12. Effects of boron and sulphur application on growth and yield of summer onion

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at the Horticulture Farm of the Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to evaluate the effects of boron and sulphur on growth and yield of summer onion during the period from February to June, 2017. The experiment consisted of two-factors, Factor A: four levels of boron viz., (i) B0 = 0 kg B ha-1 , (ii) B1 = 0.5 kg B ha-1 , (iii) B2 = 1.0 kg B ha-1 , (iv) B3 = 1.5 kg B ha-1 ; and Factor B: four levels of sulphur, viz., (i) S0 = 0 kg S ha-1 , (ii) S1 = 15 kg S ha-1 , (iii) S2 = 30 kg S ha-1 , (iv) S3 = 45 kg S ha-1 . The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. BARI Piaz-3, a summer onion variety was used as planting material for this experiment. Results of the experiment revealed that B and S alone or in combination significantly influenced all the parameters studied. The highest plant height (28.74 cm at 75 DAT), bulb diameter (2.87 cm), individual weight of bulb (23.06 g), per cent dry matter (8.64) and yield of bulb (11.54 ton ha-1 ) were obtained when B applied at the rate of 1 kg ha-1 and the lowest for these parameters were obtained from the control treatment i.e. 0 kg B ha-1 . On the other hand, the highest plant height (26.84 cm at 75 DAT), bulb diameter (2.84 cm), individual weight of bulb (21.73 g), per cent dry matter (8.28) and yield of bulb (10.88 ton ha-1 ) were obtained when S applied at the rate of 30 kg/ha and the lowest for these parameters were recorded from 0 kg S/ha. Among the treatment combinations, 1.0 kg B ha-1 and 30 kg S ha-1 produced the maximum values for plant height (29.74 cm at 75 DAT), bulb diameter (3.06 cm), individual weight of bulb (25.83 g), per cent dry matter (9.03) and yield of bulb (12.93 ton ha-1 ) while the lowest for these parameters were obtained from the control treatment i.e. without boron and sulphur fertilizers.