Effect of zinc and boron on growth, productivity and quality of maize (Zea mays)

A two-year field study (kharif 2018 and 2019) was conducted at the agronomy research farm of IFTM University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh to access the effect of zinc and boron as soil application (SA) and foliar application (FA) on growth, yield and grain quality of maize (Zea mays L.). Ten treatments, T1, no fertilizer; T2, zinc @ 5 kg/ha (SA); T3, zinc @ 1 kg/ha (FA); T4, zinc @ 1 + 1 kg/ha (2 FA); T5, zinc @ 5 kg/ha (SA) + zinc @ 1 kg/ha (FA); T6, boron @ 0.5 kg/ha (SA); T7, boron @ 0.1 kg/ha (FA); T8, boron @ 0.2 kg/ha (2 FA); T9, boron @ 0.5 kg/ha (SA) and boron @ 0.1 kg/ha (FA); and T10, zinc @ 5 kg/ha + boron @ 0.5 kg/ha (SA) were composed in randomized block design (RBD) with 3 replications. The findings showed that adding varying amount of Zinc and Boron and applying them in different ways to zinc and boron greatly enhanced the growth, yield and grain quality of maize. With the application of Zn @ 5 kg/ha (SA) + zinc @ 1 kg/ha (FA), the maximum grain yield (5.39 and 5.84 t/ha) was recorded in 2018 and 2019. Similarly, maximum zinc content (25.90 and 25.95 mg/kg) and zinc uptake (121.47 and 133.69 g/ ha, respectively) were reported with same treatment. Furthermore, the highest B content (24.95 and 25.08 mg/kg) and B uptake (245.17 and 270.53 g ha-1) were noted with the application of B @ 0.5 kg/ha (SA) and B @ 0.1 kg/ha (FA), respectively. The highest protein content (10.21 and 10.27%) in grain and protein yield (0.55 and 0.60 t/ha) were recorded with T10, Zn @ 5 kg/ha (SA) + B 0.5 kg/ha (SA), respectively.