Effects of micronutrients and their application efficiency on Capsicum production
Paper Details
Effects of micronutrients and their application efficiency on Capsicum production
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted over two consecutive Rabi seasons (2023–2025) in Daharnangi, Rajshahi (AEZ-11), Bangladesh, to investigate the interactive effects of micronutrients (boron and zinc), application efficiency, and varietal response on the growth, yield, and nutritional quality of chili (Capsicum annuum L.). The study followed a split-split plot design with three replications and tested three chili varieties—Sikarpuri (V1), Sakata-653 (V2), and Picnic (V3)—under three fertilizer application methods: broadcast (E1), foliar spray (E2), and combined method (E3: 50% broadcast + 50% spray), and four micronutrient treatments: control (M0), boron (2 kg/ha, M1), zinc (4 kg/ha, M2), and combined boron + zinc (M3). The soil was silty clay loam with high pH and low micronutrient availability. The results revealed that the combined application of boron and zinc (M3) using the E3 method significantly improved plant height, fruit set, total yield, and biochemical parameters such as protein, carbohydrate, chlorophyll, calcium, and vitamin C content. The Picnic variety (V3) showed the highest performance in both years, with the maximum fresh fruit yields of 10.614 t/ha and 10.663 t/ha, along with superior values in fruit weight, seed weight, and nutritional quality. Sikarpuri performed better in terms of flavor and beta-carotene content, while Sakata showed lower overall performance. The findings demonstrate that the integrated application of boron and zinc through combined methods is effective in enhancing chili productivity and quality, especially in calcareous soils. The combined treatment of V3E3M3 (Picnic + 50% broadcast + 50% foliar + B+Zn) is recommended for commercial chili production in similar agro-ecological zones.
Abdou AS, Al-Darwish FH, Saleh ME, El-Tarabily KA, Azirun MS, Rahman MM. 2011. Effects of elemental sulphur, phosphorus, micronutrients and Paracoccus versutus on nutrients availability of calcareous soils. Australian Journal of Crop Science 5(5), 554-561.
Ahmet Turhan. 2021. Response of Red Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to Foliar Applications of Zinc, Reserchgtenet, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 52(1), 1-8
Ahsan E, Karim Z. 1988. Soil and management research on upland soils of Bangladesh. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Management and Fertilization of Upland Soils in the Tropics and Subtropics, 247-251 p.
Ajad. 2015. “Economic cost and returns from research and development: the case of chili in Bangladesh.
Alam MN. 2007. Effect of boron levels on growth and yield of cabbage in calcareous soils of Bangladesh. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences 3(6), 558-865.
Alam MN. 2013. Effect of boron levels on growth and yield of vegetable crops in Bangladesh. Final Report, UGC Research Project. University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. Agrgaon, Dhaka-1207.
Alam MN, Abedin MJ, Azad MAK. 2010. Effect of micronutrients on growth and yield of onion under calcareous soil environment. International Research Journal of Plant Science 1(3), 56-61.
Ali MI. 1991. Crop response to different fertilizer elements in Bangladesh (rice, jute, sugarcane and tea). Paper presented in the conference on Production and Use of Multi-nutrient Fertilizer in Bangladesh, on 25-26 November, 1991 at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ali S, Javed HU, Rehman Ur RN, Sabir IA, Naeem MS, Siddiqui MZ, Saeed DA, Nawaz MA. 2013. Foliar application of some macro and micronutrients improves tomato growth, flowering and yield. International Journal of Biosciences 3(10), 280-287.
Anonymous. 2004. Chilies Home Page. Global Commercial Services for the Spice Industry. Spizes. Com. Quest International. http://www.Spizes.com
Anonymous. 2007. Micronutrient fertilizers: Fetrilon Combi, a foliar application for vegetables. http://www.agnova.com.au/resources/Fetrilon-Combi-guide.
Arora SK, Pandita ML, Singh K. 1982. Effect of para-chlorophenoxy acetic acid, boron, copper, molybdenum and zinc on the fruit quality of tomato varieties in summer and the rainy season. Indian Journal Agricultural Science 52, 648-652.
Salim BBM. 2019. Effect of Calcium and Boron on Growth, Fruit Setting and Yield of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), Egyptian Journal of Horticulture 46(1), 53-62 p.
Bajpai S, Chouhan SVS, Bajpai S. 2001. Effect of zinc, boron and manganese on yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentum). Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 71(5), 332-333.
Baloch QB, Chachar QI, Tareen MN. 2008. Effect of foliar application of macro and micro nutrients on production of green chilies (Capsicum annuum L.). Journal of Agricultural Technology, 4(2), 177-184.
Barche S, Singh P, Mahasagar H, Singh DB, 2011. Response of foliar application of micronutrients on Tomato cv. Rashmi. Indian Journal of Horticulture,
Bhatt L, Srivastava BK., 2006. Effect of foliar application of micronutrients on the nutritional composition of tomato. Indian Journal of Horticulture 63(3), 312-317.
Bhatt L, Srivatsava BK, Singh MP. 2004. Studies on the effect of foliar application of micronutrients on growth, yield and economics of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Progressive Horticulture 36(2), 331-334.
Bid NN, De AK, Srivastava BK, Kole KK. 1992. Response of micronutrients, zinc and copper on Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.). In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Micronutrients, January 22-23, 1992, Bhuvaneshwar, India, 305-310 p.
Bose US, Tripathi SK. 1996. Effect of micronutrients on growth, yield and quality of tomato cv. Pusa Ruby in MP. Crop Research 12, 61-64.
Bosland PW, Botava EJ. 2000. Peppers: vegetable and spice capsicums. CABI. Publishing, Wallingford, United Kingdom, 204 p.
Brahma S, Phookan DB, Kachari M, Hazarika TK, Das K. 2010.Performance of capsicum as influenced by bio-regulators and micronutrients inside polyhouse under Assam conditions. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 67(Special Issue): 467-469.
Chandra A, Verma BK. 2003. Effect of boron and calcium on plant growth and seed yield of tomato. JNKVV Research Journal 37(2), 13-16.
Das Gupta, Reshmi R. (8 May 2011) Indian chili displacing jalapenos in global cuisine – The Economic Times. The Times of India.
Dias GB, Gomes VM, Moraes TM, Zottich UP, Rabelo GR, Carvalho AO, Moulin M, Gonçalves LS, Rodrigues R, Da Cunha M. 2013. Characterization of Capsicum species using anatomical and molecular data. Genet Mol Res. (Online first).
Dongre SM, Mahorkar VK, Joshi PS, Deo DD. 2000. Effect of micronutrients spray on yield and quality of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) cv. Jayanti. Agricultural Science Digest 20(2), 106-107.
Rafique E. 2012. Boron requirement of chili (C. annum L.) proposed diagnosed criteria, Journal of Plant Nutrition 35, 739–749.
Ejaz M, Rehman SU, Waqas R, Manan A, Imran M, Bukhari MA. 2011. Combined efficacy of macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients as foliar application on growth and yield of tomato grown by vegetable forcing. International Journal for Agro-Veterinary and Medical Sciences 5(3), 327-335.
Elabdeen AZ, Metwally AM. 1982. Effect of zinc on growth, yield and quality of tomato. Agriculture Research Review 60, 143.
El-Ghoraba AH, Javedb Q, Anjumb FM, Hamedc SF, Shaabana HA. 2013. Pakistani Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum L.): Chemical Compositions and its Antioxidant Activity. International Journal of Food Properties 16(1), 18-32.
Elizabeth EB. 2018. Effect of Cultivar and Type on Pepper Yield and Weight, Masters Theses, Western Kentucky University, Elizabeth egan957@ topper.wku.edu.
El-Nemr MA, EL-Desuki M, Fawzy ZF, El-Bassiony AM. 2012. Yield and fruit quality of eggplant as affected by NPK-sources and micronutrient application. Journal of Applied Sciences Research 8(3), 1351-1357.
FAO. (Food and Agriculture Organization), 2006. Statistical Year Book. MO. UN, Italy, Rome.
FAO. (Food and Agriculture Organization), 2007. Statistical Year Book. MO. UN, Italy, Rome.
Gogoi S, Das MR, Bora P, Mazumder N. 2014. Effect of foliar application of nutrients on fruit and seed production of Brinjal. International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences 2(1-2), 23-27.
Govindan PR. 1952. Influence of boron on yield and content of carbohydrates in tomato fruits. Current Science 21, 14-15.
Green Farming. 2015. (5), 997-999; September-October,
Gupta V, Hansraj K. 1980. Effect of source and zinc levels on tomato plants. Haryana Journal of Horticultural Sciences 9, 74-76.
Haleema B, Rab A, Hussain SA. 2018. Effect of calcium, boron and zinc foliar application on growth and fruit production of tomato. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 34(1), 19-30.
Hamsaveni MR, Kurdikeri MB, Shekhargouda M, Shashidhara SD, Dharmatti PR. 2003. Effect of gypsum and boron on seed yield and quality on tomato cv. Megha. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences 16(3), 457-459.
Haque ME, Paul AK, Sarker JR. 2011. Effect of nitrogen and boron on the growth and yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management 2, 277-282.
Hatwar GP, Gondane SM, Urkade SM, Gahukar OV, 2003. Effect of micronutrients on growth and yield of Chilli. Journal Soils and Crops, 13(1), 123-125.
Havlin JL, Beatson JD, Tisdale SL, Nelson WL. 2005. Soil Fertility and Fertilizers- An Introduction to Nutrient Management, (7th ed.) Pearson Education, Inc., Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hazra P, Rout A, Roy U, Nath S, Roy T, Dutta R, Acharya S, Mondal AK. 2003. Characterization of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) germplasm. Vegetable Science 30, 145-149.
Hussain SA, Mohammad S, Rao BVR. 1989. Response of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) to micronutrients. Indian Journal of Agronomy 34(1), 117-118.
Ingle VG, Thakre AU, Badhe SB, Khan MAH, 1993. Effect of foliar spray of auxins, micronutrients with urea on fruit drop and yield of Chilli cv. CA 960. Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth Research Journal, 17, 142-145.
Jiskani MM. 2005. Foliar fertilizers – fast acting agents. Daily DAWN, the Internet Edition, Monday December 5, 2005. Journal of Agricultural Technology.
Jiudith C, Miguel G, Ever M, Cesar L. 2005. Effect of heavy metals on the growth of the tropical chilli.Revista de Biología Tropical, 53(3/4), 325-330.
Chouhan KS. 2017. Effect of Varieties and Integrated Nutrient Management on Growth and Yield of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.), ISSN: 2320-7051, International journal of pure and applied bioscience 5(4), 2114-2120.
Dahal KC. 2015. Fruit set, retention and yield of chili genotypes under hot and dry condition of western Terai of Nepal, Journal of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science 33-34, 229-236.
Kumar A, Singh RK, Parmar AS. 2012. Effect of foliar application of micronutrients on yield characters and yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill). Technofame: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Advance Research 1(2), 10-14.
Kumar DMR, Malabasari TA. 2011. Effect of planting geometry and foliar spray of micronutrients on plant growth, seed yield and quality of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). M. Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India, 52 p.
Kumari S. 2012. Effect of micronutrient quality of fruit and seed in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). International Journal of Farm Sciences 2(1), 43-46.
Maheswari TU, Haripriya K, Kamalakannan, S. 2003. Impact of foliar organic nutrients on nutrient uptake pattern of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) cv. K 2. South Indian Horticulture, 51(1/6), 168-172.
Mallick MFR, Muthukrishnan CR. 1980. Effect of micronutrients on the quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Vegetable Science 7, 6-13.
Md. Kalim Uddinet. 2003. Yield and Yield Components of Winter Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) as Affected by Different Levels of Nitrogen and Boron. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 6, 605-609.
Miller RW, Gardiner DT. 2001. Soils in Our Environment (9th ed.). Prentice Hall, USA. p 329.
MOF. (Ministry of Finance) 2018. Bangladesh Economic Review. Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, financial Advisory Subdivision, Finance Division, Dhaka.
Mohammed HS, Prasad VM, Saravanan S. 2014. Effect of FYM, N P K and micronutrients on yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. Heem Sohna under protected cultivation. International Journal of Agricultural Science and Research 4(1), 17-26.
Mousavi SR. 2011. Zinc in crop production and interaction with phosphorus. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences 5(9), 1503-1509.
Muhammad Waseem Kalroo. 0000 Impact of Micronutrient (Zinc) Foliar Spray on Fruit Yield of Chilies (Capsicum ammum L.). Life Sciences International Journal First.
Shil NC. 2013. Response of Chilli (Capsium annuum L.) to zinc and boron application, ISSN: 0258-7122, Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research 38(1), 49-59, March 2013.
Nsabiyera V, Logose M, Ochwo-Ssemakula M, Sseruwagi P, Gibson P, Ojiewo CO. 2013. Morphological Characterization of Local and Exotic Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Collections in Uganda. Bioremediation, Biodiversity and Bioavailability 7(1), 22-32.
Pickersgill B. 1997. Genetic Resources and Breeding of Capsicum spp. Euphytica, 96, 129-133.
Potash and Phosphate Institute. 1983. Soil Fertility Manual. Potash and Phosphate Institute, Atlanta, USA.
Rab A, Haq-Ihsan-Ul. 2012. Foliar application of calcium chloride and borax influences plant growth, yield, and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit. Turkey Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 36, 695-701.
Radulovic M. 1996. Soil and vegetable nutrients supply in the region of the Zeta Montenegro. Review of Research Work at the Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade 41(1), 31-40.
Raj, GB, Patnaik MC, Reddy IP, Rao AP. 2001. Response of Brinjal (Solanumm elongena L.) to zinc and iron. Vegetable Science 28(1), 80-81.
Ramachandrappa BK, Nanjappa HV, Soumya TM, Mudalagiriyappa. 2010. Effect of fertigation with sources and levels of fertilizer on yield, quality and use efficiency of water and fertilizer in green chilli (Capsicum annuum L.), Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development (2), 33-39.
Ramakrishna T. Effect of plant geometry and fertilizer levels on growth, yield and quality of chilli. 2002. (Cv. Vietnam- 2). M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, University of Agricultural Science, Dharwad (India).
Ravichandran M, Jerome JJ, Sriramachandra-Sekharan MV. 1995. Effect of zinc and copper on yield and quality of Brinjal. Annals of Agriculture Research 16(3), 282-285.
Reddy P, Reddy S, Ramakrisna MG, Veeraraghavaiah R, Subramanyam K, Reddy DS. 1985. Response of tomato to micronutrients. South Indian Horticulture 33, 23-25.
Salam MA, Siddique MA, Rahim MA, Rahman MA, Saha MG. 2010. Quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) as influenced by boron and zinc under different levels of NPK fertilizers. Bangladesh Journal of Agriculture Research 35(3), 475-488.
Sharma BR, Chadha APS, Bajpai HK. 2000. Response of Chilli (Capsicum annuum Linn.) to nitrogen and phosphorus levels under irrigated condition. Advances in Plant Sciences 9(2), 213-214.
Sharma SK. 1995. Response of boron and calcium nutrition on plant growth, fruit and seed yield quality of tomato. Vegetable Science 22(1), 27-29.
Sharma SK. 1999. Effect of boron and calcium on seed production of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Vegetable Science 26(1), 87-88.
Shil NC, Naser HM, Brahma S, Yousuf MN, Rashid MH. 2013. Response of Chilli (Capsium annuum L.) to zinc and boron application. Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research 38(1), 49-59.
Shivprasad M, Mohankumar HD, Astaputre SA, Chittapur BM, Tatagar MH, Mesta RK. 2009. Yield and quality of Chilli (cv. Bydagi Dabbi) as influenced by secondary and micronutrients. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences 22(5), 1090-1092.
Shnain RS, Prasad VM, Saravanan S. 2014. Effect of zinc and boron on growth, yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. Heem Sohna, under protected cultivation. European Academic Research 2(3), 4572-4597.
Singh DK, Rudra BC, Gangopadhyaya PK. 2014. Role of micronutrients in the Productivity enhancement of tomato. Journal of Agricultural Technology 1(1), 68-69.
B. M. Mahmudul Hasan, Md. Hanjala Pipil, Md. Nurul Alam, Shumsun Nahar, Md. Hasib, Anju Man Ara, Tamanna Akter Moon, Ramjan Ali, Antu Chandra Karmokar, Tayaba Khanam Hridita, Jannatul Ferdoush, 2025. Effects of micronutrients and their application efficiency on Capsicum production. Int. J. Biosci., 27(1), 102-120.
Copyright © 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.