Background: A pot experiment was carried out during pre-kharif season (March-June) of 2022 in Agronomy Department of School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and quality of Sunflower. Method: The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 7 treatments and 3 replications. The treatments consisted of control, 100% RDF (60:40:60) kg ha-1, FYM @ 2 t ha-1 + 100% RDN, FYM @ 4 t ha-1 + 100% RDN, FYM @ 6 t ha-1 + 100% RDN, FYM @ 8 t ha-1 + 100% RDN and FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN. Results and Conclusion: The results revealed that the growth parameters viz., plant height (cm), number of leaves plant-1, dry weight plant-1 (g), leaf area plant-1 (cm-2), crop growth rate (g m-2 day-1) and relative growth rate (g g-1 day-1) improved with application of FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN and was found statistically at par with 100% RDF (60:40:60) kg ha-1. The yield attributes viz., seed yield (g pot-1), stover yield (g pot-1) and harvest index (%) also improved when FYM @ 10 t ha-1 was applied in conjunction with 100% RDN and found comparable with 100% RDF (60:40:60) kg ha-1

Sunflower, growth parameters, seed yield, stover yield

The highest plant height (cm) was recorded in T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) at all crop growing stages i.e., 30, 60 DAS and at harvest with values 31.67cm, 124.70 cm and 125.70 cm, respectively. T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) gave the maximum number of leaves plant-1 at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest with 12.67, 23.73 and 20.33, respectively. Maximum dry weight plant-1 (g) was recorded in T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest with values 8.11 g, 73.71 g and 75 g, respectively. Maximum Leaf area plant-1 (cm-2) was observed at 30 and 60 DAS in T7 (FYM @ 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) having values 64.09 cm-2 and 162.47 cm-2, respectively. For Crop Growth Rate (CGR), T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) recorded highest at both intervals 30-60 DAS and 60-harvest with values 22.78 g m-2 day-1 and 0.42 g m-2 day-1, respectively. Relative Growth rate (RGR) was higher at both intervals 30-60 DAS and 60-harvest in T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) with values 2.186 g g-1 day-1 and 0.0403 g g-1 day-1, respectively. There was no significant influence in days to 50% flowering and days to maturity due to different treatments. T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) recorded highest in yield attributing characters i.e., head diameter (14.50 cm), number of seeds head-1 (783.33), seed yield (26.67 g pot-1) and stover yield (48.33 g pot-1). However, there was no significant effect on test weight due to different treatments. Highest harvest index (%) was recorded in T7 (FYM 10 t ha-1 + 100% RDN) having value 36.14%

Boduvelu Rhakho, Rekha Yadav, A. P. Singh, D. Nongmaithem, Lanunola Tzudir and N. Kikon (2024). Response of Sunflower to Different Integrated Nutrient Management Practices in Nagaland. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(9): 09-13.