Influence of Foliar Nutrition for Maximising the Growth and Yield of Black Gram (Vigna mungo L.) under Irrigated Condition

Background: A field experiment was conducted at the Central farm of Imayam Institute of Agriculture and Technology, Thuraiyur, during Thaipattam (Jan.- Feb.) 2019 to study the influence of foliar nutrients for maximizing the yield of blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) under irrigated condition. Methods: The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design and replicated thrice. The treatments comprised six different foliar nutrients viz.,T1 - Control (RDF alone - 25:50:25 kg NPK ha-1), T2 - RDF + foliar spray of 1% TNAU Pulse wonder, T3 - RDF + foliar spray of 1% (19:19:19), T4 - RDF + foliar spray of 1% KCl, T5 - RDF + foliar spray of 2% DAP, T6 - RDF + foliar spray of Salicylic acid 100 ppm, T7 - RDF+ foliar spray of PPFM @ 500 ml ha-1. The variety used VBN(Bg) 5. The foliar nutrients were sprayed on 30 and 45 DAS. Result: The results revealed that among the different foliar nutrients, foliar application of 1% pulse wonder resulted in higher LAI and DMP, closely followed by 2% DAP spray. Similar to the yield parameters, foliar application of 1% TNAU pulse wonder produced more pod clusters plant-1, number of pods plant-1 and number of seeds pod-1,and it, however, was on par with 2% DAP spray. Foliar spray of 1% TNAU pulse wonder produced a higher grain yield of 918 kg ha-1, comparable with a grain yield of 2% DAP (896 kg ha-1). The highest gross return (₹ 50,490 ha-1), net return (₹ 26,000 ha-1) and BCR (2.03) were obtained with foliar spray of 1% pulse wonder followed by 2% DAP spray, Hence, it is concluded that raising blackgram with foliar spray of pulse wonder spray @ 1% twice at 30 and 45 DAS is the viable package for getting higher yield and higher income.