Abstract

Among micronutrients, zinc deficiency is occurring in both the crops and human. Zinc deficiency is widespread in sandy soil of coastal agro-ecosystem owing to low organic matter, CEC, high leaching, etc. One pot experiment was carried out in the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture during February-March 2017, to evaluate the influence of clay and organic amendments viz., FYM and humic acid on the soil properties and Zn availability for blackgram in sandy soil. The soil was sandy, slightly saline with pH 8.07 and represented low available NPK and Zn status. In a completely randomized design, the following treatments, namely, T1-Control (100% recommended dose of NPK), T2-NPK+ZnSO4 @ 25 kg/ha, T3-T2+Clay @ 20 t/ha, T4-T3+Humic acid @ 20 kg/ha and T5-T3+FYM @ 12.5 t/ha were studied using four replications. Blackgram variety ADT 3 was grown during the crop period. Various growth, yield parameters and yield were recorded and post-harvest soil samples were analyzed for the soil properties, available major nutrients and micronutrient Zn. The results of the study indicated that the application of both the amendments was efficient in improving the growth, yield of blackgram and also Zn availability and zinc use efficiency. Among the treatments T4, application of NPK+ZnSO4 @ 25 kg/ha+clay @ 20 t/ha+humic acid @ 20 kg/ha accounted for a significant increase in the DTPA-Zn content in soil besides improving the organic carbon and available nutrient status.