Assessment of yield and profitability of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) with foliar fertilization under rainfed condition

A field experiment was conducted during the winter (rabi) season of 2018–19, 2019–20 and 2020–21 at Dryland Agriculture Research Farm of the Chaudhary Charan Singh, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, to study the effect of various foliar sprays on yield and profitability of rainfed Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czernj.]. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with 3 replications, comprising 7 foliar nutrition treatments, viz. control (no spray), water-spray, urea @ 1%, urea @ 2%, water-soluble complex fertilizer (18: 18: 18) @ 0.5%, 0.5% ZnSO4 spray, water-soluble complex fertilizer (18: 18: 18) @ 0.5% + 0.5% ZnSO4 . The experimental results revealed that, the growth and yield attributes, viz. plant height at harvesting, dry-matter accumulation at harvesting, number of siliquae/plants, number of branches/plant and number of seeds/siliqua, were significantly influenced by different foliar nutrition treatments except water spray. Among different foliar spray treatments, foliar spray of water-soluble complex fertilizer (18: 18: 18) @ 0.5% + 0.5% ZnSO4 resulted in significantly higher plant height at harvesting (226.1 cm), dry-matter accumulation at harvesting (99.3 g/plant), siliquae/plant (426.0), branches/plant (32.6) and seeds/siliqua (15.2). Further, the data showed that, foliar spray of water-soluble complex fertilizer (18: 18: 18) @ 0.5% + 0.5% ZnSO4 increased the seed and stover yield of Indian mustard by 30.6 and 21.1% compared with the control with higher net returns (`121,300/ha), benefit: cost ratio (4.98) and rainwater-use efficiency (75.6 kg/ha-mm).