2024, Vol. 7, Issue 11, Part C

author(s)
Sudheer Kumar Yadav, Deepa H Dwivedi, Rajesh Kumar Meena, Maya Ram and Usha Shukla

abstract
Nano fertilizers (NFs) have the potential to improve soil fertility, crop production, and agricultural product quality, making them a significant tool for plant nutrient management. The present investigation was carried out under protected conditions in complete randomized block design with six treatments replicated thrice. It studies the efficacy of application of Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in respect of quality attributes of spinach beet (Beta vulgaris var. bengalensis Roxb.) cv. Pusa Bharti. Six treatments of ZnO NPs (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 ppm) were applied at 10 day intervals three times during the investigation. Observations were recorded for quality parameters and it was observed that among the quality traits highest total soluble solids (0Brix) and total chlorophyll was observed in T₅ - 50 ppm (2.31 0Brix and 47.3±0.88, respectively), while, ascorbic acid (78.36±0.55 mg 100 g^-1), Chlorophyll a (32.63±0.32 mg 100 g^-1) and Chlorophyll b (53.53±2.41 mg g^-1) was recorded in T₆ - 60 ppm. Findings clearly revealed that the application of ZnO NPs improved the quality traits of spinach beet and these nanoparticles can be utilized with their effective dose for rapid dissolution and conversion which may reduce fertilizer cost and increase sustainability for quality produce spinach beet production.