EFFECT OF HUMIC ACID AND SALICYLIC ACID ON THE GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY IN ONION

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at the Horticulture farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka from October 2019 to February 2020 to find the effect of humic acid and salicylic acid on the growth, yield and quality in onion. The experiment consisted of Factor A: Humic acid doses as H 0 ii

- 0 ppm, H 1 - 30 ppm and H 3 - 45 ppm; Factor B: Salicylic acid doses as S 0 - 0 ppm, S 1 - 20 ppm and S 3 - 30 ppm. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. In the case of humic acid and salicylic acid, both H 3 and S 2 showed the best result individually with all aspects of growth and nutrition assimilation in onion. The treatment combination of H 2 provided the highest bulb diameter (3.86 cm), bulb length (2.86 cm), bulb weight (39.50 gm), nitrogen content (2.31 %), phosphorus content (0.85 %), potassium content (1.44 %), sulphur content (0.49 %), total sugar (0.95 %), ascorbic acid content (9.70 mg/100g) and soluble solids (11.40 %) in the bulb of onion. The highest bulb yield (10.92 t ha ) was obtained from 45 ppm humic acid with 30 ppm salicylic acid treatment. So, the application of 45 ppm humic acid with 20 ppm salicylic acid would be the best option to maintain better growth, yield and quality in onion.