Effect of Seed Pelleting and Foliar Nutrition on Growth and Yield of Summer Irrigated Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Field experiment was conducted during 2017, to investigate the effect of seed pelleting and foliar nutrition on yield and productivity of summer irrigated sesame (Sesamum indicum. L). The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The two factors were seed pelleting and foliar nutrition. Pelleted and non pelleted seeds were the two levels of seed pelleting. Foliar nutrition comprised of Urea (1%), DAP (1%), 19:19:19 (NPK) (1%), MnSO4 (0.5%), MAP (0.5%), Combined nutrient spray (2%), Salicylic acid (100 ppm) and Control (no spray), which were sprayed at 30 and 45 DAS. Significantly higher plant height (113.8 cm), DMP (3182 kg.ha-1), number of branches (7.7), number of capsules per plant (143.4), seeds per capsule (52.1), thousand seed weight (2.90 g) and seed yield (659 kg.ha-1) were recorded by pelleted seeds. Among the foliar nutrients, combined nutrient formulation sprayed at 30 and 45 DAS recorded maximum plant height (127.4 cm) DMP (3856 kg.ha-1), number of branches (9.8), number of capsules per plant (153.2), seeds per capsule (58.4), thousand seed weight (3.12 g) and seed yield (719 kg.ha-1) in sesame.