPKS and 10.5, 13.2, 11.0, 15.7 and 10.9 per cent over 100 % NPK, respectively on pooled basis (Table 4). Treatment 100 % NPKS also significantly improved available N, P, K and S status of soil by 5.5, 7.5, 5.9 and 10.1 over 100 % NPK, respectively. However, there was no significant difference between 100 % NPKS and 100 % NPK with respect to Zn status. On the basis of two year s results, it can be concluded that application of 100 % NPKSZn to groundnut significantly improved the productivity and soil fertility status under Sub-humid Southern Plain Zone of Rajasthan. Table 3 : Effect of balanced fertilization on N, P, K, S and Zn uptake by groundnut (Pooled data of 2 years). Balanced fertilization N (kg/ha) P (kg/ha) K (kg/ha) S (kg/ha) Zn (g/ha) Pods Haulm Total Pods Haulm Total Pods Haulm Total Pods Haulm Total Pods Haulm Total 100 % NPK % NPKS % NPKSZn S.Em± CD (P=0.05)

5 Vol. 34, No. 4, Table 4 : Effect of balanced fertilization on available N, P, K, S and Zn status of soil after harvest of groundnut (Pooled data of 2 years). Balanced fertilization Available N Available P Available K Available S Available Zn (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (ppm) 100 % NPK % NPKS % NPKSZn S.Em± CD (P=0.05) REFERENCES Chandrapala, A. G., Yakadri, M., Kumar, R. M. and Bhupal Raj, G. (2010). Productivity and economics of rice (Oryza sativa) maize (Zea mays) as influenced by methods of crop establishment, Zn and S application in rice. Indian Journal of Agronomy 55 (3): GOR, (2009). Rajasthan Agricultural Statistics at a Glance , Commissionerate of Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur, pp: 66,76 and 86. Gupta, A. K. and Jain, N.K. (2007). Delineating sulphur deficiency in soils and response studies in principal crop sequences of semi -arid eastern plains of Rajasthan In: Proceedings of TSI-FAI-IFA Symposium cum Workshop on Sulphur in Balanced Fertilisation, held during 4-5 Oct., 2006 at New Delhi, India pp: Jain, N.K. and Dahama, A.K. (2005) Residual effect of phosphorus and zinc on yield, nutrient content and uptake and economics of pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum) - wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 75 (5): Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd., New Delhi. Kamath, M.B. and Sarkar, M.C. (1990) Fertilizer management practices for increasing phosphorus use efficiency. In: Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use, Vol. 4, pp: Indian Farmer s Fertilizer Council, New Delhi. Linder, R.C. (1944) Rapid analytical method for some of the more common organic substances of plant and soil. Plant Physiology 19 : Lindsay, W. L. and Norvell, W. A. (1978) Development of a DTPA-soil test for Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu. Soil Science Society of American Journal 42 : Olsen, S.R., Cole, C.V., Watanable, F.S. and Dean, L.A. (1954) Estimation of available phosphorus in soil by extraction with sodium biocarbonate. Cir. U.S. Dep. Agric., 939. Richards, L.A Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soil. U.S.D.A. Hand Book No. 60. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi. Sharma, R.P., Pathak, S.K., Haque, M and Lal, M. (2008) Productivity, profitability and nutrient balance as influenced by diversification of rice (Oriza sativa) wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system. Indian Journal of Agronomy. 53 (2): Subbiah, B.K. and Asija, G.L. (1956) A rapid procedure for the determination of available nitrogen in soils. Current Science 25 : Swarup, A. and Rao, C. S. (1999) Current status of crop responses to fertilizers in different agroclimatic zones. Experiences of All India Coordinated Research Project on Long term Fertiliser experiments. Fertilizer News 44 (4): Tabatabai, M.A. and Bremner, J.M. (1970) A simple turbidemetric method of determining total sulphur in plant materials. Indian Journal of Agronomy 62 : Tandon, H. L. S. (1991) Secondary Research and Agricultural Production in India. 3 rd Ed. The Sulphur Institute, FDCO, New Delhi pp: Verma, A., Nepalia, V. and Kanthalia, P.C. (2006) Effect of integrated nutrient supply on growth, yield and nutrient uptake by maize (Zea mays) wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system. Indian Journal of Agronomy 51 (1): Williams, C.H. and Steinbergs, A. (1959) Soil sulphur fractions as chemical indices for available sulphur in some Australian soil. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 10 :