Abstract
Field experiments were presently conducted to investigate the effect of slow release sulphur (S) nutrition on crop growth, enzyme activities and yield attributes in peanut cultivars. Two combinations of sulphur (in Kg/ha): 0S (-S) and 20S (+S) were used. In +S treatment, S was applied as a single basal dose in the field of peanut crop. The results showed that application of S (+S) significantly (P<0.05) increased the biomass accumulation in both the genotypes at all the growth stages compared with without S (-S). Rapid increases of nitrate reductase (NR) and ATP-sulphurylase were observed up to 45 days after sowing (DAS), and thereafter decline. Nodule weight and nitrogenase activity was increased up to 75 DAS and thereafter, these parameters declined. S fertilization favorably influenced NR, ATP-sulphurylase, nodule weight and nitrogenase activity. Seed yield, biological yield and harvest index were also enhanced by slow S-release fertilization.