Influence of Foliar Spray of Nutrients and PGR on Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Blackgram under Partial Shade in Coconut Garden

Background: Blackgram is one of the important pulse crop which suits well in intercropping system like coconut garden. As the yield of pulses in general is low, it is necessary to increase the yield using effective nutrient management strategies. Hence an attempt was made to study the influence of foliar spray of nutrients and plant growth regulators on productivity of blackgram intercropped in coconut garden. Methods: An investigation was conducted at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala, India during Rabi 2020 and summer 2020-21 to understand the effect of foliar nutrition on yield and nutrient uptake of Blackgram under partial shade in coconut garden. The experiment was laid out in split plot design, replicated four times with five varieties (v1 - Sumanjana, v2 - D B G V 5, v3 - V B N 5, v4 - V B N 6, v5 - C O 6) selected as the main plot treatments and six foliar sprays of nutrients and plant growth regulators as subplot treatments (f1: 19:19:19 (1%) at 45 and 60 DAS, f2: sulphate of potash SOP (0.5%) at 45 DAS and 15 days later, f3: NAA 40 mg L-1 and salicylic acid 100 mg L-1 at pre-flowering (30-45 DAS) and 15 days later, f4: f3 + f1, f5: f3 + f2 and f6: Control - KAU POP). Result: The study identified Sumanjana and DBGV 5 as shade adaptive varieties with foliar spray of 19:19:19 (1%) at 45 and 60 DAS + foliar spray of NAA 40 mg L-1 and SA 100 mg L-1 at pre-flowering (35 DAS) and 15 days later with 21.84 per cent and 21.76 per cent yield increase respectively over existing package of practices recommendations with higher nutrient uptake and improved soil nutrient status.