Effect of foliar application of micronutrients on fruit yield, quality and profitability of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

The experiment was conducted at Vegetable Experimental Farm, Division of Vegetable Science, SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar during Kharif 2018 to evaluate the “Effect of foliar application of micronutrients on fruit yield, quality and profitability of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)”. The experiment was laid out in randomised complete block design (RCBD) with fourteen treatments viz., boric acid @ 100 ppm (T₁), zinc sulphate @ 100 ppm (T₂), ammonium molybdate @ 50 ppm (T₃), copper sulphate @ 100 ppm (T₄), ferrous sulphate @ 100 ppm (T₅), manganese sulphate @ 100 ppm (T₆), mixture of all, T₁ to T₆ (T₇), mixture of all without Boric acid (T₈), mixture of all without zinc sulphate (T₉), mixture of all without ammonium molybdate (T₁₀), mixture of all without copper sulphate (T₁₁), mixture of all without ferrous sulphate (T₁₂), mixture of all without manganese sulphate (T₁₃) and control (T₁₄). All the treatments were replicated thrice. Observations were recorded on fruit yield, fruit dry matter content, crude protein content, Vitamin C and chlorophyll content. Study revealed that treatment comprising of all micronutrients (T₇) resulted in maximum yield/plant (241.74 g) coupled with highest fruit quality in terms of dry matter content (11.46%), crude protein content (9.94%), vitamin C content (13.10 mg/100g) and chlorophyll content (1.80 mg g^-1) compared to minimum yield and quality recorded in control (T₁₄). The improved yield under treatment T₇ lead to highest benefit: cost ratio of 4.36 against a benefit: cost ratio of 3.13 in control.