Influence of integrated use of farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizers on macro and trace elements in rainfed pearl millet

The field experiment was conducted at Bajra Research Scheme, Dhule (Maharashtra), during kharif 2012, 2013 and 2014 to study the effect of nutrient management through organic and inorganic sources for macro and trace elements on rainfed pearl millet. Application of FYM @ 5 t/ha recorded significantly higher grain and stover yield (28.64 and 56.74 q/ha, respectively) as compared to that without FYM application (26.11 and 51.39 q/ha, respectively). Similar observations were also experienced on plant height, effective tillers, earhead length and 1000 grain weight. In case of inorganic nutrient treatments, application of RDF + ZnSO @ 20 kg/ha recorded significantly higher grain yield 4 (30.08 q/ha) than rest of the treatments followed by RDF + Borax @ 10 kg/ha (28.46 q/ha). Stover yield was significantly higher with RDF + ZnSO @ 20 kg/ha 4 (59.27 q/ha) as compared to other treatments, but it was on par with RDF + Borax @ 10 kg/ha (56.31 q/ha). The increased grain yield was mainly due to increased plant height, effective tillers, earhead length and 1000 grain weight.