Unlocking bottlenecks of groundnut productivity and quality: opportunities for foliar micronutrient mixture.

Abstract\nHIGHLIGHTSMicronutrient deficiency is a critical obstacle to producing healthy groundnut crops, achieving sustainable yield and quality. Groundnut (<italic>Arachis hypogaea</italic> L.), popularly known as ‘peanut,’ is a vital edible oilseed crop across the world. However, achieving optimal groundnut yield and quality is challenging due to various factors, including micronutrient deficiencies arising due to imbalanced nutrient management in intensive agriculture. This led to global nutritional insecurity. Currently micronutrient deficiency in groundnut is addressed by soil application of individual elements, which has efficiency of less than 3%. A Combined foliar micronutrient mixture would be a practical, easy to apply solution for swiftly correcting multiple micronutrient deficiencies during critical crop growth stages. This approach allows for targeted nutrient delivery directly to the foliage for quicker absorption, bypassing soil limitations. Field experiments were conducted in summer irrigated groundnut during 2019 and 2020 in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India to evaluate the performance of four different grades of newly developed foliar micronutrients on groundnut yield and quality. The MN grades ranging from I to IV were assigned to increasing concentration of Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B levels. Experiment laid in split plot design, replicated thrice with four micronutrients grades as the main plot and four different foliar spray timings as sup plots. Concentration of micronutrients and spray timings significantly influenced the groundnut pod and stover yields. Among the four micronutrient grades tested, the Grade IV mixture with highest concentration of all constituent ((Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B) micronutrients that sprayed twice at the vegetative and flowering stages recorded significantly highest stover (4120 kgha−1) and pod yield (2806 kgha−1). This optimal combination resulted an increment of 12–13% pod yield, 37–43% in kernel yield, 17–18% in oil content and 39–33% soluble protein content of groundnut over the control with no supply of micronutrient. Future research may explore integrating soil application and foliar spray of micronutrients for enhanced sustainability. Foliar micronutrient formulation can address multiple micronutrient deficiencies in groundnut crops during their active growth stages, overcoming all soil limitations and ensuring sustainable yield and high quality groundnut for nutritional security.Performance of four newly developed foliar micronutrient mixtures for groundnut were field studied during 2019 and 2020 with different spray timings. The objective was to identify the most effective combination to address the multi micronutrient deficiency of groundnut crop in Tamil Nadu and launch it as a product ‘Groundnut Foliar MN Mix’ of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The micronutrient grades ranging from I to IV were assigned to increasing concentration of Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B levels. The Grade IV micronutrient foliar mixture sprayed twice during vegetative and flowering stage was more effective in alleviating the deficiency and improving the 37–43% in kernel yield and 17–18% in oil content over the control with no supply of micronutrient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]