Response of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) to foliar application of nano zinc oxide and nano calcium oxide

Groundnut is important oilseed crop grown in India, contributing nearly 40 per cent to the country's total oilseed production. However, the average yield in India is as low as 966 kg per hectare. One of the key factors behind this low productivity is inadequate nutrient management. To meet the growing population's minimum requirement for edible oils and fats, it is required to increase productivity by using current smart fertilizers. In light of these considerations a field experiment was conducted during kharif 2023-24 on groundnut in Vertisol at AICRP on Groundnut, Main Agricultural Research Station, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka. The experiment was conducted under randomized block design (RBD) design with twelve treatments which includes foliar spray of nano ZnO, nano CaO at different doses and different days after sowing with three replications using groundnut genotype GPBD-4. Among all the nanoparticles treatments, treatment T6: T1 + nano calcium oxide @ 2 g 10 l-1 of water (Foliar spray at 30 and 60 DAS) recorded higher plant height (31.8 cm), higher number of branches per plant (9.2), higher biological yield (5442 kg ha-1), gross returns ( 171998 ha-1) which is on par with treatment T4: T1 + nano zinc oxide @ 2 g 10 l-1 of water (Foliar spray at 25 and 45 DAS). Among all the treatments higher values in growth and yield was observed in with treatment recommended package of practice (RPP) (18:46:25 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 + 25 kg FeSO4 + 25 kg ZnSO4 + 500 kg Gypsum ha-1 + FYM @ 7.5 t ha-1). Lower values in growth, yield and economics was observed in treatment T1: Recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) only NPK (18:46:25 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1).