Growth and Yield of Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] Crop as Influenced by Humic Acid Application

Background: Among the different grain legumes, blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)] is a well-known leguminous crop popular because of its nutritional quality and suitability for multiple cropping systems. Methods: A field experiment was conducted during Autumn season of 2018 and 2019 at Kalyani, Nadia to evaluate the effect of humic acid (HA) application on growth and yield of blackgram crop. The treatments were: Control (sowing of dry seed) (T1); Seed priming (soaking) in water (T2); Seed priming in 0.5% humic acid solution (T3); Seed priming in 1% humic acid solution (T4); Seed priming in 2% Humic acid solution (T5); Soil application of humic acid @1 kg/ha (T6); Soil application of humic acid @ 2 kg/ha (T7); Soil application of humic acid @1 kg/ha + 10 t compost/ha (T8); Soil application of humic acid @ 2 kg/ha + 10 t compost/ha (T9); Foliar application of 0.01% humic acid solution 25 days after sowing (DAS) (T10); Foliar application of 0.05% humic acid solution (25 DAS) (T11); Foliar application of 0.1% humic acid solution (25 DAS) (T12). Result: Soil application of humic acid along with compost had significant effect on number of pods m-2, though; other yield components such as seeds pod-1, seed index was statistically at par in most occasions. The maximum seed yield (1295.53 kg ha-1 and 1298.47 kg ha-1 in 2018 and 2019, respectively) was obtained from the treatment T9 and the second-best treatment was T8.