Response of pearl millet cultivars to agronomic biofortification with zinc fertilizers under raifed situation

Performance of two pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) cultivars, viz. GHB-732 (low zinc content) and GHB-1225 (high zinc content) was evaluated under 7 zinc fertilizer tretments at the Pearl millet Research Station, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India during kharif season of 2020 to 2022, to study the response of pearl millet cultivars to agronomic biofortification with zinc fertilizers under rainfed conditions of Western India. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three repliactions and total fourteen treatments. The pooled results indicated that the high zinc content cultivar GHB-1225 sown with application of 20 kg ZnSO₄ in soil as basal along with 0.5% ZnSO₄ as foliar spray at tillering and flowering stage recorded higher yield, net returns and improving quality of grain and fodder of pearl millet. The results also showed that the application of 20 kg ZnSO₄ in soil as basal, seed treatment of 3g ZnSO₄/kg seed and foliar spray of 0.5% ZnSO₄ at tillering and flowering stage can increase the Zn content in grain (8.44%) and fodder (8.48%) of pearl millet low zinc content cultivar GHB-732.