INFLUENCE OF GROWING MEDIA AND PROBIOTIC ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CHILLI IN FLOATING STRUCTURE

Abstract

This experiment was conducted in the pond of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, during Rabi season from, October 2021 to March 2022 to determine the use of different growing media and probiotic to improve growth and yield of chilli in floating structure. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) having two factors with three replications. Factor A: Growing media (3 types) viz; M 1 = 50% cocopeat + 20% vermicompost+ 20% soil + 10% khoa, M 2 = 40% cocopeat + 30% vermicompost+ 20% soil + 10% khoa and M 3 = 30% cocopeat + 40% vermicompost+ 20% soil + 10% khoa and Factor B: Different level of probiotics (3 types) viz; P 0 = 0 g probiotic /pot (Control), P 1 = 4 g probiotic /pot and P 2 = 8 g probiotic /pot. In case of different growing media, the highest number of flowers per plant (87.66), fruits per plant (65.44) and yield per plant (285.31 g) were obtained from M 3 , whereas it was the lowest in M 1 . Considering the probiotic performance, the highest number of flowers per plant (86.00), fruits per plant (62.67) and yield per plant (270.27 g) were observed in P 2 , while the lowest result was noted in P 0 . In case of combined effect, the highest number of flowers per plant (99.99), fruits per plant (72.33) and yield per plant (321.87 g) were observed in M 3 P 2 treatment combination. It was observed that, the treatment combination M 3 P 2 gave the best performance in terms of growth and yield parameters compared to other treatment combinations. So, it can be concluded that, growing media with 30% cocopeat + 40% vermicompost+ 20% soil + 10% khoa and 8 gm probiotic/pot was effective for better chilli production in floating structure.