Influence of Sulphur and Foliar Application of Iron on Growth and Yield of Lentil (Lens culinaris L.)

Abstract

Lentil (Lens culinaris L.) is typically cultivated in marginal soil with low fertility status. It is an important rabi season pulse crop in North India. The crop responds well to exogenous application of Sulphur and Iron. Considering the above, a field experiment was conducted during Rabi 2022 at the Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, (U.P) India to study the influence of Sulphur and foliar application of Iron on Growth and Yield of Lentil. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design comprising of two factors viz., Sulphur (20, 30, 40 kg/ha), Iron (control, 0.3%, 0.5%) and Control (20-40-20 NPK kg/ha). There were 10 treatments each replicated thrice. The soil of experimental plot was sandy loam in texture, nearly neutral in soil reaction (pH 6.9), organic carbon (0.112%), available N (278.93 kg/ha), available P (10.8 kg/ha), and available K (206.4 kg/ha). Application of Sulphur and foliar application of Iron significantly influenced the growth parameters, yield attributes and yield over control. Results revealed that at 60DAS the higher plant height (26.5 cm), more number of nodules per plant (26.7), maximum plant dry weight (7.31 g/plant), maximum crop growth rate (9.88 g/m2/day), more no of pods per plant (162.40), more no of seeds per pod (2.53), higher seed yield (1556.19 kg/ha) and higher stover yield (2868.3 kg/ha) were recorded with application of Sulphur 40 kg/ha + Iron 0.5% in lentil.