Response of Biofertilizers and Foliar Application of Zinc on Growth and Yield of Lentil (Lens culinaris L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi 2022 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Prayagraj, UP, during the Rabi season of 2022. The experiment consisted of two variables with three levels i.e, biofertilizer (Rhizobium spp, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Rhizobium spp + Pseudomonas fluorescens) and foliar application of zinc (0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%) at pre flowering and pod development stage. The soil had a sandy loam texture, with a pH of 7.2, organic carbon (0.72%), available N (178.48 kg/ha), available P (27.80 kg/ha) and available K (233.24 kg/ha). The experiment conducted in randomized block design with ten treatments replicated thrice. Among various treatments, combined application of biofertilizers along with foliar application of zinc significantly influenced the growth parameters, yield attributing characters and yield. The results revealed that treatment eight (Rhizobium spp + Pseudomonas fluorescens + Zinc 0.50%) recorded significantly highest plant height (43.29 cm), dry weight (35.63 g), number of pods/plant (111.33), number of seeds/pod (2.27), seed yield (1530.94 kg/ha) and stover yield (3020.00 kg/ha) in Lentil.