Vol. 9, Issue 6, Part A (2025)

A field experiment was conducted during Zaid season of 2024 at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, SHUATS, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, to investigate the effect of biofertilizer with micronutrients as soil application on growth and yield of foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) The treatment consisted of seed inoculation of either Azotobacter or Azospirillum in combination with soil application of Boron at 0.5 and 1 kg/ha and Zinc at 10 and 15 kg/ha including control. The experiment was laid out in Randomized block design with nine treatments and replicated thrice. Results revealed that seed inoculation with Azospirillum in combination with boron 1 kg/ha as soil application recorded significantly maximum growth attributes namely plant height (83.80 cm), plant dry weight (9.35 g), number of tillers/plant (3.40) and yield attributes namely seeds/panicle (286.0), panicle length (12.29 cm), test weight (3.76 g), grain yield (1.54 t/ha) and benefit cost ratio (1.68). Therefore, combined application of Azospirillum with boron at 1 kg/ha is recommended for improving foxtail millet productivity under similar agro-climatic conditions.