Nutrient management through organic and inorganic sources for macro and trace elements in rainfed pearl millet

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Vijayapur, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad for three seasons during kharif 2012, 2013 and 2014 to study the effect of nutrient management through organic and inorganic sources for macro and trace elements in rainfed pearl millet. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized complete block design having three replications. There were 18 treatment combinations consisting of three organic manure levels (no FYM, FYM @ 5 t/ha and FYM @ 2.5 t/ha) and six inorganic nutrient levels viz., recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), RDF+ZnSO4 @ 20 kg/ha, RDF+FeSO4 @ 20 kg/ha, RDF+Borax @ 10 kg/ha, RDF+Gypsum @ 250 kg/ha and control. The mean results of three years (2012, 2013 and 2014) showed that application of FYM @ 5 t/ha recorded significantly higher grain yield (2409 kg/ha) compared to no FYM application (2093 kg/ha), however, it was on par with application of FYM @ 2.5 t/ha (2334 kg/ha). Stover yield was significantly superior with FYM at 5 t/ha (3.38 t/ha) compared to no FYM and FYM at 2.5 t/ha (2.90 and 3.12 t/ha, respectively). In case of inorganic nutrient treatments, application of RDF+Borax @ 10 kg/ha recorded significantly higher grain yield (2560 kg/ha) compared to absolute control (1680 kg/ha), RDF alone (2238 kg/ha) and RDF+ZnSO4 @ 20 kg/ha (2346 kg/ha); however, it was on par with RDF+FeSO4 @ 20 kg/ha (2473 kg/ha). Stover yield was significantly higher with RDF+FeSO4 @ 20 kg/ha (3.31 t/ha) compared to absolute control (2.54 t/ha), but it was on par with RDF+Borax @ 10 kg/ha and other treatments.