EFFECT OF ZINC AND BORON ON YIELD AND YIELD CONTRIBUTING CHARACTERS OF LENTIL IN LOW GANGES RIVER FLOODPLAIN SOIL AT MADARIPUR, BANGLADESH

A study was conducted in Calcareous Low Ganges River Floodplain Soil (AEZ 12) at Regional Pulses Research (RPRS), Madaripur during the Rabi season of 2010-12.The objectives were to evaluate the effect of Zinc (Zn) and Boron (B) on the yield and yield contributing characters of lentil ( Lens culinaris Medic) and to estimate the optimum dose of Zn and B for yield maximization. There were 16 treatment combinations comprising four levels each of Zinc (0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 kg/ha) and Boron (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 kg/ha) along with a blanket dose of N 20 P 16 K 30 S 10 kg/ha were used. The treatments were arranged viz. T 1 = Zn0B0; T 2 = Zn 0 B 0.5 ; T 3 = Zn 0 B 1.0 ; T 4 = Zn 0 B 1.5 ; T 5 = Zn 1.0 B 0 ; T 6 = Zn 1.0 B 0.5 ; T 7 = Zn 1.0 B 1.0 ; T 8 = Zn 1.0 B 1.5 ; T 9 = Zn 2.0 B 0 ; T 10 = Zn 2.0 B 0.5 ; T 11 = Zn 2.0 B 1.0 ; T 12 = Zn 2.0 B 1.5 ; T 13 = Zn 3.0 B 0 ; T 14 = Zn 3.0 B 0.5 ; T 15 = Zn 3.0 B 1.0 and T 16 = Zn 3.0 B 1.5 . The experiment was laid out in RCBD with three replications. Results showed that the combination of Zn 3.0 B 1.5 produced significantly higher seed yield (1156 kg/ha). The lowest seed yield (844 kg/ha) was found in control (Zn 0 B 0 ) combination. The combined application of zinc and boron were superior to their single application. Therefore, the combination of Zn 3.0 B 1.5 may be considered as suitable dose for lentil cultivation in Bangladesh. But from regression analysis, the optimum treatment combination was Zn 2.85 B 1.44 for Madaripur, Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v39i4.22538 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 39(4): 591-603, December 2014