The Influence of Nano-fertilizers Priming on Augmenting Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Growth, Yield and Quality

Background: Groundnut is one of the most important oilseed crops and also a good source of proteins, carbohydrates and fibre. Conventionally, groundnut cultivation also need good amount of commercial nitrogen fertilizers which are found to be not efficiently and effectively utilized by the plants, also lost due to leaching and so, causing severe ecological damage. However, our study of priming groundnut seeds with nanofertilizers have reduced the dosage of fertilizers as well as increased the yields. Methods: A two-year field experiment (2020-2021) was carried out to evaluate the effect of nano fertilizers (NF) (phosphorus, zinc, and iron) seed priming and NF foliar spray on the growth, yield, and seed quality characteristics of groundnut var TG-37 A. Groundnut was chosen as the testcrop and seeds were primed with nanofertilizers as well as standing crop is foliar sprayed with nanofertilizer at pre-flowering stage. The effect of nanofertilizers on test crop was evaluated on seed germination, seedling vigor, plant growth, flowering, chlorophyll content, pod yield, oil content and protein content. Result: The results indicated that in both the years, NF seed primingandfoliar sprays treatments showed higher seed germination and seedling vigor aided in early establishment in soil, which manifested by higher plant height, early flowering, higher leaf chlorophyll content, 100-seed weight and shelling percentage. Pod yield per plant was 30.1% and 33.0% higher in 2020 and 2021, respectively, as compared to the control. In both years, the application of nano fertilizers considerably boosted the oil and protein content compared to the control (31.5% and 28.9% for oil, 33.1% and 30.0% for protein). Thus, it is concluded that nano-fertilizers considerably improved growth, yield and quality of groundnut.