Effect of Iron and Silicon on Growth and Yield of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

The present study highlights the effect of Iron and Silicon on growth and yield of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.). Si occurs primarily in soil solution as monosilicic acid (H4SiO4) at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 mm and is taken up by plants in this form. Silicon can mitigate the negative effects of abiotic stresses such as high temperature, freezing, drought, lodging, radiation, irradiation, and UV, as well as chemical stresses such as salt, nutrient imbalance, and metal toxicity. A field experiment was conducted during Zaid season 2022 at experimental field of Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. The soil at the test site had a sandy loam texture, a pH of 7.3 that was almost neutral, and low levels of available potassium (215.4 kg/ha), nitrogen (230 kg/ha), phosphorus (13.60 kg/ha), and organic carbon (0.48%). The treatments consist of foliar spray of iron (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 %) at 35, 45 DAS and Foliar spray of Silicon (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 ml/L) at 50 DAS along with control (RDF: 80:40:40 NPK Kg/ha). The experiment was layout in Randomized Block Design with ten treatments each replicated thrice. Significantly higher plant height (205.66 cm), maximum plant dry weight (133.2 g) and the yield attributes namely test weight (25.82 g), grains/earhead (2368.33), grain yield (2850.00 Kg/ha), stover yield (4004.67 Kg/ha), maximum gross return (84645.00 INR/ha), net return (52313.00 INR/ha) and benefit cost ratio (1.61) were obtained in the treatment 9 with the application of 1.50% Iron along with 1.50ml/L Si.