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Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Biosciences (IJPAB)
Year : 2021, Volume : 9, Issue : 2
First page : (89) Last page : (97)
Article doi: : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-2845.8608

Foliar Fertilization of Copper on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Aggregatum Onion (Allium cepa L.)

T. Chitdeshwari^1* , D. Jagadeeswari¹, R. Gnanasundari¹ and A.K. Shukla^2
1Department of Soil science and Agricultural Chemistry,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
²Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India
*Corresponding Author E-mail: chithukesh@gmail.com
Received: 18.01.2021 | Revised: 24.02.2021 | Accepted: 6.03.2021 

 ABSTRACT

Micronutrients play a vital role in increasing the yield and quality of many crops and have direct bearing on the human nutrition also. However balanced use of these nutrients along with major nutrients in crop production is not much recognized due to their less requirement. The main aim of the work is to optimize the concentration and frequency of foliar spraying of Copper sulphate (CuSO4) on growth, yield and quality of aggregatum onion (Allium cepa L.). A field experiment was carried out in the farmer’s field with six CuSO4 concentrations (0, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50%) and three frequencies (once, twice, thrice) of foliar spraying at critical growth stages of the crop.  The results revealed that, foliar spraying of 0.30 % CuSO4 twice at 30 and 45 days after planting is optimal for increasing the yield (18.1 t ha-1) and quality of small onion with better farm income. The bulb quality parameters such as total soluble solids (TSS) and ascorbic acid (AA) content was increased with the spraying of 0.40 % CuSO4 twice and the values varied from 8.89 to 11.9 o brix and 14.1 to 19.4 mg 100 g-1, respectively. More number of spraying frequency at higher concentration (>0.40% CuSO4) resulted in lesser yield and bulb quality. However increasing the frequency and concentration of CuSO4 increased the Cu content and uptake by the crop. No much changes on the soil properties and Cu availability in soils was noticed due to foliar spraying of CuSO4.

Keywords: Foliar spraying, Copper sulphate, Frequency, Concentration, Growth, Yield, Quality, Small Onion.

Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782

Cite this article: Chitdeshwari, T., Jagadeeswari, D., Gnanasundari, R., & Shukla, A. K. (2021). Foliar Fertilization of Copper on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Aggregatum Onion (Allium cepa L.), Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci. 9(2), 89-97. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-2845.8608