Journal of Experimental Agriculture International

An agronomic study was conducted during kharif 2025 at the new experimental-cum-demonstration field, SVIAg, SVVV, Indore. The experimental field was level and well drained. The experimental soil was medium black clay, with low nitrogen (210.12 kg          ha^-1), medium phosphorus (15.23 kg ha^-1) and high potassium (440.41 kg ha^-1). The soil organic carbon content, pH and EC were 0.59 per cent, 7.35 per cent and 0.72 dSm^-1, respectively. The environmental conditions were favourable for the normal growth and maturity of the sorghum crop. The experiment comprised ten treatments, each replicated three times in a randomised block design, involving soil and foliar applications of iron and zinc at different growth stages. The treatments included T1: RDF only, T2: RDF + Fe (soil application) during sowing, T3: RDF + Zn (soil application) during sowing, T4: RDF + Fe + Zn (soil application) during sowing, T5: RDF + Fe (foliar application) at 15 and 30 DAS, T6: RDF + Zn (foliar application) at 15 and 30 DAS, T7: RDF + Fe + Zn (foliar application) at 15 and 30 DAS, T8: RDF + Fe soil application during sowing + foliar application at 15 and 30 DAS, T9: RDF + Zn soil application during sowing + foliar application at 15 and 30 DAS and T10: RDF + Fe + Zn soil application during sowing + foliar application at 15 and 30 DAS. Sowing was carried out using the dibbling method at a spacing of 40 cm x 15 cm.

The highest plant height (200.73 cm) at harvest, stem girth (3.42 cm), number of leaves plant^-1 (14.90) at 75 DAS, leaf area plant^-1 (39.63 dm²) at 75 DAS and dry matter plant^-1 (174.00 g) at harvest were recorded under treatment T10: RDF + Fe + Zn soil application during sowing + foliar application at 15 and 30 DAS. The lowest values of these parameters were recorded under the treatment in which only the recommended dose of fertilisers was applied to the crop. Yield-attributing characteristics, viz., earhead length (22.57 cm) plant^-1, earhead girth (10.80 cm) plant^-1, earhead weight (78.75 g) plant^-1, number of grains earhead^-1 (1613.33), earhead yield (56.37 g) plant^-1 and harvest index (28.26) at harvest, were recorded with RDF + Fe + Zn soil application during sowing + foliar application at 15 and 30 DAS.