Influence of Customized Fertilizers on Growth and Yield of Finger Millet {Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.} in Alfisols of Southern India

Field experiment was conducted during kharif 2010 and 2011 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru to study the effect of customized fertilizers on the productivity of finger millet. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with different customized fertilizer treatments replicated thrice. The composition of customized fertilizer grade was 20:17:11:3:0.4% of N:P2O5:K2O:S:Zn. Application of 150% customized fertilizer recorded higher plant height (102.5 cm), number of tillers/hill (7.11), total dry matter accumulation (100.41 g/hill), ears/hill (6.21) and test weight (3.65 g) compared to absolute control, 50, 75, 100 and 125% customized dose. Application of 150% customized fertilizer dose recorded significantly higher grain and straw yield (3279 and 4510 kg/ha, respectively) compared to other treatments but it was on par with application of 100 and 125% customized fertilizer application. Application of 125% customized fertilizer dose recorded higher net returns and B: C ratio.