Effect of foliar application of iron, zinc and manganese on direct seeded aromatic rice (Oryza sativa)

A field experiment was conducted at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during the rainy (kharif) season of 2010 and 2011 with 13 treatments in randomized block design, to determine the effect of foliar feeding of micronutrients on growth and yield of direct-seeded basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.). Four sprays of 0.5% solution of MnSO₄ or 4 sprays of 1.0% solution of FeSO₄ at 40, 50, 60 and 70 days after sowing DAS were at par and recorded significantly higher plant height (101.6 and 101.3 cm), dry matter (15.0 and 15.1 t/ha), leaf-area index (3.3 and 3.6), effective tillers/m² (312.7 and 291.8), panicle length (26.2 and 26.0 cm), spikelets/panicle (72.9 and 73.5), grains/panicle (142.5 and 140.5), 1,000-seed weight (21.9 and 22.0 g) grain yield (3.8 and 3.6 t/ha) and straw yield (9.1 and 9.5 t/ha) and gave higher net returns and benefit: cost ratio over the control. Foliar application of ZnSO₄ did not significantly increase rice yield.