Micronutrients and bioinoculants management in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under rainfed conditions

A field experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture (RVSKVV), Indore during rabi 2020-21 to study the effect of micronutrients and bionoculants in relation to eight nutrient management treatments (T1: Control, T2: Zn @ 5 kg/ha, T3: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha, T4: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS, T5: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed, T6: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS + seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed, T7: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + seed treatment with NPK consortia @10 ml/kg, T8: Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS + seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed + NPK consortia @10 ml/kg seed). Results shows that the higher growth parameters (plant height, branches/plant, dry matter accumulation/plant) and physiological parameters (leaf area, leaf area index, CGR, RGR, Chlorophyll content) were observed with the application of Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS + seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed + NPK consortia @10 ml/kg seed in comparison to rest of the treatments. Significantly maximum seed yield (1899 kg/ha) was obtained with Zn @ 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS + seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed + NPK consortia @10 ml/kg seed which was at par with T5, T6 and T7. In terms of percentage seed yield increased by due to T8 treatment by 24.68 over control. The straw yield and harvest index of chickpea did not influenced by various treatments. Thus, application of 7.5 kg/ha + 0.5% foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 30 DAS along with seed treatment with molybdenum @ 2 g/kg seed and NPK consortia @10 ml/kg may be best practices for improving the growth and productivity of chickpea under rainfed conditions of Malwa Plateau region of Madhya Pradesh.