Enhancing Pigeonpea Productivity and Quality: Comparative Efficacy of Foliar Super Nano, Conventional Urea with Graded Soil Nitrogen and Sulphur Application

Abstract

An experiment was conducted during Kharif 2024 at the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Pigeonpea, GKVK, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, to evaluate the effects of super nano urea and sulphur on pigeonpea growth, seed yield and seed quality. Twelve treatments were assessed in a randomised complete block design with three replications. The treatments comprised graded basal levels of recommended nitrogen (25 kg ha-1) and sulphur (20 kg ha-1), integrated with two foliar sprays of super nano urea at 2, 4 or 8 ml L-1 during flowering and pod formation, or conventional urea plus water-soluble sulphur. The application of 75% recommended nitrogen and sulphur with two foliar sprays of 10 g L-1 urea plus 5 g L-1 water-soluble sulphur (T12) recorded the highest plant height (187 cm), SPAD value (70.47), number of pods per plant (108.39), 100-seed weight (14.87 g), seed yield (1,434 kg ha-1), seed germination (93.67%), mean seedling length (52.64 cm), SVI-I (4,931), SVI-II (6,112), total dehydrogenase activity (2.18), seed protein content (23.47%) and benefit-cost ratio (3.02). Treatment T9, comprising 75% recommended nitrogen and sulphur with super nano urea at 4 ml L-1, produced comparable values, including a plant height of 184 cm, 100-seed weight of 14.78 g, seed yield of 1,367 kg ha-1 and benefit-cost ratio of 2.78. The lowest responses were observed under 25% recommended nitrogen and sulphur (T1). These results indicate that adequate basal nitrogen and sulphur combined with targeted foliar nutrition can improve pigeonpea productivity, seed quality and economic returns under these conditions.