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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effect of Foliar Application of Zinc on Growth,
Yield, and Quality of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata
L.) under Different Irrigation Regimes
1
Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
2
Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
4
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
5
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
6
Plant Pests and Diseases Unit, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2025-02-07
Final revision date: 2025-08-29
Acceptance date: 2025-11-05
Online publication date: 2026-05-29
Corresponding author
Mustafa I. Almaghasla
Plant Pests and Diseases Unit, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Plant Pests and Diseases Unit, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient that enhances crop resistance under water-deficient
conditions by regulating plant physiological mechanisms and improving the accumulation of compatible
solutes, which help maintain higher turgor potential and plant water retention in response to drought. A
field experiment was conducted to ascertain an optimum combination of foliar-applied Zn and irrigation
for boosting the growth and yield of mung bean. The experiment was comprised of two factors i)
irrigation viz. no irrigation (I0), irrigation at flowering stage (I1), irrigation at pod initiation stage (I2)
and irrigation at flowering and pod initiation stages (I3) and ii) Zn foliar application viz. no Zn (Zn0),
0.3% at flowering stage (Zn1), 0.3% at pod initiation stage (Zn2) and 0.3% at flowering and pod initiation
stages (Zn3). Irrigation at the flowering and pod initiation stage combined with a foliar spray of 0.3%
zinc solution produced the tallest plants (57.95 cm), maximum biological yield (4842.5 kg ha⁻¹), seed
yield (1434.5 kg ha⁻¹), root weight (4.48 g plant⁻¹), root-to-shoot ratio (0.09), seed protein (25.24%),
and zinc content (46.03 mg kg⁻¹). These values were recorded under this treatment. However, the
lowest value for these parameters was recorded from plants that were grown without irrigation and Zn
application. The maximum root length (33.04 cm) was recorded when 0.3% Zn was applied at flowering
and pod initiation stages under no irrigation. This research provides evidence that under no irrigation
conditions, Zn application at 0.3% at the flowering stage can mitigate drought stress, as reflected by
greater proliferation of mung bean. The results further revealed that foliar application of 0.3% Zinc at flowering and pod initiation stage, accompanied by irrigation at these stages, is effective in improving
mung bean growth, seed yield, and Zn contents under semi-arid agro-ecological conditions of Pakistan.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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