IMPACT OF BIOCHAR APPLICATION AND ITS COMBINATION WITH RECOMMENDED DOSE OF FERTILIZER ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF EGGPLANT

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in the Horticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, to investigate the impact of biochar application on growth and yield of eggplant from October 2020 to February 2021 during the Rabi season. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with seven treatments, including i.e., B : No BC (Biochar) + 100% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), B 1 0 : 2 t/ha BC + 100% RDF, B X 2 : 2 t/ha BC + 90% RDF, B : 3 t/ha BC + 100% RDF, B 4 : 3 t/ha BC + 80% RDF, B 5 : 4 t/ha BC + 100% RDF and B : 4 t/ha BC + 70% RDF. Different growth and developmental parameters were collected for the purpose of the evaluating experimental outcomes. Result of the experiment revealed that different doses of biochar application had significantly influenced plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf length plant -1 and leaf breadth plant at different days after transplanting. Among the different doses of biochar application, the B

treatment produced the highest number of flowers plant -1 (51.74), number of fruits plant -1 (28.88), fruit length plant -1 (11.12 cm), fruit diameter plant (7.74 cm), individual fruit weight plant -1 (170.50 g), yield plant -1 (16.53 kg) and yield (49.20 t ha -1 -1 -1 (4.92 kg), yield plot ). However, the second highest fruit yield (38.50 t ha ) was recorded from B 6 treatment followed by B 3 (35.40 t ha -1 ) treatment and the minimum fruit yield (22.50 t ha -1 ) was observed in B treatment. Therefore, based on the above findings, it could be concluded that the application of biochar and its combination with recommended dose of fertilizers (4 t/ha BC + 100% RDF) showed better performance on the growth, yield, and yield attributing traits of eggplant.