EFFECT OF DIFFERENT GROWING CONDITIONS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF STRAWBERRY

Abstract

Shading is one of the cooling methods for changing the microclimate and maximizing crop growth in hot and sunny regions. An Experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka to investigate the effect of different growing environments on growth, yield and quality attributes of strawberry during November-2019 to March-2020. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four environmental treatments i.e. Poly shed house, UV poly shed house, net house and open field condition with four replications for each treatment. Experimental result revealed that the plants produced in the net house condition had the maximum plant height (18.50 cm), total chlorophyll content (62.66), fruit number (17.25), and yield (289.16 g/plant) of strawberries. In contrast, plants grown under UV poly shade conditions recorded higher total soluble solids (7 °Brix), titratable acidity (0.46%), ascorbic acid (39.33 mg/100g) and lower pH (3.40). Reducing sugar (7.74 mg/g) and phenol (2.44 mg/g) levels were higher in fruits grown in poly shade. Results indicated that the most suitable growing condition for yield and yield parameters of strawberries was under the net house. In contrast, UV poly and poly house conditions were favorable for producing better quality fruit.