Abstract:
At present there is a significant demand for
environmentally sustainable agriculture to
produce high-quality, nutritious food for the
growing global population. Research efforts are
currently focused on sustainable crop production
methods, utilizing organic fertilizers and
botanical compounds derived from natural
resources to enhance the yield of commercially
valuable crops. A field study was conducted to
investigate the effects of foliar application of
seaweed (Ulva lactuca) liquid extracts (SLE) on
the growth and yield of the 'Indi' cultivar. The
foliar application of SLE was applied to the plant
at one-week interval. As treatment, the seed
extract was applied at different concentrations
10% SLE (T2), 20% SLE (T3), 50% SLE (T4), and
100% SLE (T5) (v/v). Control treatment consisted
of foliar application of distilled water (T1). The
results showed that there were significant
differences(p<0.05) among the tested parameters
of the ‘Indi’ cultivar.Foliar application of
seaweed extract at concentrations of 20% (T3)
increased the ground nut plant height (49.44 cm),
number of nodules (144) and pods (27), air dry
pod weight (36.38 g), air dry seed weight seed
yield (24.28 g), biological yield (2898.12 kg/ha),
and harvest index (41.96 %). Seaweed extract with
100% foliar application reduced the above
mentioned parameters significantly compared to
the control. Therefore, it could be concluded that
the seaweed extract at a 20% concentration level
can be used to enhance the growth and yield of
‘Indi’ groundnut cultivar.
