Influence of foliar application of salicylic acid and soil application of humic materials on cucumber and chickpea grown on a nutrient deficient soil

ABSTRACT: Foliar application of SA decreased mean dry weight of cucumber by 31%, while its effect on mean dry weight of chickpea was negligible. Foliar application of SA decreased mean uptake of Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe in cucumber shoot by 29, 34, 22 and 31%, respectively. Decrease in dry matter yield of cucumber following foliar application of SA was, therefore, attributed to the significant decrease in the uptakes of metal micronutrrients.Foliar application of SA decreased mean uptake of Cu and Fe in chickpea shoot by 31 and 18%, respectively. The effect of SA on mean Zn uptake in chickpea shoot was negligible. Foliar application of SA caused an increase in mean Mn uptake of chickpea shoot by about 7%.The influence of HA levels on mean dry matter weight in chickpea was uncertain. Soil application of 2 and 4 mg HA kg 1 caused negligible decrease in mean dry matter weight of chickpea shoot by 5 and 8%, respectively.The effects of HA levels on the uptakes of Mn was insignificant. Application of 4 mg HA kg 1 increased mean uptakes of Fe, Cu and Zn by 7.1, 8.5 and 9.6%, respectively.Application of 4 mg HA kg 1 increased mean uptakes of metal micronutrients compared to the control although the increase for Fe uptake was negligible. Application of 4 mg HA kg 1 increased mean uptakes of Mn, Cu and Zn by 18.7, 100, and 18.6%, respectively.Shoot dry weight of chickpea was significantly correlated with the uptakes of Zn, Fe and Mn but was not correlated with the uptake of Cu. Shoot dry weight of cucumber was significantly correlated with the uptakes of Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn. In cucumber shoot, the uptakes of all metal micronutrients were significantly correlated with each other. In chickpea shoot, the uptakes of all metal micronutrients other than Fe were significantly correlated with each other. According to the results of present study it appears that neither SA nor HA was efficient to be recommendable for correcting metal micronutrients deficiency under micronutrients deficient conditions.