Response of Blackgram (Vigna Mungo L.) to Multi-Micronutrient Mixtures under Rainfed Alfisol

The aim of the study was to evaluate the response of different sources and rates of multi-micronutrient mixtures viz., micronutrient (MN) mixture-I, MN mixture-II and FYM enriched (EFYM) MN mixtures on yield parameters in blackgram. Experiment was conducted during kharif 2010 and 2011 at Dryland Agricultural Research Station, Chettinad. The results indicated that application of recommended NPKS with MN mixture-II @ 5 kg ha⁻¹ as EFYM recorded maximum plant height, seed yield (592 kg ha⁻¹) and shortest days to 50% flowering. Among the micronutrients, soil available zinc (Zn) and boron (B) were significantly varied by the application of EFYM-MN mixture @ 5 kg ha⁻¹ over 2.5 kg ha⁻¹ and control. Accumulation of iron (Fe), Zn, manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) in seeds was significantly increased due to MN mixture addition as well as higher soil available Fe and Mn status in the experimental soil. Soil application of 12.5:25:12.5:10 kg NPKS ha⁻¹ along with 5 kg ha⁻¹ of MN mixture-II as EFYM is recommended to enhance the plant growth parameters and seed yield to 15–18% and increase the soil availability of Fe, Mn, Zn, B and Cu to 31, 15, 69, 44 and 7% in Alfisol.