Effect of Organic Amendments and Micronutrient Foliar Application on Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.) Productivity under Calcareous Soil of Tamil Nadu

Aims: To study the effect of organic amendments and micronutrient foliar sprays on the growth and yield of finger millet in calcareous soils, which suffer from low organic matter and limited availability of essential micro and macro nutrients, hindering crop growth and productivity. Study Design: Factorial Randomised Block Design. Place and Duration of Study: The field experiment was carried out during the rabi season from September 2024 – December 2024 at Instructional south farm in Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Methodology: The field trial was laid out with three replications, and the treatments comprised soil amendments in factor (S) viz., S1- Pongamia seed cake @ 1.46 t ha-1 +100 %RDF, S2 - Neem seed cake @ 1.25 t ha-1 + 100 % RDF, S3- Castor seed cake @ t ha-1 + 100 % RDF, S4 - FYM @ 12.5 t ha-1 + 100 % RDF, S5- 100% RDF alone (Control) and foliar application of micronutrients in factor F viz., F1- Fe-EDTA 0.2% @ 30 and 45 DAS, F2- Zn-EDTA 0.5% @ 30 and 45 DAS, F3- Mn-EDTA 0.5% @ 30 and 45 DAS, F4- No spray (Control). Results: The results showed that the application of Pongamia seed cake @ 1.46 t ha-1+100% RDF + Fe-EDTA 0.2% @ 30 and 45 DAS significantly improved the physiological parameters, such as RGR and NAR, and the growth characteristics, such as LAI, number of leaves per plant, and stem girth, with higher grain yield (2891 kg ha-1) and straw yield (5752 kg ha-1).