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Received: 2nd April, 2026; Accepted: 31st May, 2026

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at Student’s Farm, Khalsa College, Amritsar during kharif season, 2023 to study effect of zinc and iron management in different Basmati (Oryza sativa L.) varieties under un-puddled conditions. The field experiment was laid out in Split plot design having three varieties i.e., V1 (Pusa Basmati 1509), V2 (Pusa Basmati 1847) and V3 (Punjab Basmati 7) in main plot and four different micronutrient applications i.e., T1 (control), T2 (FeSO4 @ 1%), T3 (ZnSO4 @ 25 kg acre-1), T4 (FeSO4 @ 1% + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg acre-1) in sub-plot. The results revealed that the highest plant height (102.2 cm) was recorded in V2 , while leaf area index (3.53), dry matter accumulation (117.1 q ha-1) and number of tillers m-2 (283) were recorded highest in V3 . Also, the highest yield attributes i.e., effective tillers m-2 (268), number of filled grains panicle-1 (85.8), grain yield (45.3 q ha-1), straw yield (66 q ha-1) and harvest index (40.7%) were observed under V3. The highest B:C ratio was found in V1 (2.74). Among micronutrient application, T4 recorded highest growth attributes i.e., plant height (108.3 cm), leaf area index (3.5), dry matter accumulation (121 q ha-1) and number of tillers m-2 (293). Also, highest yield attributes i.e., effective number of tillers m-2 (270), number of filled grains panicle-1 (87.3), panicle length (26.5cm), 1000 grain weight (23.9), grain yield (45.5q ha-1), straw yield (66 q ha-1) and harvest index (40.7) were observed under T4 . The highest B:C ratio (2.83) was observed in T2. These findings demonstrate that application of zinc and iron can significantly improve yield of rice under un-puddled conditions.