~ 772 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2021; 10(3): 772-776 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.23 TPI 2021; 10(3): 772-776 © 2021 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 14-01-2021 Accepted: 18-02-2021 Shalini Khajuria Programme Assistant Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Samba, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India AK Mondal Division of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India A Samanta Water Management Research Centre, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India Vikas Sharma Division of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India Vivak M Arya Division of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India Vishal Raina Department of Agriculture, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India Corresponding Author: Shalini Khajuria Programme Assistant Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Samba, SKUAST-Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India Effect of boron levels, mulching and moisture regimes on uptake of boron on cauliflower Shalini Khajuria, AK Mondal, A Samanta, Vikas Sharma, Vivak M Arya and Vishal Raina Abstract Boron in soils plays an important role in determining its availability to growing plants. Information as regards to the B fraction in the soils of Jammu and Kashmir is very limited. Therefore, field experiment were conducted for two years (2015-16 and 2016-17) with cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L) as a test crop on sandy clay loam with treatment combination of four levels of boron as borax @ 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 kg ha -1 , mulching @ 6 t paddy straw mulch ha -1 and no mulch along with 20% (W1) and 30% (W2) plant available water moisture regimes constituting 16 treatment combinations replicated thrice in Factorial RBD. Borax @5.0 improved the B uptake by 77.2% and 21.3% over the 0 and 2.5 during 2015- 16 and 76.5% and same values were 21.2% over the 0 and 2.5 during 2016-17 respectively. Irrespective of B levels, the uptake of B with 6 t paddy straw mulch ha -1 registering 5.83% and 5.66% enhancement during 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively. Irrespective of B levels, the B uptake increased insignificantly with 20% reduction of PAW i.e., W1 (36.18 g ha -1 ) over 30% reduction of PAW i.e., W2 (35.84 g ha -1 ) registering 0.94% enhancement during 2015-16. Similarly, B uptake was recorded increased insignificantly with W1 (36.26 g ha -1 ) over W2(35.95 g ha -1 ) registering 0.86% enhancement during 2016- 17. Keywords: Cauliflower, boron levels, uptake, mulching and moisture regimes Introduction Present agriculture is entirely reliant on high yielding crop cultivars and chemicals in the form of pesticides and fertilizers. As a result, soils are screening a quick turn down in their capacity to provide the necessary micronutrients in required quantities. Experimental evidences have established the fact that prolonged use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides creates nutrient- imbalance in agricultural soils (Bohme et al. 2005) [2] . Accelerated exhaustion of the trace rudiments from the restricted soil reserves have controlled and inhibited sustainable increase in yield of several crops including vegetables. One of the major causes of such situation is the indiscriminate use of major nutrients and giving less importance on micronutrients which are very much necessary for quality vegetable production. Consequently, current years have witnessed an ever-sharpening investigation spotlight on micronutrients. The sufficient amount of micronutrients necessary for better plant growth which resulted in higher yield due to increased growth, better flowering and higher fruit set (Ram and Bose, 2000) [12] . On the other hand, several aspects like micronutrient fertilization of vegetables, especially cole crops have not acknowledged due consideration. Analysis of soil and plant samples indicated that 33% of soils in India are potentially deficient in Boron (B) (Singh, 2006) [6, 13, 14, 16] . Crops grown in about half of the country’s soils suffer from one or more micronutrient disorders (Singh, 1991) [6, 13, 14, 16] . Boron deficiency and response to it have been recorded in 132 crops in more than 80 countries over last 60 years. It is estimated that over 15 Mha worldwide is annually fertilized with B. The fact that B is needed for successful fertilization and seed set it is of critical importance in vegetables crops in terms of giving good shape to the fruits and besides enhancing productivity (Ganeshamurthy et al. 2005) [6] . Among numbers of factors soil temperature and moisture are also most important to control availability of B. Boron occurs in the soils in extremely small quantities. Most of the available boron in humid region is held largely in the organic matter and is released by the microbial decomposition of organic matter for the use of the plant. Cauliflower is the essentially cool season vegetable grown in India and Jammu territory, a widespread area is under the farming of this crop. Being a crucifer, it has an elevated prerequisite for trace elements like B, the deficiency of which may provoke crippling reductions in terms of yield and quality. An enormous widen of territory, where vegetables are