BIO EFFICACY OF NANO ZINC SULPHIDE (ZnS) ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus L.) AND NUTRIENT STATUS IN THE SOIL

DHARAM SINGH MEENA¹*, B.N. ARAVINDA KUMAR^2
1Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580005, Karnataka
²Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580005, Karnataka
* Corresponding Author : dsagrians@gmail.com

Received : 12-01-2017     Accepted : 19-01-2017     Published : 06-02-2017
Volume : 9     Issue : 6       Pages : 3795 - 3798
Int J Agr Sci 9.6 (2017):3795-3798

Keywords : Foliar application, Nano ZnS, sunflower, Nutrient dynamics
Academic Editor : Dr HM Jayadeva
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The authors thank to department of nanotechnology, UAS, Dharawad, Karnataka and the Karnataka University for providing facilities for synthesis and characterization of nano-ZnS
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

A pot experiment was conducted at IABT polyhouse, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka to assess the performance of sunflower to different concentration of nano zinc sulphide and nutrient dynamics in soil. The treatments comprised foliar application of nano ZnS with different concentrations (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ppm) at 35 and 55 DAS. Nano ZnS 500 ppm sprayed at 55 DAS recorded significantly higher seed yield (5.27 g plant-1) and yield attributes which was on par with 400 ppm nano ZnS sprayed at 35 DAS (4.87 g plant-1). While, nano ZnS 400 ppm nano sprayed at 35 DAS recorded significantly highest plant height at 40 & 70 DAS and harvest (67.85, 120.90 and 124.73 cm, respectively), number of green leaves plant-1 (13.67), leaf area (356 cm2), leaf area index (0.198), leaf area duration (8.79 days) over water spray and soil application of zinc sulphate.