1Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu-180 009, Jammu and Kashmir, India
2Advance Centre for Rainfed Agriculture, Samba, Jammu-181 133, Jammu and Kashmir, India
3Lovely Professional University, Phagwara-144 411, Punjab, India
*Corresponding Author: Faraaz Farooq, Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu-180 009, Jammu and Kashmir, India, Email: faraazfarooq9086@gmail.com
Online published on 6 February, 2026.
In the agricultural context of India, pigeon pea assumes a pivotal role as second most important pulse crop. However, owing to their cultivation in zinc and iron deficient soils and limited and unbalanced use of fertilizers its productivity is low. Further, the prevalent rice-wheat based cropping system, aggravates their deficiency and becomes another important factor in the decline in productivity of pulse crops like pigeon pea. Therefore, zinc and iron application through fertilizers can play a crucial role in improving the growth and yield of pigeon pea especially, under rainfed conditions.
In this study, a field experiment was carried out over two kharif seasons in 2021 and 2022. The experiment was conducted under a randomized block design with eleven treatments of zinc and iron, replicated thrice at the Advanced Center for Rainfed Agriculture, Rakh Dhiansar, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Jammu.
The study found that treatment T6-RDF + soil application of ZnSO4 @ 25 kg/ha + FeSO4 @ 5 kg/ha significantly improved growth attributes like plant height, leaf area index, number of branches anddry matter accumulation. It also led to significantly higher yield and yield attributes like pods per plant, seeds per pod, seed weight, seed yield, stalk yield and biological yield.
Growth, Iron, Pigeon pea, Yield, Zinc
