Foliar Application of Micronutrinets in Cotton - A Review

Abstract

Foliar application of micronutrients plays an important role in changing growth and physiological characteristics of cotton. In optimizing fertilization strategies, inclusion of foliar application improves fertilizer use efficiency and reduces environmental pollution. Foliar application of micronutrient mixtures during flower and boll development stages have been shown to be effective in efficient utilization of nutrients by cotton and thereby reduce boll shedding and increase the yield. Keeping this in view, the literatures on foliar application of micronutrients on the growth, yield and quality of cotton are reviewed in this paper.

Keywords

Cotton, Micronutrients, Nutrient uptake, Yield

Introduction

Cotton, the “king” of fibre crop is the most important commercial crop in the world, belongs to the family Malvaceae. Apart from major nutrients, micronutrients also play an important role in seed production. The dire need for intensive land use drew attention for applying micronutrients to cotton. Essential micronutrients like Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper, Boron and Magnesium play an important role in physiology of cotton crop and these are being a part of enzyme system or catalyst in enzymatic reactions. They are required for plant activities such as aspiration, meristamatic development, chlorophyll formation, photosynthesis, energy system, protein and oil synthesis, gossypol, tannin and phenolic compounds development. Certain micronutrients may help to secure uniform emergence, rapid seedling growth and healthy plant stand. Some beneficial effects on seed yield and quality as reflected in viability may be achieved by applying micronutrients. Effects of foliar application of micronutrients on cotton yield and fibre quality have been widely studied. Generally, the plant requires a wide variety of elements to improve the growth and yield. Boron and Magnesium are the essential elements required for the growth and development having specific role in cell division and cell metabolism. In cotton, flowering is a continuous process. However, all the flowers produced are not retained and harvested. About 40 to 50 per cent of the flowers and bolls are shed due to boll worm attack or due to nutritional stress. Hence there is need to supplement the plant with proper micronutrients to produce more number of flowers and retain them on the plant to develop into bolls for final harvesting, so that yield can be increased considerably. The role of micronutrients in various physiological and biochemical processes in plant is well known, which enables a rapid change in the physiology of plant within one season to achieve desirable results. The essential mineral elements which are required in higher concentrations by the plant have major role in determining the growth and development cotton often produces more vegetative growth, than needed for maximum boll production and yield especially when climatic condition favour vegetative growth, these by directing the nutrients and photo assimilates towards vegetative growth rather than reproductive growth.

Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients on Growth and Yieldparameters

Kamalanathan et al. [32] reported that foliar application Zn, Mo, Fe, B and Mn applied @ 2.0, 0.5, 5.0, 0.5 and 2.0 lb per acre respectively on 60th day after sowing increased seed cotton yield, ginning percentage and fibre quality of cotton. Burkalov [7] indicated that, spraying with 0.5 per cent boron increased the seed cotton yield by 14.4 per cent. Similarly, application of boron @ 116 lb per acre increased the yield of cotton (Koegh and Mapples [35], Braudet al. [6] observed increased number of bolls in cotton Cv. D-9 when grown in solution culture containing 0.21 to 3.4 mg boron. Hunasagiet al. [26] observed non-significant difference in seed cotton yield due to micronutrients spray. However, boron sprayed at 0.25 kg per acre recorded higher yield of585 g per plot. Highest yield of 591 g per plot was obtained by spraying all micronutrients in conjunction with NAA at 10 ppm.

Dubey and Chokhey Singh [14] studied the efficacy of the soil and spraying of micronutrients on cotton, combination of Mn + Zn + Cu + B + Mo increased the seed cotton yield both in soil and spraying (820 and 868 kg/ha, respectively).The practice of foliar feeding with plant nutrients gives quick benefits and economizes nutrient element as compared to soil application [81]. Foliar feeding is often effective when roots are unable to absorb sufficient nutrients from the soil due to a high degree of fixation, losses from leaching, low soil temperature and lack of soil moisture. Chowdary and Hisani [44] reported increased seed cotton yield with spraying of 20ppm boron. Murphy and Lancaster found significant increase in yield of seed cotton with boron (0.1 kg/ha) sprayed at weekly interval for five weeks.

Honischo [23] reported that, foliar application of boron to cotton Cv. Albar 637increased the seed cotton yield in five out of eight trials, highest yield was obtained with application of two to four kg boron per ha. Elgalaet al. [15] reported that, in field trials at Shabkan, Egypt, cotton Giza-69 was given foliar spray of NPK and other micronutrients (10.1% N, 5.6 % P2O5, 5.29 % K2O, 0.16 %Mg, 0.007% Fe, 0.0025% Cu, 0.059% Zn and 0.021% B) have increased seed cotton yield by15.34 to 26.87 per cent over that of soil fertilization, but increase was not significant.

Oosterhuis [48] reported that, foliar application of boron along with insecticides increased the yield of seed cotton, boll weight and plant height from 1.2 to 1.4 tonnes per ha, 4.1 to 4.4 g and 1.1 to 1.4 m, respectively. Boron (17.5 kg/ha) through soil and (0.2%) foliar application increased the yield of seed cotton 26 and 32 per cent, respectively more over control. Varma [79] reported that the boll weight and seed cotton yield increased linearly due to the foliar application of 0.4 per cent urea with 0.4 per cent ZnSo₄.

Madzhidove [38] found that, increased seed cotton yield in case of fine fibre cotton, with application of boron at bud formation stage.Eweidaet al. [16] reported that, seed cotton yield was significantly increased with the foliar application of 2 per cent magnesium and 0.2 per cent zinc and also with combination of zinc sulphate and magnesium sulphate. Savithri reported that the foliar application of 1 per cnet MnSo4 increased the yield of cotton by 14.8 percent in black clay soil over control. Sangaleet al. [59] observed that, the foliar application of 0.2 per cent boron on safflower at 60 and 90 days of crop age significantly increased the 1000 kernel weight, seed and oil yield. Silva et al. [69] reported that, application of boron @ 1.23 kg per ha significantly increased seed cotton yield, boll weight and induced earliness. Khodzhaev and Stesnyagina [33] reported the spraying of plants at the flowering stage with a mixture of 0.02 per cent boric acid and 0.1 per cent zinc sulphate markedly increased heat and drought resistance during the period of moisture stress in cotton.

Hosnyet al. [24] observed that, foliar application of Boron and copper with different concentrations increased the seed cotton yield and number of bolls per plant but boll weight was unaffected by boron or copper application. Suryanarayana Reddy et al. [75] reported that significantly more number of fruits per plant (29.2), fruit weight (61.29 g) and fruit yield (194.0 q/ha) were obtained with soil application of borox (15 kg/ha) along with recommended NPK compared to NPK alone intomato crop. Similarly in tomato, significantly increased number of fruits (1.10) and fruit yield per plant (1039.4 g) were recorded with foliar application of boron at the rate of 4 ppm compared to control (10.5 and 990.1 g, respectively) [78]. Mishra et al. [42] recorded that the addition of Mn and B along with recommended doses of N, P, K increased seed yield and thousand seed weight in sunflower. Thilakov et al. [76] in their study that the application of manganese increased the cotton yield from 3.15 to 3.46 t ha-1. Hegab et al. [22] observed that foliar application of manganese at the rate of 1.28 kg per ha increased the seed yield plant-1 in cotton.

Ziolek and Ziolek [85] found that foliar application of boron, manganese and molybdenum and their combination increased number of pods seed per plant, hundred seed weight and seed yield of soybean. Sharma and Gupta [67] observed that foliar application of 0.5 per cent Zinc sulphate increased seed cotton yields by 6.8 per cent over control. Sharma et al. [68] recorded that the foliar application of 0.5 per cent Zn at 50 and 60 days after sowing seed cotton yields of 1.59 to 1.61 tha-1 compared with 1.18 t ha-1 without Zn. ZnSo4 spraying also increased the DMP, number of bolls per plant and boll weight of cotton. Chandelet al. [10] observed increased in seeds, pods per plant and thousand seed weight of soybean by the application of trace elements (Zn, Fe, B).The plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant, leaf areaper plant were significantly higher with 75 ppm molybdenum 2.5 ppm boron treatment in french bean [50]. Kumar and Gupta [36] stated that the foliar application of 0.5 per cent ZnSo4 alone and in combination with 2 per cent urea plus 0.25 per cent lime recorded kapas yields of 1.31 to 1.33 t ha-1 in cotton.

Singh et al. [70] reported that, in potato var. Kufri Chamatkar, foliar spray of 0.3 percent boric acid along with 2 per cent urea in conjunction with top dressing of 30 kg N per haresulted in higher tuber yield (201.60 q/ha) compared to control (171.00 q/ha). Stoyanow and Gikov [74] reported that the foliar application of B, Zn and Mn at different growth stage increased seed cotton yield. Foliar application of folifertil (22% N, 21% P, 17% K and small amounts of Mg, Mo, Mn, B, Cu, S, Zn and Co) increased the seed cotton yields, bolls and lint over control [57]. Singh and Verma [72] observed that, in tomato soil application of boron (2 kg/ha), potassium (120 kg/ha) and zinc (10 kg/ha) in combination were found to be most effective and produced the higher yield of marketable fruits (285.04 q/ha) compared to control (266.92q/ha).

Malewaret al. [39] concluded that, the application of phosphorous through bronated single super phosphate was beneficial in increasing yield and uptake of phosphorus and boron in the cotton and groundnut. Harb [20] reported that, soaking the cotton seeds in manganese, zinc and boron significantly increased the plant height and seed cotton yield. Mc Connelet al. [41] found that, foliar application of boron at different growth stages increased the seed cotton yield and lint yield significantly.

Namdeoet al. [45] reported that, the foliar application of Micnelf (1%) at 30, 65 and90 days after sowing increased the number bolls per plant but boll weight was increased by magnesium sulphate (2%) and Murate of potash (2%) at 90 DAS. Micnelf (1%) at 30, 65 and90 DAS gave significantly higher seed cotton yield over control, which was followed by magnesium sulphate (2%) at 30 and 60 DAS. Ishag(19920 reported that foliar sparying of trace element fertilizers Wuxal suspension, containing Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Mo and Co twice at flowering and three weeks later increased the seed cotton yield of Gossypium barbadensecv. Sawan et al [62] observed that foliar spraying of 37.5 ppm Cu and 50 ppm Mn applied at 85 and 105 days after sowing increased seed yield, seed index and oil content of cotton.

Prasad and Prasad [53] observed that, application of 80:40:20 kg NPK per hectarein combination with or without zinc sulphate, Gypsum, Borax, Manganese sulphate or Magnesium sulphate resulted in increased seed cotton yield, the highest yield being observed with NPK + Zn or Mg Patil and Malewar [52] reported that, foliar application of 0.2 per cent boron in combination with Fe and Zn to cotton proved its superiority in the production of chlorophyll „a‟and „b‟. Wankhadeet al. [82] revealed that, foliar spray of 0.1 per cent borax at peak square and peak flowering stages recorded significantly more seed cotton yield over control. Similar results were also recorded with respect to bolls per plant and seed cotton yield. Haq Nawaz et al. [19] studied that, seed cotton yield were increased in the order Cu>Zn>Fe>Mn>B trace elements applied together. Singh and Singh [71] reported that, curd yield of cauliflower (367.5 q/ha) significantly increased with the application of boron at the rate of 1 kg per ha compared to control. Mangal Prasad and Rajendra Prasad [53] reported that, application of micronutrients (Zn, S, Bo, Mn and Mg) did not affect plant height and boll weight.

Vermaet al. [80] noticed that, yield of marketable fruits (285.04 q/ha) was markedly increased with the application of boron at the rate of 2 kg per ha when compared to control (266.92 q/ha) in tomato. Dong Jinfeng [11] reported that, spraying boron as borax or boric acid with 0.2 percent at the seedling stage, early flowering and boll formation stage increased the yield of 16.1per cent over control. Sharma [66] concluded that, boron exhibited pronounced beneficial effect on number of fruits per plant (23.1), fruit yield (762.7 q/ha) and seed yield (246.2 kg/ha) with thesoil application of 20 kg borox per ha compared to 10 kg borax per ha (18.9, 635.7 q/ha and176.5 kg, respectively) in tomato. Dong [12] reported that foliar application of 0.2 per cnet borax or boric acid increased the cotton yield by 16 per cent over control. Response of cotton to foliar spraying of multi micro nutrient mixture formulations (consisting of Fe, Zn, Cu, B, Mn and Mo) under different trade names viz., Trace, Multiplex, Agromine in increasing the yiled of cotton was reported by Nateson [46].

Raja Rajeswari [55] reported that, foliar application of 0.5 per cent boron increased the number of bolls per plant, mean boll weight and kapas yield significantly. Carvalhoet al. [8] observed that, boron applied to the cotton Cv. IAC-17 side dressing by 0.75 kg and 0.15 kg or by foliar application of boron at the early growth stages increased yield and fibre length. Similarly, application of boron at planting time and foliar spray at 45 to 80 days increased yield and fibre length [9]. Zhu Hongxunet al. [89] concluded that, the foliar application of boron at seedling and inter node elongation stages gave better results than seed treatment or basal application. Concentration of boron in the spray solution in the range of 0.1-0.25 per cent increased seedyield significantly in rape, 0.2 per cent being the optimum concentration with a17.8 per cent yield increase over the control.

Bowszys [5] reported that, foliar spray of boron (0.4 kg /ha) at the bud stage significantly increased the seed yield and seed oil content in rape. Application of boron as foliar spray significantly increased number of seeds persiliqua, 1000 seed weight, seed yield, seed-oil content and oil yield in toria [64]. Sawan et al. observed that foliar application of plant growth regulator (Pix (Mepiquat), cycocel (Chlormequat) or Alar (aminozide) each applied once at 300 ppm, 75 days after sowing and zinc (0 to 50 ppm, 80 and 95 DAS) increased the dry matter, boll weight, seed index, seed plant-1 and seed cotton.

Basavarajappaet al. [3] reported that, foliar application of FeSO4 (5 kg/ha) recorded significantly superior cotton yield followed by boron (soil), CuSO4 (soil), ZnSO4 (foliar), CuSO4 (foliar) as against of absolute control. Bednarz et al[4] reported that foliar fertilizer treatments (8-8-8 N:P2O5:K2O with B, Cu, Zn, Mn) applied at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 weeks after sowing increased the plant growth and yield characters. Foliar application of 0.11 kg B plus 4.1 kg K ha-1 and foliar application 0f 0.11 kg B ha-1 alone registered an yield increase of 13 and 8 per cent respectively over control [25]. Witten et al.[83] observed that foliar application of Microplex R consisting of Mg 5%, B 0.5%, Cu 1.5%, Fe 4%, Mn 4%, Mo 0.1%, Zn 1.5% gave significantly higher lint yield that control. Increased Zinc sulphate was reported by Kairon and Venugopalan[30].

Rathinavelet al. [56] reported that, the number of sympodia per plant (30.0%),number of bolls per plant (39.2%), boll weight (49.8%), seed weight per boll (36.8%) number of seeds per boll (10.8%) were significantly higher for plants given combined soil applicationof ZnSO4 and borax (50 kg/ha and 10 kg/ha, respectively). The seed cotton yield and seed yield were 47.1 per cent 19.2 per cent higher for the same treatment over control. Oosterhuis and Steger [40] reported that spraying of 0.4 lb B/acre increased lint yield of cotton. Howard et al. [25] reported that application of 0.11 kg Boron through foliage significantly increased the cotton yield by 10.3 per cent. Sasthriet al. [60] studied the effect of foliar nutrition on non aged and aged seeds of cotton Cv. MCU₅ with 2 per cent MgSO4, 2 per cent DAP and 0.5 per cent Borax at 75 and90 days after sowing. Seed cotton yield and seed yield of both aged and non aged were significantly higher with 2 per cent DAP over control and other treatments. Roberts et al. [58] observed that boron deficiency in cotton may be corrected with foliar or soil boron applications. Foliar application of boron at the @ of 0.11 kg/ha and soil application of boron @ of 0.56 kg/ha provided about the same net returns. Both methodswere economically superior to not applying boron.

Dongre et al. [13] recorded the maximum fruit yield per plant (395.33 g) and per ha(109.8 q) when sprayed boron in the form of H₃BO₃ at 0.25 per cent to chilli as against control(324.33 g/plant and 90.08 q/ha), further recorded the highest average fruit length (11.12 cm)and fruit diameter (1.175.cm) when sprayed with 0.1 per cent H₃BO₃, while average number of seeds per fruit (55.66) and weight of 500 seeds (2.549 g) were recorded at 0.50 per cent spray of H₃BO₃(boric acid). Ullagaddi [77] indicated that, the foliar spray of ZnSO₄ (0.1%) plus Boron (0.1%) in combination with GA3 (50 ppm) significantly increased the number of squares, flowers and matured bolls per plant and highest seed yield. Pratima Sinha et al. [54] studied that, the spraying of boron concentration of (0.33mgl-1) significantly increased the seed yield, weight of 100 seeds and fibre within cotton. Whereas, Low (0.0033 mg l-1) and excess (3.3 mg l-1) boron reduced the weight of fibres, biomass, seed yield and the content of starch, proteins and oils. Muhammad Hussainet al. [43] studied that, foliar application of magnesium asMgSO₄ (300 ml/m-3) on lentil Cv. Mazoor 93 recorded the highest number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and 1000 seed weight and significantly highest seed yield compared to control. Similarly, fertilizer application of NPK, farmyard manure, magnesium sulphate and zinc sulphate treatment recorded the highest seed yield in niger [51]. Sawan et al. [65] reported that foliar application of plant growth retardants and Zinc @ 50 ppm at 80 and 95 days after sowing increased cotton seed yield ha-1. Sawan et al. [65] found that foliar application of chelated Zn and Ca increased seed, protein and oil yields of cotton over control.

Niranjana et al. [47] reported that, application of micronutrients (B, Zn and Mo) showed significantly increase in yield, oil content and growth parameters of groundnut. Kalyanasundaram and Kumar [31] studied the soil application of the recommended dose of NPK with foliar application of Ca, B and GHOM twice at 45 and 60 DAS favorably increased the growth and yield characters of cotton crop. Kuruppaiah [37] stated that, the foliar application of borax (0.5%) at 35.50 and 65DAT was found to be best in terms of number of flowers per plant, number of productive flowers per plant, number of fruits per plant, individual fruit weight and yield (32.15 t/ha),flowered by copper sulphate (0.5%) and zinc sulphate (0.5%) sprayed at 35.50 and 65 DAT in brinjal cv. Annamali.

Effect of Foliar Application of Micronutrients on the Nutrient Content Anf Uptake By Cotton

Foliar application with Mn resulted in an increase in nitrogen concentration and its uptake by cotton crop [1,28,76]. Ibrahim [27] reported that foliar application of GA and Boron increased Na, K and B content of cotton leaf over control. Khodzhaev et al. [33] reported that foliar application of 0.02 per cnet boric acid and 0.1 per cnet zinc sulphate in 1:1 ratio ta the beginning and full flowering stages increased B and Mn contents over control.

Ibrahim et al. [28] reported that foliar application of manganese in cotton at different rates increased the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium significantly compared to the unsprayed treatments. Sharma and Gupta [67] observed that foliar application of Zinc @ 0.5 per cent increased the zinc concentration in leaf, petiole and seed cotton. Stoyanov and Gikov [73] reported that foliar application of B, Zn and Mn at different growth stages increased the concentration of Zn , B, Mn in cotton. Rehab et al. [57] observed that N, P, Zn, Fe, Mnabd Cu concentration of cotton leaf increased with Folifertil foliar application (Folifertil comprised 22% N, 21% P, 17% K and amounts of Mg. Mo, Mn, B, Fe, Cu, S, Zn and Co). Ishag [29] reported that foliar application of trace element fertilizers Wuxed suspension each containg Fe, Zn, B, Cu and Mo increased leaf N and micro nutrients concentration.

Sawan et al. [62] found that foliar application of Cu-EDTA and Mn-EDTA increased the uptake of Cu and Mn by Cotton cv. Giza 75 over control. Bansal and Nayyar [2] observed that spraying of 0.5 percnet MnSO₄ increased the content and uptake of Mn by cotton at all the stages. Guertal et al. [18] observed that B concentration in the plant increased with the rate of foliar applied from 8-11 mg kg-1 that water spray.

El-Fouly et al. [17] found that foliar application of 50 ppm Fe increased the growth and nutrient content by cotton cv.Giza 75 over control. Sawan at al. [63] observed that application of P fertilizers + foliar application of Zn and Ca increased the P, Ca and Zn uptake by Egyptian cotton. Sawan et al. [64] found that application of N fertilizer + foliar application of zinc incresesd the N and Zn uptake by cotton. Bednarz et al. [4] in a field experiment on clay loam soil in Texas reported that foliar application of Mn, Fe, Zn and B increased the concentration of these nutrients in cotton.

Conclusion

From the above review it can be concluded that Foliar feeding with plant nutrients gives quick benefits and economizes nutrient element as compared to soil application. Foliar feeding is often effective when roots are unable to absorb sufficient nutrients from the soil due to high degree of fixation,losses from leaching, low soil temperature and lack of soil moisture and hence foliar application of micronutrients in cotton can be considered as a beneficial practice for enhanced cotton production.

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