Article

Chilli (Capsicum annum L.), is the only crop grown as vegetable and spice purpose having export potential. The crop is cultivated intensively in almost all the states in our country. In crop production, micronutrients are very much essential in improving the yield of the crop as they play a crucial role in absorption of nutrients and also balancing other nutrients. However, during recent years, the deficiency of micronutrients is observed in several chilli growing areas, affecting the productivity of chilli. The causes for these nutrient deficiencies may be due to judicious use of inorganic fertilizers, intensive cropping system, loss of top soil by erosion and leaching. Therefore, proper plant nutrition along with micronutrients results in enhanced yield. In recent years, it was observed that, the micronutrients usage is increased to realize higher yield. The primary input in crop production is the good quality seed, as it plays major role in yield. Hence, the present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of pre harvest spray of micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Ca, B and Mg in different combinations and alone) on yield and seed quality of Chilli at HRS, Lam in a randomized block design with three replications. The foliar application of the treatments included individual spray of Zinc Sulphate (0.2%), Ferrous sulphate @ 0.2%, Calcium nitrate @ 0.2%, Magnesium sulphate, 0.2% , Boron 0.1% and a combination of all these micro nutrients was done three times i.e., at 60,90 and 120 days after transplanting. Among the treatments, spraying with combination of Zinc Sulphate (0.2%), Ferrous sulphate @ 0.2%, Calcium nitrate @ 0.2%, Magnesium sulphate @ 0.2% and Boron @ 0.1% spray recorded maximum plant height, more number of primary branches, yield (119.1 q/ha), seed yield per plant, number of seeds per pod, germination percentage, root and shoot length of seedling and seedling vigour index I and seedling vigour index II.