Impact of Zinc and Molybdenum Fertilization on Growth, Yield and Nutrient Uptake by Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Bundelkhand Region

A pot experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2019-20 at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi U.P, to find out the suitable doses of Zn and Mo for chickpea crop. The experiment was carried out in CRD with 3 replication having nine treatments as T0- RDF (20:40: 20 kg ha-1), T1- Zn 20 kg ha-1 + Mo 0 kg ha-1, T2- Zn 30 kg ha-1 + Mo 0 kg ha-1, T3- Zn 0 kg ha-1 + Mo 1 kg ha-1, T4- Zn 20 kg ha-1 + Mo 1 kg ha-1, T5- Zn 30 kg ha-1 + Mo 1 kg ha-1, T6- Zn 0 kg ha-1 + Mo 2 kg ha-1, T7- Zn 20 kg ha-1 + Mo 2 kg ha-1 , T8- Zn 30 kg ha-1 + Mo 2 kg ha-1. The results indicated that growth, yield attributes and yield viz. plant height, branches plant-1, dry weight of plant, No. of pods plant-1, No. of seeds pod-1, grain yield, biological yield and stover yield were increased significantly and found better all treatments, over control, except T1. The highest values in respect to plant height (33.86cm, 34.09%), branches plant-1 (8.00, 60%), dry weight of plant(19.74 g plant-1, 38.52%) , No. of pods plant-1 (50.33, 14.39%), No. of seeds pod-1 (1.50, 150%) grain yield (32.27 g plant-1, 39.51%), stover yield (72.95 g plant-1, 45.54%) and biological yield (40.68 g plant-1, 42.81%) recorded in T5 followed by T3 and T8. The maximum nutrient concentration and its corresponding uptake of N,P,K content in grain (3.66 %N, 0.59%P, 0.72%K) and in straw (2.20 %N, 0.34%P, 1.57%K) recorded in T5, followed by T4 and T8. The Zinc and molybdenum concentration in grain (58.09 mg kg-1 and 1.59 mg kg-1) and in straw (56.56 mg kg-1 and 1.02 mg kg-1) were registered in T8. The highest uptake of NPK and Zn (0.208 g pot-1, 0.033 g pot-1,0.087 g pot-1 and 4.13 mg pot-1, respectively) in T5 and Mo uptake (0.086 mg pot-1) in T8. Maximum protein content in seed (22.88%) was observed in (T5) followed by T4 and T8. The T5 (Zn 30 kg ha-1 + Mo 1 kg ha-1) treatment was proved most superior in respect to growth, yield, nutrient concentration and corresponding uptake among treatments. The application of Zn and Mo with different doses enhanced the soil quality and increase the nutrient availability in soil.