Impact of Foliar Nutrition of Micronutrients on the Morphometric and Qualitative Traits of Annual Moringa (Moringa oleifera): The Miracle Tree

The objective of the research was to discern the impact of micronutrients as a foliar spray in annual moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) var. PKM 1. The plants were sprayed at three different phases—vegetative, flowering and pod setting phase with micronutrients singly or in combination of ferrous sulphate + citric acid, boric acid, zinc sulphate, manganese sulphate or a mixture of all. The experimental results revealed that all treatments performed significantly better when compared to control with respect to all morphological and yield attributes. The maximum plant height, number of primary branches, number of flowers per panicle, number of panicles per tree, fruit setting percentage, pod yield per tree, protein, ascorbic acid, carotenoid content and micronutrients status in leaves and pods were recorded highest in T8 (FeSO4 1% + Citric Acid 0.1%) + ZnSO4 0.5% + MnSO4 0.5% + H3BO3 0.2%) (micronutrient mixture) than other treatment combinations. The research has proven that the foliar spray of these micronutrient combinations increased the growth, quality and yield of annual moringa var. PKM-1 significantly. The research outcome is in corroboration that the nutrient status of moringa leaves is found to be higher when compared to the pods. Hence, the consumption of moringa leaves will be more beneficial than the pods in terms of nutrient supplement to alleviate malnutrition and sustain nutritional security.