A field experiment was conducted at AICRP on Groundnut, MARS, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka during kharif 2023-24 on vertisols to evaluate the “Influence of zinc and zinc solubilizing bacteria on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of groundnut grown in vertisols”. The experiment was conducted under Randomized Complete Block Design with eight treatments and three replications using the groundnut variety Dh-256. The results showed that among the various treatments performed, the treatment with the application of full dose of RDF+ FYM (7.5 t ha-1) + Gypsum (500 kg ha-1) + FeSO4 (25 kg ha-1)+ ZnSO4 (Soil application– 25 kg ha-1) (T7) recorded significantly higher number of pods per plant (27.36), pod weight per plant (30.05 g), 100 kernel weight (45.38 g), shelling per cent (71.88 %), pod yield (2555 kg ha-1 ), kernel yield (1837 kg ha-1 ), haulm yield (2593 kg ha-1), oil yield (872 kg ha-1), nutrient uptake (N, P, K and Zn) and enzyme activity (dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease) at 90 DAS in the soil. The next best options were, application full dose of RDF + FYM (7.5 t ha-1) + Gypsum (500 kg ha-1) + FeSO4 (25 kg ha-1): Uninoculated + 0.2 % ZnSO4 spray (flowering and pod development stage) (T8) and application of full dose of RDF + FYM (7.5 t ha-1) + Gypsum (500 kg ha-1) + FeSO4 (25 kg ha-1) + Bio Zinc (8 ml kg-1 seed) (T6). In term of economics, higher gross returns (₹ 1,75,898 ha-1), net returns
(₹ 1,02,557 ha-1) and B:C ratio (2.39) were recorded under the treatment that received full dose of RDF+ FYM (7.5 t ha-1) + Gypsum (500 kg ha-1) + FeSO4 (25 kg ha-1)+ ZnSO4 (Soil application– 25 kg ha-1) (T7).