INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 3, No 1, 2012 Copyright by the authors - Licensee IPA- Under Creative Commons license 3.0 Research article ISSN 0976 4402 Residual Effect of Zinc and Boron on Growth and Yield of French bean(phaseolus vulgaris L.)-Rice(Oryza Aparna Hamsa 1, Puttaiah.E.T 2 1- Department of Environmental science, Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Karnataka 2- Vice-Chancellor, University of Gulbarga, Gulbarga aparnahamsa5@gmail.com doi:10.6088/ijes.2012030131016 ABSTRACT Micronutrients are just as important in plant nutrition as the major nutrients. Plants grown on micronutrient-deficient soils can exhibit similar reductions in plant growth and yield as major nutrients. An investigation was carried out to study the residual effect of zinc and boron applied for transplanted rice on french bean, during rabi 2007-08 at Sagara taluk, Shimoga district, Karnataka state. This study included seven treatments with three replications. Application of RDF+ Zinc (Zinc sulphate) at 18 Kg ha -1 + boron (boric acid) at 4 Kg ha -1 brought about significantly the highest residual impact on growth(plant height, number of leaves per plant,branches per plant ) and yield(number of pods per plant, pod length, pod yield per plant, pod yield ha -1 )of French bean and on par with application of RDF+ Zinc (Zinc sulphate) at 12 kg ha -1 + boron (boric acid) at 4 kg ha -1 as compared to other treatments. Keywords: Zn, B, ha, RDF, Residual effect. 1. Introduction Soil is the loose surface of the earth crust, which serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants and it must supply sufficient quantity of nutrients for growth of plants. During most of our existence on earth, hunting and gathering have procured food. As population grew, organized agricultural systems were developed to ensure food security. Plants need 16 elements for their growth and completion of life cycle. Among these, three major plant nutrients viz., nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (N, P and K) are applied in large quantities than micronutrients by farmers. Zinc is one of the seven micronutrients essential for crop growth. Zinc plays a significant role in various enzymatic and physiological activities and performs many catalytic functions in plant system besides transformation of carbohydrates, chlorophyll and protein synthesis.deficiencies of zinc become so widespread that it ranks next to N and P in many states (Takkar and Randhawa. 1980).There are several examples demonstrating that applying Zn fertilizers or Zn enriched NPK fertilizers to crops improve not only productivity, but also grain Zn concentration of plants.among micronutrients, Zn deficiency seems to be the most critical micronutrient deficiency in crop production and human beings (WHO, 2002). Currently, Zn deficiency is listed as a major risk factor for human health and death globally. Boron is also one of the essential micronutrients required for the normal growth of most plants.boron is important in cell division and helps in germination and growth of pollen grains, sugar translocation, and movement of growth regulators within the plant and lignin synthesis. Received on May 2012 Published on July 2012 167
French bean is also called as snap bean, string bean, kidney bean, haricot bean, fresh bean. It is an important cool season legume vegetable.requirement of major nutrients for French bean has been investigated to some extent, but scanty attention has been given to the micronutrients use. Though, there is a need for use of micronutrients which are helpful in the nitrogen fixation, by which, requirement of high dose of nitrogen can be minimized and optimum dose for higher yield can be achieved. Zinc and Boron leaves residual effect to the succeeding crops (Singh, 2004). Since limited information is available on residual effect of Zn and B fertilization on growth and yield of French bean rice (Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. Hence this study was undertaken. 2. Materials and methods A field experiment was conducted during rabi seasons of 2007-08 at Sagara taluk, Shimoga district, Karnataka state. The experimental site is located between 14 o 5' north latitude and 75 o 5' east longitudes and at an altitude of 600 meters above the mean sea level. The soil of the experimental site was red sandy clay loam with slightly acidic ph (6.1) and the electrical conductivity of 0.31 µmhos/cm at 25º C. The available nitrogen was 290 kg ha -1, whereas the available phosphorous was 18 kg ha -1 and the available potash was 160 kg ha -1, available Zn and B was 0.62 and 0.12 ppm respectively. The seven fertility management treatments were tested with different doses of zinc and combination of zinc and boron in the experiment along with RDF viz.,n,p and K. The treatment combinations were T1: Control(RDF),T2: Zn 6 kg/ha, T3: Zn 12kg/ha, T4: Zn 18kg/ha, T5: Zn 6kg/ha +B 4kg/ha,T6:Zn 12kg/ha+B 4kg/ha, T7: Zn 18kg/ha+B 4kg/ha. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Among the recommended dose of fertilizer 50% of nitrogen (60 kg ha -1 ) and full dose of phosphorous( 80 kg ha -1 ) and full dose of potash(60 kg ha -1 ) was applied in the form of urea, single super phosphate and muriate of potash as a basal dose at the time of sowing. The remaining 50% of nitrogen was applied as top dress 30 days after sowing. Zn and B were applied through sulphate and boric acid as basal to rice only. For residual study, french bean `Arka komal (S-9) was sown on 15th January during both the years at a depth of 5 cm at the spacing of 30 x 10 cm by using only two seeds per hill. Soil samples were taken from each plot at 15 cm depth and dried in shade. The dried soil samples were powdered and available nitrogen was estimated by alkaline permanganate method (Subbaiah and Asija, 1956). Available phosphorus was estimated by Olson s method (Jackson, 1973). Available potassium by neutral normal ammonium acetate method (Jackson, 1973). Available Zn and B by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Lindsay and Norwell, 1978) & Aceto carmine method (Hatcher and Wilcox, 1950). 3. Result and Discussion 3.1 Growth Treatment T7 caused significantly higher plant height of 53.24 cm, higher number of leaves per plant (27), maximum number of branches (12.33) and fallowed by tha treatment T6 and T4, over the control(table-1), due to residual levels of Zn and B. This might be due to the auxin metabolism and increased photosynthetic rate by interaction of residual amount of zinc and boron in soil with applied RDF. The results of the investigation under study are in conformity with Hanumantha Rao and Vidyasagar (1981). 168
Table 1: Residual effect of Zn and B on growth of French bean Treatment Plant height(cm) Number of leaves/plant Number of branches per plant T1 21.82 10.33 5.33 T2 37.18 16.33 6.33 T3 38.10 17.66 7.66 T4 41.20 21.00 8.00 T5 48.87 23.00 9.00 T6 52.17 24.33 11.00 T7 53.24 27.00 12.33 S.Em ± 0.05 0.64 0.54 CD at 5% 0.1249 1.399 1.196 3.2 Yield Figure 1: Residual effect of Zn and B on growth of French bean Among the treatments T7 and T6 recorded higher number of pods /plant (25.66 and 23.33), highest pod length (12.8, 11.83 cm) and higher pod yield (9871.55, 9536.58 kg/ha)and fallowed by the treatments T6 and T4 over control (Table 2). This might be due to increased, starch, protein nitrogen, soluble protein and specific activity of carbonic anhydrase, specific activities of acid phosphatase and ribonuclease in leaves and pods by residues of zinc and boron, and the interaction of residues of zinc and boron with applied RDF(NPK) This was further supported by Chatterjee (2008). 169
Table 2: Residual effect of Zn and B on yield of French bean Treatment Number of pods/plant Pod length (cm) Pod yield(q/ha) T1 10.33 7.33 62.5997 T2 14.66 8.66 69.368 T3 15.33 9.00 77.1685 T4 19.33 11.3 90.7881 T5 17.66 10.33 78.8178 T6 23.33 11.83 95.3658 T7 25.66 12.8 98.7155 S.Em ± 0.33 0.32 2.9 CD at 5% 0.726 0.721 6.32 4. Conclusion Figure 2: Residual effect of Zn and B on yield of French bean The need for micronutrients in crop production has long been recognized in the field of agriculture. Thus it can be concluded that the treatments which have received the combination of different dosages of zinc and boron along with RDF for rice crop have recorded significantly higher residual impact on growth and yield of French bean. 170
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