Effect of pulse sprout spray as a foliar nutrition to enhance seed yield and quality in barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea l.)

Millets occupy a vital position in providing nutrition to the ever-growing population of the world. Small millets are highly energetic and supply nutritious foods comparable to other cereals (Himanshu et al., 2018). They are particularly low in phytic acid and rich in dietary fibre, iron, calcium and vitamin B (Sujatha et al.,2013). Barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea L.) is also known as sawa millet. It is well adapted to low and moderate rainfall areas (500-700 mm) due to its early maturity character. It is an excellent source of dietary fibre (13 g/100 g) with good amounts of soluble (4.66 g/100 g) and insoluble (8.18 g/100 g) fractions and fair source of highly digestible (81.13 g/100 g digestibility) protein (Veena et al., 2005). Over the last decade, scientists were working more towards the determination of the biological value of the nutritional sprouts (Penas et al., 2008). Organic farming is not mere non-chemical in agriculture, but it is a system of farming based on an integral relationship in nature (Jayanthi et al., 2013). In order to get the maximum productivity, the mother plants should be added with nutrients using the foliar application. This will reduce the loss through absorption, leaching and other process associated with soil uses (Geetharani et al., 2008). Foliar application is credited quick and efficient utilization of nutrients (Abid et al., 2019). Sprouting of grains for a limited period leads to increased activities of hydrolytic enzymes, improvement in the contents of essential amino acids, total sugars, Bgroup vitamins and decrease in dry matter, starch and antinutrients (Saira et al., 2011). The foliar spray with horse gram sprout extract and cowpea sprout extract at 3% level could record the highest germination, vigour Abstract Millets are rich in valuable nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins. The uninterrupted and disproportionate use of chemical fertilizers over a longer period has resulted in deterioration of soil health and reduced yield. Foliar spray is a very easy way to supply valuable nutrients to plants. With this background, an experiment was conducted to see the effect of pulse sprout extract spray as a foliar spray on the seed crop Barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea L.). The seed crop given foliar treatment with 2% horse gram pulse sprout extract spray recorded higher growth attributes namely plant height (172.8 cm), total chlorophyll content (1.560 mg/g) and yield attributes viz., seed yield per plant (26.5 g), seed yield per plot (2.54 kg), seed yield per hectare (2506 kg), 1000 seed weight (3.28 g), quality parameters viz., germination (89%), vigour index (2461) and biochemical parameters of resultant seeds in both kharif and rabi seasons. The crop given with foliar nutrition of 2% horse gram sprout extract spray showed a low number of days to flower initiation (45 days) and 50% flowering (54 days) when compared to control followed by 2% cowpea sprout extract. Hence it was hypothesized that application of the nutrient extract from the sprouted pulses in the form of foliar spray would enable better crop growth and productivity of Barnyard mil let.