1 Adjudged the best paper in the Young Scientists’ Session of the National Seminar on Plant Physiology Research Imperatives for the Nineties held at Kanpur (1989).
A factorial randomised field experiment was conducted on linseed (Linum usitatissimum L. var. LHS-1) with basal phosphorus (10, 15, 20 kg P/ha) constituted one variant and leaf-applied phosphorus (0, 1, 2, 3 kg P/ha), applied in two equal splits at 70 and 90 d, the other. In addition, 100 kg basal N/ha was applied uniformly at the time of sowing. Capsules/plant, seeds/capsule, hecto-litre weight, seed yield, oil content, oil yield and iodine value were studied at harvest. The treatments affected all parameters significantly. 15 kg basal P/ha and 1 kg spray P/ha proved to be optimum for most of the parameters separately as well as in combination. For example, plants grown with 15 kg basal P/ha supplemented with spray of 1 kg P/ha gave 11.6 percent more seed yield and 14,6 percent more oil yield compared to the control, (grown with 15 kg basal P/ha and sprayed with deionised water only).
