Effect of graded levels of zinc and boron on growth, yield and chemical properties of soils under paddy

Field studies were conducted on application of zinc and boron to summer rice crop on Alfisols at Naganahalli village, Mysore district, Karnataka. The results showed that external application of zinc as ZnSO4 @ 20 kg ha-1 and boron as borax @ 4 kg ha-1 significantly enhanced the plant height number of tillers hill-1 , grains per panicle, thousand grain weight, grain yield and straw yield of paddy. Further there was significant increase in major (N, P and K), secondary (S, Ca and Mg) and micronutrient (Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn and B) status of soils.