Impact of different Nano-fertilizers on Agronomic Traits of wheat under Jammu Subtropics

Abstract

Among the various fertilizers, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) are vital for wheat cultivation, but their excessive and improper use can harm both human health and the environment. Thus, exploring alternatives like nano fertilizers, which provide a slow and controlled release of nutrients, is essential. Keeping this in view, an experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Chatha, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir during the rabi season of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 to study the effects of nano NPK fertilizers on wheat cultivar ‘HD-3086’. The experiment followed a Randomized Block Design with 12 treatments and 3 replications across 36 plots. The treatments ranged from control (no fertilizers) to varying levels of recommended doses of Fertilizers (RDF) of NPK viz. 100%, 75%, 50%, combined with different numbers of foliar sprays of nano-NPK at tillering, jointing, and booting stages. The significantly higher results with respect to growth parameters and yield were recorded under treatment T8 (100% RDF [NPK] + 3 foliar sprays of nano-NPK at tillering, jointing, and booting stages) which was at par with treatment T5 (100% RDF [NPK] + 2 foliar sprays of nano-NPK at tillering, and booting stages) but showed no significant variation in harvest index. In contrast, the control treatment, which received no fertilizer, exhibited the poorest growth and yield performance at harvest.