COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VARIETIES AND SPLIT APPLICATION OF MURIATE OF POTASH ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF ONION

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Horticulture farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from October 2021 to March 2022 in Rabi season to perform a comparative study of varieties and split application of muriate of potash on growth and yield of onion. The experiment consisted of two factors, and followed Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Factor A: Varieties of onions-3 types e.i.V 1 =BARI Piaz-1, V ii

2 =BARI Piaz-4, V =BARI Piaz-6 and Factor B: Split application of potash fertilizer M =½ basal application + ½ 25 DAT (Days after transplanting), M 1 3 =Basal application (Full dose), M = ⅓ basal application + ⅓ 25 DAT + ⅓ 50 DAT. Experimental results revealed that different varieties and split application of muriate of potash fertilizer significantly influenced the growth and yield of onion. In case of different onion varieties, BARI Piaz-4 (V 3 ) variety gave the highest bulb weight per plant (66.52 g), yield per plot (1.60 kg) and yield per hectare (17.74 t) of onion. Among different split application of potash fertilizer, the highest bulb weight per plant (59.97 g), bulb yield per plot (1.44 kg) and onion yield per hectare (15.99 t) were founded in the M 3 2 treatment (⅓ basal application + ⅓ 25 DAT + ⅓ 50 DAT). In the case of combination treatment the V 2 M combination treatment gave the highest bulb weight per plant (73.50 g), yield per plot (1.76 kg) and bulb yield per hectare (19.59 t) comparable to other treatment combination. Therefore, it would be suggested that cultivation of BARI Piaz-4 along with 3 times split application of muriate of potash fertilizer (V 2 M 3 3 ) combination treatment would help to influence plant growth and increase its ability to enhanced better yield production of onion.