Impact of Seed hardening, Varying Fertilizer Levels and Organic Foliar Applications on Nutrient Content and Uptake in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

DOI: 10.22161/ijeab.104.33

Abstract:
A field experiment entitled “Impact of Seed Priming, Varying Fertilizer Levels and Organic Foliar Applications on Nutrient Content and Uptake in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)” was conducted during the kharif season of 2024 at the Agronomy Instructional Farm, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized block design comprising three factors: seed hardening (control, 2% KCl and 3% panchagavya), fertilizer levels (control, 75% RDF and 100% RDF) and foliar nutrition (7.5% and 10% vermiwash), replicated three times. The results revealed that application of 100 per cent RDF along with seed hardening using 2 per cent KCl and foliar spray of 10% vermiwash significantly enhanced nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content and uptake in sorghum grain and stover. The highest nitrogen content in grain (1.626%) and stover (0.524%) and maximum total nitrogen uptake (106.06 kg ha⁻¹) were recorded under 100 per cent RDF. Similarly, foliar application of vermiwash @10% and seed hardening with 2% KCl improved nutrient content and uptake, being statistically superior over respective controls. These results indicate that integrated application of seed hardening, optimal fertilizer dose and foliar nutrition plays a significant role in enhancing nutrient use efficiency and productivity in rainfed sorghum.

Keywords:
Sorghum, Seed hardening, RDF, Vermiwash, Nutrient content, Nutrient uptake

Article Info:
Received: 15 Jul 2025; Received in revised form: 12 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025; Available online: 27 Aug 2025

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