Effect of Foliar Application of Zinc and Boron on Growth, Yield and Quality Seed Production of Onion (Allium cepa L.) cv. Swat-1

Zinc and boron and have a vital role in pollination, seed set processes and quality seed production. Foliar application of micronutrients enhances plant growth and yield. A research on quality onion (Allium cepa L.) seed production through investigating the effect of zinc and boron essential micronutrients at substation of Agriculture Research (MA), district Bajaur during the year 2024-25. Onion bulbs (cv. Swat-1) were sowed as planting material for seed production purposes. Zinc and boron were sprayed as foliar spray with a rate of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6% and 0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9% respectively. Randomized Complete Block Design with two factors was assigned for the experiment. Results depicted that application of both boron and zinc micronutrients positively affected all the studied attributes. Highest number of leaves per plant, leaf lengthplant-1, number of umbels per plant-1, number of seeds per umbel, weight of 1000 seeds (g), yield of seeds plant-1 and yield of seeds ha-1 (kg ha-1) and less days to flowering were recorded in % zinc and % boron, respectively. However, non-significant interactions were recorded for the above mentioned parameters. It is concluded from the obtained results that maximum growth, yield characters and quality onion seeds ha-1 (401.8, 400.3 kg ha-1) were recorded at the rate of 0.6% zinc and 0.9% boron application in foliar spray under the agro climatic condition of Bajaur.