Upper and lower levels of boron for cotton and wheat as influenced by calcium carbonate

Abstract

Pot studies were conducted to study effect of the boron (B) levels (0, 0.12, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 2.0 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 10 mg B kg⁻¹) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) (0, 1.25, 2.5 and 5.0%) on cotton and wheat crops in cropping system. In absence of CaCO_3, reduced growth of cotton and wheat were observed when B was applied @ 2.0 mg kg⁻¹ soil. Necrosis of leaves in cotton and purple coloration of plumule in wheat was observed @ 10.0 mg B kg⁻¹. Irrespective of CaCO₃, 0.57 and 7.67 mg kg⁻¹ Hot Water Soluble B (HWS-B), 62 and 940 mg kg⁻¹ B dry matter (DM) of leaves, 45 and 210 mg B kg⁻¹ DM of petioles and 20 and 51 mg B kg⁻¹ DM of sticks, produced 90 and 50%of the maximum dry matter yield (DMY) of cotton, respectively. The values for wheat were 0.66 and 6.71 mg HWS-B kg⁻¹, 7.94 and 27.0 mg B kg⁻¹ grain and 15.3 and 170 mg B kg⁻¹ straw, respectively.

Keywords:

• Boron
• CaCO₃
• cotton
• wheat

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the technical facilities provided by Head, Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. The senior author is grateful for financial assistance provided by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India in the form of INSPIRE-DST fellowship.