Influence of Seed Priming and Foliar Spray of Nutrients on Growth and Yield of Rabi Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

An experiment was carried out at Agricultural Research Station, Tandur, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) for three consecutive years viz. 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 to study the Influence of seed priming and foliar spray of nutrients on growth and yield of Rabi Sorghum during the winter seasons. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with two factors. The treatments comprised were Factor 1: Seed priming (5) 1.Priming for 12 Hours in Water 2.Priming with ZnSo4 (2% solution) 3.Priming with K2HPO4 (2% solution). 4. Priming with KNO3 (2% solution) and 5.Control (No Priming). Factor 2: Foliar Spray (4) 1.KNO3 @ 2g in 100 ml of water, 2. Diammonium phosphate @ 2g in 100 ml of water, 3.Urea @ 2g in 100 ml of water and 5.Control (Simple water spray) with three replications. The pooled results of the trial indicated that seed treatment with KNO3 @ 0.5% and seed priming with KH2PO4 @ 0.5% recorded significantly on par and highest among all other seed priming treatment. The 100 seed weight (g) and grain yield t/ha recorded significantly on par by foliar spraying of KNO3 @ 2 % and di ammonium phosphate @ 2g in 100 ml of water over the control. The combination of seed priming with KNO3 and foliar spray of KNO3 or di ammonium phosphate @ 2g in 100 ml of water or Urea @ 2g in 100 ml of water resulted in highest and on par grain yield of rabi sorghum.