SECONDARY AND MICRONUTRIENTS FOR GROUNDNUT A REVIEW

Transcription

1 Agric. Rev., 28 (4) : , 2007 SECONDARY AND MICRONUTRIENTS FOR GROUNDNUT A REVIEW S. Meena, M. Malarkodi and P. Senthilvalavan Radioisotope Laboratory, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore , India ABSTRACT Among the nine oilseed crops, groundnut is an important edible oilseed crop of our country and edible oil economy primarily depends upon groundnut production. S, Ca and Mg requirements are highest in oil seed crops followed by pulses and least in cereals. Among the secondary nutrients, Ca deficiency causes groundnut pegs and pods to abort and reduced yield, indicating the essentiality of that nutrient for groundnut production. Application of 1.5 t ha 1 at flowering was found to be most effective in increasing oil content. In groundnut, the response with Mg application was ranged from 21.0 to 41.6 per cent. Sulphur is the another secondary nutrient influencing the groundnut productivity preferably in addition to N, P and K. Apart from these secondary nutrients, groundnut is also sensitive to the deficiency of micronutrients such as B, Zn and Fe. The response of groundnut to Zn ranged from 210 to 470 kg ha 1. In Zn deficient soils, application of Zn increased the nodulation, chlorophyll content and pod yield. Similarly, Fe chlorosis in groundnut is another problem of growing concern in many alkaline calcareous soils, where bicarbonate ions hinder the uptake and translocation of Fe in the plant. Boron is highly essential for proper seed setting and seed quality and also it helps in the absorption of N by groundnut crop. In red loamy soils of Coimbatore, application of ZnSO 20kg ha 1 plus 0.5 per cent foliar spray along with 25 kg ha 1 plus 0.25 per cent foliar spray recorded the highest pod, kernel and oil yield. Hence, secondary and micronutrient ferilization is essential for enhancing the productivity of groundnut crop. Intensification of agriculture, usage of straight fertilizers, rising crop requirements due to increasing productivity levels have heightened the secondary and micronutrients demand in soil fertility management and are increasingly becoming major constraints to achieve augmented agricultural production. Among the crops, groundnut responds well to secondary and micronutrient fertilization. S, Ca and Mg requirements are highest in oil seed crops followed by pulses and least in cereals. Calcium is a costituent of cell wall and essential for stability of cell membranes in the plants and magnesium is a structural component of chlorophyll, thus, is indispensable for photosynthesis by plants. Sulphur is required for synthesis of sulphur containing amino acids, proteins, activity of proteolytic enzymes and increased oil content in oil-bearing plants. It can be called as master nutrient for oilseed production. Apart from these secondary micronutrients, groundnut also responds well to the micronutrients like Zn, Fe and B. This paper reviews the effect of secondary and micronutrients in groundnut production. CALCIUM: The essentiality of calcium for the fruitification of groundnut has been amply established by a number of workers. For groundnut about 1m eq exchangeable Ca 100g 1 of soil in the root zone and three times this much in the pod formation zone are considered as threshold levels. Groundnut has the unique characteristics of absorbing Ca through developing pegs and pods. As Ca is relatively immobile in the plant and is not translocated in sufficient amounts to the fruiting organs, Ca and S must be available in adequate amounts in the pod formation zone. Calcium deficiency causes groundnut pegs and pods to abort caused decreased shelling and yield.

2 296 AGRICULTURAL AGRICUTURAL SCIENCE REVIEWS DIGEST The positive effect of calcium on groundnut was clearly brought out by several workers (Ravikumar et al., 1994; Singh et al., 1996 and Thakare et al., 1998). Applying 240 kg Ca ha 1 as gypsum at flowering recorded the highest number of nodules/plant, seed oil and protein contents (Ursal et al., 1994). Application of gypsum at 500 kg ha 1 increased the germination of groundnut significantly (Bel et al., 1988). A linear response in yield was noticed when the application of gypsum was increased from 200 to 500 kg ha 1 (Geethalakshmi and Christopher Lourduraj, 1998). Furrow application each 2 to 4 q ha 1 of calcium carbonate and gypsum to the acid soil of jharkhand increased pod yield of groundnut to the tune of 47.6 per cent. The improvement in crop yield due to gypsum was mainly due to calcium rather than increase in soil ph (Mathur, 1994). Full top dressing of gypsum at 60 DAS gave significantly lower pod yield than its conventional basal application (Baldeo Singh et al., 1993). Application of gypsum (1.5t ha 1 ) at flowering was found to be most effective in increasing the oil content (Shivaraj and Gowda Andani, 1994). Split application of gypsum (basal and 35 DAS) at 500 kg ha 1 increased the DMP by 7.3 per cent and pod yield by 13.5 per cent compared with complete absence of gypsum (Ravikumar et al., 1994). Incorporation of 250 kg gypsum ha 1 in the soil before sowing gave a significantly higher pod yield of 1.93 ha 1 compared with 0 kg gypsum ha 1 (1.66 t ha ha 1 ). According to Jagadeeswaran et al. (2001) in calcareous soils application of ferrogypsum in amounts equivalent to recommended dose of gypsum (400 kg ha 1 ) significantly increased the pod and haulm yield, quality and nutrient uptake. Good response to liming in acid soils have been obtained for groundnut to the tune of 33.3 per cent in Jharkhnad, 17.3 per cent in Maharashtra and 57.9 per cent in Orissa (Sarkar, 2002). Magnesium : Groundnut responded well to magnesium application followed by potato and wheat. Field experiments conducted at Ranchi on groundnut showed significant response at 30kg ha 1 when magnesium was applied through magnesium sulphate in acidic soils of Jharkhand. Magnesium Groundnut yield Response treatments (q ha 1 ) (%) (Kg ha 1 ) Control CD (P = 0.05) Per cent response with magnesium application ranged from 21.0 to 41.6 in groundnut (Lal and Suresh, 1999). Sulphur : Oil seed crops are S loving crops removing 12kg of S t 1 compared to 8 and 4 kg S t 1 of seeds / grains of pulses and cereals respectively (Kanwar and Mudahar, 1984). Sulphur influences the groundnut productivity preferably in addition to N, P and K (Patra et al., 1995). An adequate amount of S in plant available form in the pod formation zone is essential for a good yield and oil content. Sulphur requirement of groundnut is more at early growth stages. In the developing kernels, the period from days after pegging was identified as the period of active filing. Groundnut absorb on an average kg of sulphur to produce one tonne of seed. Average over 24 studies conducted showed, application of 34 kg S ha 1 increased the pod 13.3 kg kg S 1 (Tandon, 1991). In general, a 5 per cent increase in oil content of groundnut can be expected due to S application on S deficient soils in addition to its impact on seed yield. Application of 20 kg S ha 1 increased the pod yield in lateritic sandy loam soil (Ghosh et al., 1995). Chaubey et al. (2000) claimed that application of 45 kg S would help in getting increased pod yield of groundnut. maximum pod

3 Vol. 28, No. 4, TABLE 2. Response of groundnut to sulphur in different states and soil types. State Soil Type S rate (kg ha 1 ) Response (%) Reference Bihar Red Sandy loam Sakkal et al. (1996) Tamil Nadu Clay loam Kamala Thirumalaisamy (1986) West Bengal Sandy loam Bandhyapadhyay et al. (1998) West Bengal Red and lateritic Biswas and Tewatia (1991) yield, shelling turnover, oil content and S was recorded by the application of 30 kg S through the integrated treatment of phosphogypsum with poultry manure in lateritic soils of Orissa (Sahu et al., 1991). Increased pod yield (21%) was recorded with 40 kg S ha 1 through gypsum, while 16 percent increase was observed with pyrite source (Patra et al., 1995). Ghosh et al. (1995) reported that in lateritic sandy loam soil among the sources of S, CaSO 4 and elemental S were found to be equally effective. Pod yield, kernel yield, number of pods per plant were significantly higher with gypsum as a source of sulphur compared to SSP and the later was superior to pyrites. (Bandopadhyay et al., 1998). TABLE 3. Effect of sources of sulphur on groundnut yield Source Per cent yield increase Iron Sulphate + Citric acid Iron Sulphate 13 Iron Citrate 19 Fe EDTA In calcareous soils, an application of 40 kg S ha 1 with 20 kg borax ha 1 resulted in 591 kg ha 1 additional pod yield of groundnut over the control as compared to 313 and 345 kg ha 1 pods obtained from individual application of borax or S alone (Singh, 2001). In deep black soils of Gujarat, 60kg S ha 1 application increased the pod yield by 11 per cent (Gupta, 2002). If pyrite is preferred as source of S, it should be applied 2-4 weeks in advance, so that its suphide S can get converted to sulphate S. A combined application of 15 kg S and 20 kg Zn ha 1 produced a beneficial synergistic effect resulting in a pod yield of 3500 kg ha 1 (Pasricha et al., 1987). There are several instances where S and B applications are recommended for oil seeds (Tandon, 1990). TABLE 4. Boron recommendations in different states for groundnut. State Recommendation Gujarat 1% boric acid spray Maharashtra 5kg ha 1 in coarsa and medium texured soil once in 2-3 years. Two sprays of 0.5 ppm B be given 30 and 55 days after sowing in bunch varieties and at flowering and Uttar Pradesh 1 kg borax ha 1 Sulphur increased oil content in seeds of groundnut by 11.3 per cent in red and lateritic soils (Tandon, 1990). In acidic soils of Jharkhand, S application from 40 to 60 kg ha 1 in groundnut increased the oil content from 3.2 to 6.8 per cent (Sarkar and Surendra Singh, 2003). in Orissa, maximum groundnut oil content of 39 per cent was recorded at 30 kg S ha 1 added through gypsum (Sarkar and Surendra Singh, 2003). The extent of response in groundnut was magnified when S was applied after liming in acid soils, which indicates that groundnut is a Ca loving crop in addition to S. Micronutrients : Groundnut is relatively sensitive to the deficiency of boron (B), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe). Zinc is needed for groundnut as a tracer and aids in the use of other trace elements by the plant. In Zn deficient soils, application of Zn increased the nodulation, chlorophyll content and pod yield (Saini et al., 1975). The response of groundnut to Zn ranged from kg ha 1

4 298 AGRICULTURAL AGRICUTURAL SCIENCE REVIEWS DIGEST on an average (Takkar and Nayyar, 1984). An increase in energy values as well as total lipids and crude protein in groundnut was registered with Zn application (Nayyar et al., 1990). Iron chlorosis in groundnut (appearance of papery whitish yellow bud leaves) is another problem of growing concern in many alkaline calcareous soils where bicarbonate ions hinder the uptake and translocation of Fe in the plant (Patel et al., 1993). The lime induced iron chlorosis can be managed by the soil application or foliar spray of ferrous sulphate They also reported that splitting the application rate of 2kg Fe ha 1 into 4 sprays of 0.5 kg each at 30, 45, 60 and 70 days after emergence resulted in the highest recovery from chlorosis and also produced the highest pod and haulm yield. Response of groundnut to Fe in soils of marginal Fe content was reported by Maya Raut et al. (1991). Response of groundnut to added Fe up 30 mg Fe kg 1 soil was reported by More et al. (1989) in vertisols. Patel et al. (1993) showed 1% spray of Fe SO 4 to groundnut increased pod and haulm yield two folds by increasing chlorophyll and active iron. A comparative study of the relative efficacy of Fe sources on groundnut in Gujarat produced the following yield increase which were within a narrow range. Khilari et al. (1994) concluded that chelated Fe was more effective than non-chelated Fe. Further, foliar application of either 0.5% FeSO 4 or 0.5% Fe-EDTA along with 1% DAP controlled yellowing in groundnut and increased the pod and haulm yield and also iron uptake (Bagal et al., 1994 and Khilari et al., 1994). Lokhande et al. (1998) and Krishnappa et al. (1992) have observed that application of 25 kg FeSO 4 along with 60 kg P 2 O 5 to groundnut in a calcareous soil resulted in increased pod yield, haulm yield, oil and protein content and uptake of nutrients. Among various groups of crops, oil seeds appear to have the highest B requirement followed by pulses and then tubers. Boron is very useful in the production of legume seed and also for proper seed setting and seed quality and helps in the absorption of nitrogen to a certain extent (Shinde and Kale, 1985). Kernel development in groundnut is sensitive to B deficiency, making the crop a good indicator of low boron status in soils. The flowering period was extended in B deficient plants (Harris and Brolman, 1966). The deficiency of B in soils and in groundnut plants leads to the formation of hallow heart (Retkasem et al., 1987) which results in poor quality and low yield of kernel. As per Agro Chemical Report (2003) groundnut is one of the crop being affected by B deficiency in South East Asia. In seven trials conducted by the ICAR, micro nutrient project, B application increased the groundnut yield by kg ha 1 at an average of 180 (Takkar and Nayyar, 1984). Patel and Golakia, (1986) reported that in calcareous soils, application of 2 ppm significantly increased the uptake and pod yield even in the soils adequately supplied with this micronutrient. The highest pod yield of 1704 kg ha 1 was obtained when 3 kg B ha 1 as boric was band placed (Singh ). Increasing the dose beyond 3 kg ha 1 drastically reduced the pod yield. In red loamy soils of Coimbatore, Zn SO 20 kg ha 1 plus 0.5 per cent foliar spray plus borax 2.5 kg ha 1 plus 0.25 per cent foliar spray recorded the highest pod, kernel and oil yield (Sundarson, 1989). Boron and molybdeneum either individually or in different combinations with Zn exerted a positive effect on groundnut yield (Tripathy et al., 1999). CONCLUSION Groundnut responds to fertilizer application. Substantial increase in groundnut production can be achieved through effective nutrient management. For groundnut, which is a legume, main focus should be on nutrients like phosphors, sulphur, calcium and zinc. Iron should be given importance in alkaline calcareous soils.

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