Effect of nutrients and plant growth regulators on growth and yield of black gram in sandy loam soils of Cauvery new delta zone, India

Pulse productivity is very low in some of the sandy soil areas where, soils are having poor water and nutrient holding capacity. To improve the pulse productivity, field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu for two consecutive years to study the effect of phosphorus sources (mono- and diammonium phosphate) with brassinolide and salicylic acid on growth and yield of black gram in sandy loam soils. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design with three replications during kharif season. The treatments include 100% recommended dose of NPK along with foliar application of monoammonium phosphate (MAP), diammonium phosphate (DAP), brassinolide (0.25 ppm), and salicylic acid (100 ppm) along with the combination of these treatments. TNAU pulse wonder at 5.0 kg ha−1 and TNAU micronutrient mixture (MN) at 5 kg ha−1 were also tried. The results revealed that application of 100% recommended dose of NPK + DAP 2% + TNAU pulse wonder 5.0 kg ha−1 was statistically significant and recorded higher plant growth (37.62 cm), number of pods / plant (37.15), yield of black gram (1162 kg ha−1), and benefit cost ratio (2.98) over the other treatments. The lowest black gram yield (730 kg ha−1) was recorded for control.