ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nanotechnol.
Sec. Nanomaterials
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnano.2025.1627830
Nutrient dynamics and sustainability in finger millet through nano-fertilizers and optimized nitrogen management
Provisionally accepted- 1University of Agricultural sciences, Bangalore, Bangalore, India
- 2ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad, India
- 3Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited, New Delhi, India
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Nitrogen and zinc significantly influence crop productivity. Foliar application, especially using nano-nitrogen and nano-zinc, enhances nutrient use efficiency and rapidly corrects deficiencies, offering a promising approach to improve crop growth and performance alongside conventional fertilization practices.The present study was undertaken to assess the nutrient dynamics in finger millet (GPU-28). A field experiment was taken up at AICRPDA centre, Bangalore for two seasons during Kharif 2021 and 2022 in a factorial randomized complete block design replicated thrice. Treatments included four levels of nitrogen - N1: No nitrogen, N2: 50% of the recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN: 25 kg N ha-1), N3: 75% RDN (37.5 kg N ha-1) and N4: 100% RDN (50 kg N ha-1); and four modes of fertilizers application - F1: Soil application of zinc, F2: Foliar spray of nano-nitrogen, F3: Foliar spray of nano-zinc and F4: Foliar spray of nano-nitrogen and nano-zinc along with two control (Control-1: Recommended PK, Control-2: Recommended NPK). Nano-fertilizers were applied twice at 35 and 55 days after sowing (DAS) @ 2 ml L-1 and all treatments received recommended doses of phosphorus (40 kg P₂O₅ ha-1) and potassium (37.5 kg K₂O ha-1). Additionally, a complementary pot culture study was conducted to evaluate physiological responses of finger millet to nano-fertilizers under controlled conditions, which corroborated the field results. The application of 100% RDN combined with foliar sprays of nano-nitrogen and nano-zinc resulted in significantly higher grain yield (3453 kg ha-1) uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and zinc at all growth stages, which was comparable to the application of 75% RDN along with the same foliar applications of nano nutrients. Furthermore, higher nitrogen use efficiency was noticed with application of 75% RDN along with the foliar application of nano-N and nano-Zn. The nutrient balance study further confirmed that 75% RDN combined with nano fertilizers led to lower nitrogen losses compared to 100% RDN, indicating better nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and reduced environmental risks. In conclusion, applying 75% RDN combined with the recommended PK along with foliar application of nano-nutrients, demonstrates significant potential for efficient nutrient management.
Keywords: finger millet, Foliar spray, Nano nutrients, nitrogen use efficiency, Soil health, Sustainable
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 M A, ., B G, Gopinath, H S, K, Visha Kumari, D H, Singh, M R and Singh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sneha M A, University of Agricultural sciences, Bangalore, Bangalore, India
K A Gopinath, ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad, India
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