Vol. 11, Issue 8 (2022)

Author(s):
Lingayat NR, Takankhar VG, Kadam DM, More BS, Salunke PR and Chavan NS

Abstract:
A field experiment entitled “Effect of silicon and nitrogen levels on soil nutrient dynamics, yield and quality of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) under Inceptisol” was conducted during the rabi season 2019-20, at Research Farm, Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Latur. The experiment was laid in factorial randomized block design with two factors viz., four levels of Silicon (S₀-control, S_0.25-silicon @ 0.25% foliar spray, S_0.5-silicon @ 0.5% foliar spray and S_1.0-silicon @ 1% foliar spray) and four levels of nitrogen (N₀-control, N₄₀-nitrogen @ 40 kg ha^-1, N₈₀-nitrogen @ 80 kg ha^-1 and N₁₂₀-nitrogen @ 120 kg ha^-1) with three replication and variety SPV-2407 (Parbhani super moti) was used as test crop. It was observed that the yield parameters viz. grain and straw yield as well as quality parameters viz. test weight, protein content and protein yield of sorghum were increased significantly with foliar application of silicon @ 1% in combination with soil application of nitrogen @ 120 kg ha^-1 over rest of the treatments. The combined application of silicon and nitrogen was superior in increasing yield and quality of sorghum over separate application of silicon and nitrogen, under Inceptisol.