EFFECT OF LIMING AND GA ON GROWTH, YIELD AND SOME NUTRIENTS CONTENT OF STEVIA 1 3 (Stevia rebaudiana Bert.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of Regional Sugercrop Research Station Thakurgaon of Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BSRI), during March 2021 to September 2021 to study the effect of lime and GA on growth, yield and nutrient content of stevia. The trail was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Factor A (lime), was used on treatment L 3 1 : Control, L 2 : 0.5 t ha , L 4 : 1.5 t ha -1 and L 5 : 2.0 t ha -1 . Factor B used gibberellic acid (GA 3 ) was H : 150 ppm, H 3 : 200 ppm H 4 : 250 ppm, H 5 : 300 ppm and H 6 1 : 350 ppm. Data were collected on plant height (cm), number of branch plant -1 , number of leaves plant -1 -1 , L 3 : 1.0 t ha : control, H , leaf area plant ), fresh weight plant -1 (g), dry weight plant -1 (g), fresh leaf yield plant -1 -1 (cm (g), dry leaf yield plant (g), fresh leaf yield ha -1 (kg), dry leaf yield ha -1 (kg), N(%), P (%), K (%), S (%), Ca (%), Mg (%), Zn (µg g -1 ) of stevia leaf, initial and post harvest soil analysis. Significant variations were observed on plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf area plant -1 (cm 2 ) number of primary and secondary branch plant -1 in different level of lime application. Highest plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf area plant -1 (cm 2 ) number of primary and secondary branch plant -1 was observed in L 3 (lime 1.0 t ha -1 ) treatment and the lowest was in L (control) treatment at 21 DAT to 147 DAT, respectively. Applying 300 ppm GA was the significant effect in increasing at 21 DAT to 147 DAT, respectively and the lowest plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf area plant -1 (cm 2 3 ) number of primary and secondary branch plant was observed in control (GA 3 ) treatment. The highest plant height, number of leaves plant , leaf area plant -1 (cm 2 ) number of primary and secondary branch plant -1 heights was in L (lime 1.0 t ha -1 × GA 3 300 ppm) treatment and the lowest was found in L 1 H at all growth stages. N, K, Mg, Zn content of stevia leaf was significantly affected by different levels of lime and GA 3 1 . The highest N, K, Mg, Zn content was observed when the plot was treated with lime 1.0 t ha -1 × 300 ppm GA 3 (L 3 H ) and the lowest N, K, Mg, Zn content was recorded in the control treatment. Significantly highest fresh weight plant 5 -1 , fresh weight ha -1 1 , dry weight plant , dry weight ha -1 was observed in L 3 treatment and lowest was observed in L treatment in stevia plant. The interaction effect of lime and GA 3 1 in most of the combination showed significantly the highest fresh weight plant -1 , fresh weight ha -1 , dry weight plant -1 , dry weight ha , fresh leaf yield ha -1 and dry leaf yield ha -1 was observed in L 3 H 5 and lowest was observed in L

treatment. Thus, the application of lime and gibberellic acid (GA ) had positive impact on leaf yield components resulted in higher yield of study. From the result it can be recommended that lime 1.0 t ha -1 and GA 3 3 300 ppm is suitable for field cultivation of stevia production. Therefore, these findings infer that lime 1.0 t ha -1 and GA 300 ppm might help in producing more stevia leaf in Old Himalayan Piedmont Plain soil especially in Northwest of Bangladesh for environment friendly management practices.