Response of Micronutrients and Biofertilizers on Yield Attributes and Protein Content under Rice – Chickpea Cropping System in Central Uttar Pradesh

The present study was conducted to investigate the changes in yield attributes and protein content with the application of zinc and biofertilizers in hybrid rice and chickpea. The experiment was conducted in as a Randomized Block Design (RBD) in Students Instructional Farm, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, during 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The experiment included twelve treatment groups replicated three times in Randomized Block Design. The results revealed that the treatment which received T7 (100 per cent RDN + 25 per cent N FYM + S40 + ZnO + *Azotobacter or **Rhizobium) recorded highest value of all yield attributes and protein content. The mean values of both years of plant height, number of tillers/hill, panicle length, no. of filled grains/panicle, no. of unfilled grains/panicle and total no. of grains/panicle increased up to 96.08 cm, 8.38, 24.29, 181.03, 18.71 and 199.74, respectively in treatment T7 in hybrid rice. Similarly, in case of chickpea the mean values of plant height, no. of branches/hill, no. of pods/plant, no. of seeds/plant, no. of nodules/plant and dry weight of nodules/plant also increased up to 62.60 cm, 5.22, 62.62, 1.88, 17.63 and 2.08, respectively. The protein content was also found to be maximum in Treatment T7 in rice (7.94 and 8.04%) and in chickpea (23.25 and 23.27%) during the years, respectively. Therefore, combination of micronutrients and biofertilizers, as remunerative and beneficial for growth, improved the yield and ultimately productivity of both hybrid rice and chickpea in areas with deficient available micronutrients in soil.