Influence of Organics, Boron and Silicon Nutrition on the Growth, Yield and Nutrient Uptake by Groundnut in Coastal Saline Soil

Abstract

The most common cause of coastal salt-affected soils is boron deficiency. In certain places, there are also deficiencies in zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. In numerous enzymatic processes related to groundnut growth, production, and quality, boron is crucial. It is now known that the main cause of the low groundnut production in coastal locations is a nutritional shortage. A helpful or quasi-element that can reduce salinity stress, improve boron availability, and increase the amount of available beneficial cations is silicon. Therefore, it becomes essential to include silicon as a beneficial nutrient and boron as a micronutrient in the fertilization program in order to increase groundnut output in salinized conditions. Further, the poor nutrient retention and leaching of applied nutrients necessitates the application of increased rate of nutrients and bulky organic manures. The field experiment was carried out in a farmer’s field during December - March, 2022 at Singarakuppam coastal village, near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. The experimental soil was sandy in texture and taxonomically classified as Typic Ustipsamments with pH – 8.25, EC– 4.11 dSm-1 and represented low status of organic carbon (2.36 g kg-1). Regarding available nutrient status, it was low in alkaline KMnO4-N (139.91 kg ha-1), low in Olsen-P (9.48 kg ha-1) and medium in NH4OAc-K (165.67 kg ha-1).The available B and Si content were 0.24 and 32.46 mg kg-1, respectively. The results of the study clearly indicated that the treatment (T12), which received combined application of borohumate at 1.5 kg B ha-1 + diatomaceous earth at 60 kg Si ha-1 through soil application along with foliar application of borohumate at 0.5% + silixol plus at 1.0% twice at pre - flowering stage (PFS) and at flowering stage (FS) + recommended dose of NPK and composted coirpith (CCP)at 12.5 t ha-1 recorded the highest growth, yield, quality and nutrient uptake by groundnut.