EFFECT OF SULPHUR AND BORON ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SESAME (SESAMUM INDICUM L.) IN ONATTUKARA SANDY SOIL OF KERALA,INDIA

To know the impact of S and B in the production phenology of sesame, the present study has been carried out in Onattukara sandy soil of Kerala.  The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with four levels each of sulphur and boron. The sulphur levels were 0, 7.5, 15 and 30 kg ha-1 where as in the case of boron, the levels were 0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 kg ha-1.   It has been observed that sulphur and boron play a synergistic role in improving the grain yield and yield attributes of sesame. Application of sulphur @ 30 kg ha-1 and B @ 2.5 kg ha-1 along with the recommended dose of N, P and K resulted in better grain yield (1460 kg ha-1) and other yield attributes such as number of capsules per plant, dry weight of capsules, shelling per cent and thousand seed weight and finally the highest net returns estimated in terms of B:C ratio.  As the level of applied sulphur and boron is increased the availability of soil nutrients including  S and B were also increased.