Response of onion to soil and foliar application of micronutrients on growth, yield, storage quality and soil fertility status under vertisols of western Maharashtra

Abstract

Onion is important vegetable crop grown worldwide. For improving yields in onion macro and micronutrients were essential for good growth and development. Micronutrients play an active role in the plant metabolic processes and cellular functions within the plants. In addition, they play an essential role in improving yield and quality and highly required for better plant growth in many crops. Soil and foliar application of micronutrients during crop growth can be successfully used for correcting their deficits and improving the mineral status of plants as well as increasing the crop yield and quality. All the micronutrients were found beneficial in maximizing the yield in onion. For obtaining higher yields through the use of micronutrients applications, the soil application of micronutrient mixture grade I @ 10 kg ha-1 along with recommended dose of fertilizer i.e. 100:50:50 NPK kg + 20 t FYM per hectare followed by the foliar application of micronutrient mixture grade II @ 0.5% at 30 and 45 days after transplanting was found beneficial. It is also better for improvement in soil fertility status and reducing storage losses of onion as compared to only recommended dose of fertilizers.